Will AI Finally Disrupt Legal Billing?: The Morning Minute
The news and analysis you need to start your day.
November 15, 2023 at 06:00 AM
4 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
AI-ASSISTED AFAs? - Yesterday in this space we told you about how alternative fee arrangements are still struggling to catch on, largely due to the same problems that have long hindered their widespread adoption. All of that's true—but we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the new X factor that could finally move the needle in a real way: artificial intelligence. Legal professionals told Law.com's Jessie Yount that, while AI has yet to upend the billable hour or usher in a new era of AFAs, change is coming, faster than before. For example, Karen Buzard, a partner and member of the Markets Innovation Group at Allen & Overy, said she's seen examples of how AI can drive efficiencies that clients are already demanding or finding from alternative legal services providers, making billable hour alternatives like fixed fee models a real part of the conversation.
PAYING MORE TO COST LESS - So the key to more efficient law firms and happier clients may lie in tech investment. Sounds good, right? But before you read this next part, try to remember that life is all about balance. As legal tech becomes more indispensable, it is also becoming (much) more expensive. And industry consolidation is exacerbating the problem. As one CIO at an Am Law 200 firm told Law.com's Isha Marathe, "all the all the big [legal] tech companies, whether it's Litera, or Aderant, or Thomson Reuters have done a great job at buying up the competition … and killing it … that's the model, these companies swallow up the competition." "That's why we hate them," the CIO continued, "because they keep buying the great tools and jacking the prices up."
ON THE RADAR - Caesars Entertainment, the hotel and casino operator, was named in a data breach class action Nov. 13 in Nevada District Court. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of individuals whose personally identifiable information was allegedly compromised in a cyberattack that occurred is September 2023. The complaint was brought by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll; Kemp Jones LLP and Hausefeld. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 2:23-cv-01865, Martin v. Caesars Entertainment, Inc. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.
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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.
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