Damien began by framing the current landscape: The traditional billable hour still dominates legal billing, making up 85% of revenues for many firms. But the rise of LLMs, capable of completing tasks in minutes that once took hours, is shaking this model to its core.

Damien outlined two potential futures:

1. The Status Quo. Lawyers use AI tools to answer more questions in the same amount of time, offering clients more comprehensive service while maintaining billable hours.

2. A New Paradigm. Clients demand flat fees and in-house teams leverage AI to handle simpler tasks, pushing firms to redefine their value proposition.

Expanding The Market: Serving The Underserved

While lawyers often lament the risks posed by LLMs, Damien emphasized the immense latent market AI can unlock. Today, 80% to 90% of legal needs go unmet, leaving middle- and lower-income clients without access to justice. LLMs can help bridge this gap by enabling firms to serve these clients profitably.

“We need to stop seeing underserved markets as charity cases,” Damien argued. “These are opportunities to scale our impact and grow our businesses.”

By automating routine work, lawyers can serve more clients at lower costs — tapping into a vast, underserved market that includes individuals, small businesses, and even underrepresented industries.

The Future Of Pricing: More Than The Billable Hour

Damien explored alternative pricing models, including:

Flat Fees. By reducing costs through automation, firms can offer competitive flat fees while preserving or even increasing profit margins.

Value-Based Pricing. Lawyers could align fees with the impact they create, such as a percentage of a client’s savings or added value. While this model is promising, ethical and regulatory hurdles remain.

Hybrid Models. For unpredictable or complex cases, firms may still rely on billable hours alongside alternative models.

These shifts require a fundamental rethinking of how lawyers define, measure, and deliver value.

Navigating Ethical And Regulatory Challenges

The conversation turned to ethics and regulation, particularly around LLMs and the unauthorized practice of law (UPL). Damien highlighted three key points:

1. Reasonable Fees. Lawyers must balance efficiency with fairness. Charging 10 hours for a task that takes AI two minutes may no longer meet the ethical standard of reasonableness.

2. Confidentiality. Firms must ensure that client data remains secure, even when using third-party AI tools.

3. UPL And AI. Tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini can draft legal documents, raising questions about whether AI constitutes unauthorized practice.

Damien noted that regulators face an uphill battle in enforcing UPL laws against tech giants like Google and Microsoft. Smaller legal tech companies, however, may bear the brunt of these disputes.

Opportunities For Lawyers: 5 Doors To Success

Damien outlined five pathways lawyers can take to thrive in the age of AI:

1. Leverage AI For Efficiency. Use LLMs to complete more work in less time, offering greater value to clients.

2. Adopt Flat Fees. Lower costs through automation and compete effectively with in-house teams.

3. Expand Down-Market. Serve middle- and lower-income clients who have historically been priced out of legal services.

4. Go Up-Market. Meet the growing demand from heavily regulated industries like automotive and finance.

5. Develop Technology. Create AI-driven tools to empower lawyers and clients.

What About The Regulators?

Damien predicted that bar associations, constrained by shrinking membership and limited resources, may struggle to enforce strict UPL rules against major tech players. Meanwhile, cases like UpSolve — which challenges UPL statutes on First Amendment grounds — could pave the way for more liberal interpretations of what constitutes legal practice.

However, he cautioned against relying on regulatory inertia. Lawyers should focus on adapting their practices to serve a broader market, rather than resisting inevitable changes.

Final Thoughts

As the conversation drew to a close, Damien issued a challenge to the legal profession:

“If we’re not serving 80% to 90% of the population, we’re failing. AI isn’t the enemy — it’s the tool we need to scale our impact and fulfill our ethical obligations.”

The rise of LLMs is less a threat to lawyers and more a wake-up call. By embracing new technologies, exploring alternative pricing models, and serving untapped markets, lawyers can not only maintain their standard of living but also expand access to justice.

The future of law is about choice: Which door will you walk through?