AI won’t replace lawyers — it will redefine them
Generative AI will change how legal work is done by shifting junior roles, reshaping workflows and prompting new questions about how lawyers build careers.
The rise of generative AI marks a significant shift in legal practice which is not a threat to lawyers, but a turning point in how they learn, gain experience and deliver legal services.
Rather than replacing junior lawyers, AI is changing the nature of the tasks they perform, the speed at which they learn, and the tools they use.
As this technology becomes more embedded in typical workflows, the question for the profession is no longer whether to adopt it, but how to use it optimally for the benefit of both clients and legal teams.
Across the profession, AI integration and acceptance vary widely. The first group — a shrinking minority — consists of those resisting change altogether. The second, and current majority, is made up of lawyers experimenting with basic, off-the-shelf ‘chat and answer’ AI tools, without embedding them deeply into practice.
