Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Another idiot who doesn't know what AI and all these other new technologies can and cannot do... If I see another article from some gungho B4 associate writing about the "range of exciting legal use cases for Blockchain" who thinks he's cutting edge I'm actually gonna puke

LOL I think I've seen at least 7 of those articles just this year alone

Originally Posted by Unregistered

LOL I think I've seen at least 7 of those articles just this year alone

At least those dudes can write right.
Why so salty? Try to spend your free time writing otherwise keep quiet

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I suspect the future of law would be like that.

The very top (fch, deans list, commendation list) will always have a job. Whether in house, practice or govt.

The middle will hollow out.

Those with applied learning (eg TP dip law paralegals) will eventually be highly employable. They will do a lot of the work that require support.

Some posters said earlier that you need legal training to dispense legal advice. True. But what if the AI bot can do it far better and with less mistakes. The partner just need the paralegal to check once over and sign off.

So I don’t know in this new business model, is there a future for being mediocre?

Your proposition is highly flawed for several reasons, which makes me doubt whether you are in practice.

1. "what if the AI bot can do it far better and with less mistakes" is a sweeping statement. If you do research and look at what those legal AI platforms can currently do at the moment, we are still at a stage where human input is highly needed and there is still a long time to come such a regime comes to place.

2. Every file/matter is different. If you are a lawyer, you will realise a good one will never simply use the cookie cutter or a copy and paste method or the while. Yes, precedents may be generated, but if you let AI do the work and back off from the matter, I wish you all the very best.

Don't simply make assumptions just because you keep reading articles on "how AI is disrupting the world." Do your own research.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Your proposition is highly flawed for several reasons, which makes me doubt whether you are in practice.

1. "what if the AI bot can do it far better and with less mistakes" is a sweeping statement. If you do research and look at what those legal AI platforms can currently do at the moment, we are still at a stage where human input is highly needed and there is still a long time to come such a regime comes to place.

2. Every file/matter is different. If you are a lawyer, you will realise a good one will never simply use the cookie cutter or a copy and paste method or the while. Yes, precedents may be generated, but if you let AI do the work and back off from the matter, I wish you all the very best.

Don't simply make assumptions just because you keep reading articles on "how AI is disrupting the world." Do your own research.

Alright I am at the forefront of law and technology, and when we talk AI platforms we are not talking about those adopted by the big 4 currently but by the white shoe and magic circle.
I’m not the original OP. But let me tell you if you have not been in the legal teams of American banks like JPM and GS, you are way behind your time…

A lot of the works are done in house today. Less work are being farm to the law firms, except for LOs. And LOs in the law firm can actually be done by a bot, things like contract express etc. yes programming needs to be done once, and that the partner can do and fine tune with a paralegal. Why I’m wasting time to explain this instead of writing my journals is simply because I’m trying to pay it forward. I’ve been shown quite a lot of kindness by my giants in the field.

PI and PD work are far from noble, but hey, everybody needs to put food on the table. Personally, I respect community lawyers way more than PI or PD lawyers.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Alright I am at the forefront of law and technology, and when we talk AI platforms we are not talking about those adopted by the big 4 currently but by the white shoe and magic circle.
I’m not the original OP. But let me tell you if you have not been in the legal teams of American banks like JPM and GS, you are way behind your time…

A lot of the works are done in house today. Less work are being farm to the law firms, except for LOs. And LOs in the law firm can actually be done by a bot, things like contract express etc. yes programming needs to be done once, and that the partner can do and fine tune with a paralegal. Why I’m wasting time to explain this instead of writing my journals is simply because I’m trying to pay it forward. I’ve been shown quite a lot of kindness by my giants in the field.

I'm pretty sure you've not been in the banking industry as an in-house lawyer. While it is true that alot of contract/corporate work is done in-house, it is usually in tandem with (or the draft version is farmed out to ) Corporate lawyers to double-check. Firstly, the legal fees pale in comparison to the costs of any issues with the document. Secondly, almost every in-house would rather have someone else's ass on the line (i.e. the external firm) instead of approving large-scale contracts/corporate documents without an external lawyer.

So yes, while the contract draft may be inhouse/AI, the work that actually gets passed to the law firm isn't really paralegal-side work (which would more likely die from AI than PQE-ed lawyers).

No one likes to know that they would eventually be replaced. But this will be the reality. Even though knowledge workers like lawyers would not be made entirely redundant, we would only need a small number of them (and you would have to be the top + have relevant knowledge to co-exist with the machines and systems of the future). Obviously, this is not specific to law. Even finance (like S&T) will see a similar change in the next decade.

Safest jobs? Those that really require the human aspect. Think of creative roles like fashion designers and award winning chefs (AIs cannot be creative in their own accord as of yet).

Originally Posted by Unregistered

No one likes to know that they would eventually be replaced. But this will be the reality. Even though knowledge workers like lawyers would not be made entirely redundant, we would only need a small number of them (and you would have to be the top + have relevant knowledge to co-exist with the machines and systems of the future). Obviously, this is not specific to law. Even finance (like S&T) will see a similar change in the next decade.

Safest jobs? Those that really require the human aspect. Think of creative roles like fashion designers and award winning chefs (AIs cannot be creative in their own accord as of yet).

Let me add on, think financial advisers. The human touch is needed in this aspect.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Let me add on, think financial advisers. The human touch is needed in this aspect.

Ok, I will tell my kids to do either creative arts or become an Insurance Agent then.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm pretty sure you've not been in the banking industry as an in-house lawyer. While it is true that alot of contract/corporate work is done in-house, it is usually in tandem with (or the draft version is farmed out to ) Corporate lawyers to double-check. Firstly, the legal fees pale in comparison to the costs of any issues with the document. Secondly, almost every in-house would rather have someone else's ass on the line (i.e. the external firm) instead of approving large-scale contracts/corporate documents without an external lawyer.

So yes, while the contract draft may be inhouse/AI, the work that actually gets passed to the law firm isn't really paralegal-side work (which would more likely die from AI than PQE-ed lawyers).

Another annoying post. Obviously I know that. Hence I said LO. Legal opinions for avoidance of doubt. Why do issuer, lender, etc want the firm’s LO? Liability.
Everyone knows that.
But if larger firms invests in AI, and can cut down on the no of lawyers required, they can still produce the same LOs at much lower costs. Most of the work would be done in house anyway. They just need someone to sign off on those deals.