Originally Posted by Unregistered

I do not think OP said the legal profession will cease to exist as a result of automation and technology. He/she just said that there will be a need for lesser people in the law firms, as more and more things become automated.
There will always be partners and law firms around, just how many left in the firms rather than whether or not such firms will continue to exist.
In other words, only a select few will make the cut to become partners in firms as more and more companies rely on good in-house legal counsels.
You’re not wrong to say that the larger firms do emulate their clients, and that’s because the business of the firm and the company is so intertwined in a sense, but I don’t think that what the OP was addressing. It was more to do with automation/AI/technology which will lead to lesser need for manpower. Law is labour intensive (I think you will accept that premise) unless you’re in a firm where you can go home at 6pm everyday.
A lot of the hours spent in the firm (be it litigation or corporate), is churn work. Even legal advisory requires heavy research and understanding of the issues involved. A human person no matter how capable or experienced will eventually need time off to recharge and rest.
Rudimentary legal research tech tools (as what you/some other posters alluded to in this thread) will not be able to replace the need for human lawyers NOW. But this does not mean the tech will not progress… it will. And 5 years time legal tech will look very different from your contract express and what not