Comments on: Lawyers using AI to boost billable hours, report finds https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/ Legal news, insider insight and careers advice Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:37:41 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 By: Nigel https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1232667 Tue, 09 Sep 2025 10:37:41 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1232667 The efficiency of AI can only be truly realised if lawyers move away from the billable hour and transition to fixed fees. AI can be used to help break down the work likely to be involved in a brief and make estimates. This will provide clarity and certainty for clients and allow firms leveraging AI to both undercut firms operating a traditional time and materials model and ALSO increase profits.

]]> By: Matt https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1232465 Mon, 08 Sep 2025 10:53:20 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1232465 AI will drive down law firm margins over time. Not the other way around.

Sophisticated clients will know this.

]]> By: dayusmc https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231859 Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:39:09 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231859 The only possible way to increase billable hours with AI is to lie. Let’s face it, no one is using legal AI to do non billable work to increase free time to do billable hours work. They are simply using AI to do the work, and billing for the amount of hours it would have taken them to it without AI. It is simply double and triple billing their time.
There are only so many billable hours a person can work in a day, you cannot increase that with AI. AI is being marketed for actual legal billable hour work, not admin work. If a firm uses AI to do their billable hour work (as it is being marketed for), then if that firm is honest, how could they actually make more money?

Example:
(Actual attorney doing legal work)
Monday – Matter 1, Legal research 3 billable hours, write brief 6 billable hours, admin work 1 hour. Total 9 billable hours in a 10 hour day.

(AI doing legal work)
Monday – Matter 1, AI Legal research .2 billable hours, AI write brief .2 billable hours, attorney review and correct brief 2.6 billable hours.
Matter 2 AI Legal research .2 billable hours, AI write brief .2 billable hours, attorney review and correct brief 2.6 billable hours.
Matter 3 AI Legal research .2 billable hours, AI write brief .2 billable hours, attorney review and correct brief 2.6 billable hours. Attorney doing 1 hour admin work. Total 9 billable hours in a 10 hour day.

There is no one to increase billable hours without lying to the client.
Using AI for “admin work”? Do you need legal AI for admin work?
So the only thing I see with AI is you need more cases. Now if your firm is turning away cases because they don’t have the hours in a day to do them, maybe AI can help them service more clients – BUT the amount of billable hours is the same, unless they lie.
Where Legal AI may increase profits is if the firm works on contingent fees….

]]> By: No block billing https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231856 Thu, 04 Sep 2025 10:20:55 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231856 In reply to Too much admin.

How does that make any sense when legal AI is primarily designed to assist with chargeable tasks? @name is correct, it makes you able to get more tasks done but you’d still be billing the same hours only with more admin in between that your fancy doc review AI can’t help you with.

]]> By: Lay person https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231733 Wed, 03 Sep 2025 12:59:36 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231733 Much of the non reserved legal work of Tribunal SEND appeals and Ombudsman complaints can be done without representation using AI and programs like NotebookLM. One still has to research case law and verify it outside of AI, but I’ve managed to have Tribunal decisions set aside on multiple points of law using AI.

]]> By: Sarah https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231693 Wed, 03 Sep 2025 06:53:26 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231693 In reply to name.

Do you think clients bills have gone down?

]]> By: KF HO https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231603 Tue, 02 Sep 2025 16:37:32 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231603 In reply to Jack.

how about competition?

]]> By: Dick-ens https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231591 Tue, 02 Sep 2025 15:39:11 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231591 Sometimes I just like to let the AI do its magik while I go to the meeting rooms upstairs and sling some web.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

]]> By: DW https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231587 Tue, 02 Sep 2025 15:28:51 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231587 I think AI has the potential to enhance recovery rates, improve work/life balance, mitigate risk, remove inefficiency, and focus lawyer time on the work that needs innovation and judgement.

I agree with “name @ 10:44 am’ that it is hard to see how AI can increase chargeable output, absent misrepresentation.

There is an opportunity for solicitors to take on more work that would otherwise have been outsourced to Counsel; legal research has never been more accessible.

The next wave will be interesting; law firms building AI into their operating model rather than dabbling around the edges.

]]> By: Jack https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231584 Tue, 02 Sep 2025 14:30:08 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231584 I’ve never ever seen anything that results in lawyers reducing their fees

]]> By: Too much admin https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231568 Tue, 02 Sep 2025 12:52:24 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231568 In reply to name.

I used to do 7 chargeable hours a day and 3 non-chargeable hours a day. If I use AI to get my 3 hours non-chargeable work done in 30 minutes, I might spent some of the extra 2 and a half hours billing…

]]> By: name https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/09/lawyers-using-ai-to-boost-billable-hours-report-finds/#comment-1231551 Tue, 02 Sep 2025 09:44:44 +0000 https://www.legalcheek.com/?p=223718#comment-1231551 If you were previously billing for work on an hourly basis, and AI has reduced the number of hours needed to complete the work on a matter, then AI will reduce the amount you can bill on that matter. If you then use the hours freed up to bill on another matter, the amount you are billing is the same as previously because you’re still working the same number of hours. If anything it’s slightly less lucrative because you need to handle more admin over multiple smaller matters, rather than simply starting your timers on a single matter and billing 12 hours on grunt work (like doc review) each day. AI increasing billables therefore doesn’t really make sense. What am I missing?

Also, it’s not a surprise that the Lexis has put at the bottom of the article a form to get a quote for Lexis+ AI.

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