The race extends across Biglaw's leadership. Managing partners face mounting pressure to articulate clear AI strategies; silence on the issue is no longer tenable by end of 2026. Stanford Law professor David Freeman Engstrom notes that firms are aggressively embedding attorney knowledge into AI systems, while judges increasingly use AI for opinion drafting and summarization. The specific capabilities and investment levels of individual firm platforms remain largely undisclosed.
For practicing attorneys, this matters because the decisions firms make now will reshape hiring, associate development, and career trajectories. AI is already eroding entry-level work that traditionally trains junior lawyers—the traditional apprenticeship model that built Biglaw's talent pipeline. Firms must choose whether to invest in associates as long-term partners or replace them with AI. That choice will determine whether a talent shortage emerges in five years. For law students and junior associates, a firm's AI strategy is now a critical due diligence question about its future viability and your own career prospects.