Will Law Firms Embrace Chatbots?: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
April 06, 2023 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
Want to get this daily news briefing by email? Here's the sign-up.
|
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
PARALEGAL OPS - Paralegal has become the most common career path to the legal operations field, according to the recently released Legal Operations Compensation Survey from the software provider Brightflag. However, despite their paralegal experience, this cohort is paid dramatically less than legal ops professionals with other backgrounds, the study found. Heads of legal ops who were paralegals earn 72 cents for every $1 earned by legal ops heads from other backgrounds, the survey found. For legal ops teams overall, paralegals earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by nonparalegals. Kevin Cohn, Brightflag's chief customer officer, told Law.com's Trudy Knockless the only explanation he can think of for this phenomenon is "anchoring," the tendency to base compensation on what a candidate previously earned rather than what the position should pay. "As these professionals move from paralegal to legal ops, their compensation is being set as some percentage increase from current [salary], rather than rebaselining for a completely different role," he said.
TO CHATBOT OR NOT - ChatGPT. Have you seen this? Have you heard about this? Assuming you aren't Encino Man, we're going to assume you have. But seriously folks, chatbot capabilities have grown significantly in recent months. Still, as Law.com's Rhys Dipshan reports, law firms' concerns with the format have grown right along with it, making a bot revolution in legal appear unlikely. "I think that the law firms out there will be wary of this because they will perceive it as removing value and human interaction between them and their clients," said Jeff Marple, director of digital transformation strategy at Keesal Propulsion Labs, a standalone legal tech company created by California law firm Keesal, Young & Logan. "I think there's going to be a whole bunch of [legal professionals] that are going to say, 'this is going to take away from that. We can't trust it, it opens us up to liability. What if it gets it wrong, [and someone is] lazy and not checking the returns on it?'—all that kind of thing."
ON THE RADAR - Cross Pond Renewable Ventures LLC was sued Wednesday in Delaware Court of Chancery. The lawsuit was filed by Weir Greenblatt Pierce LLP on behalf of Ja Lee Kao, the former CEO of a Cross Pond general partner, Onyx Renewable Partners. The court action seeks advancement and reimbursement of legal feels incurred for counterclaims in an underlying lawsuit filed by Kao against Onyx alleging breach of contract, employment discrimination and retaliation. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 2023-0402, Ja Lee Kao v. Cross Pond Renewable Ventures LLC. Stay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.
|
EDITOR'S PICKS
|
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Roberts Calls Court's Relationship With Congress 'Strained.' Who's to Blame?
Thwarting of $14B US Steel Deal Won't Dampen Japan-U.S. M&A, Lawyers Say
Few Atlanta-Centric Law Firms Expected to Pay Associate Bonuses at Market Scale
5 minute read
Experts Not Foreseeing More Rules Governing Prosecutors' Actions After Georgia Court's Removal of DA From Election Case
8 minute readLaw Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1The Quiet Revolution: Private Equity’s Push Into Law Firms
- 2Restoring Trust in the Courts Starts in New York
- 3'Pull Back the Curtain': Ex-NFL Players Seek Discovery in Lawsuit Over League's Disability Plan
- 4Tensions Run High at Final Hearing Before Manhattan Congestion Pricing Takes Effect
- 5Improper Removal to Fed. Court Leads to $100K Bill for Blue Cross Blue Shield
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
