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EARLY
PREVENT DISPUTES
Legal AI should prioritize preventing disputes and delivering real measurable client value By Hanna Roos
When I started out as a dispute resolution lawyer, I worked at leading law firms on high-stakes cases involving everything from safeguarding the human rights of independence fighters to fine art fraud, lifesaving treatments, and superyachts. I believed the best lawyers were the ones who could win the hardest cases. Years later, after handling complex disputes across industries and jurisdictions, I’ ve come to a different conclusion: with some exceptions, the best lawyers are the ones who kill disputes early.
Winning vs preventing
That is why I find today’ s conversation around legal AI both energizing and superficial.
Energizing, because AI has the potential to transform legal services more profoundly than any technology shift, I have seen in my career. Superficial, because too much of the industry conversation still feels focused on optics rather than transformative outcomes.
Every week brings another announcement, with firms rolling out AI assistants across entire practices. But amid the buzz, a concern arises: is the legal sector drifting into AI windowdressing, focusing more on demonstrating AI adoption than proving business value or ROI?
AI hype vs value
Recently, a UK law firm made headlines after linking a £ 1 million bonus pool to employees collectively reaching one million Microsoft Copilot prompts. The target was reportedly achieved months ahead of schedule.
Don’ t get me wrong. Law has historically been slow to adopt new technology, and firms want to encourage experimentation. Embracing AI is the first step, for sure. But it also raises an important question: when did prompt volume become the metric that matters, over, and above impact delivered by law firms to clients?
Using AI more often does not automatically mean clients receive better outcomes. Measuring adoption is easy. Delivering and
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