How the Next 5 Years Could Reshape Legal Services
- Alex Baker
- Sep 1
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 4
“The time is absolutely now.” That was the recurring theme in my conversation with Rob Hanna on the Legally Speaking Podcast. We covered a lot of ground, from launching legal tech ventures to why law firms need to think more like tech companies.
Watch on YouTube:
Listen on Spotify:
Lawyers as Founders: From Legal Practice to Legal Product
Many of today’s most promising legal tech startups are founded by lawyers. They have deep domain expertise, but often lack the commercial, product, or technical background needed to build scalable businesses (that’s why I started the Legal Tech Collective - to help lawyers become better entrepreneurs).
COI – The Cost of Inaction. Why Firms Should Be Evolving Now
Clients already use generative AI. They want value, predictability, and speed. Firms that don’t adapt will fall behind.
And in instances ripe for productisation, they want the outcome with predictable costs and a faster turnaround. To deliver this, firms must rethink service design from the ground up.
The law firm of the future won’t be built on billable hours and incremental growth. It will:
Leverage AI to deliver the work, not just support it
Use lawyers for oversight, judgment, and governance.
Serve clients with faster, better, more cost-effective outcomes
Law firms can shift from efficiency tools to building new legal services. That means changing:
Commercial models (upfront investment for long-term scale)
Capital allocation (towards R&D, not just profit-taking)
GTM strategies (product-led, scalable, tech-enabled)
Don’t Build Ten Startups - Build One That Works.
Firms don’t need to eat the elephant all at once. Start small.
Identify low-margin, repeatable work
Validate the idea
Productise it into a tech-enabled service
Take the service to the market
This doesn’t just improve margins but has the potential to unlock new markets – client segments who were previously not economically viable to serve.
Done well, a single £1M investment in productisation could unlock £12.5M in enterprise value. That’s the kind of multiplier that should excite even the most risk-averse partners.
What Is an AI-Native Law Firm?
It’s not about using AI. It’s about AI delivering legal work.
To be more specific, a digital first, AI native firm uses AI for intake, processing, and output, whilst human oversight is there to ensure quality and governance.
Examples like Garfield Law are already proving this model can work. The opportunity is there to replicate it across multiple areas of law.
Final Advice: Start Now. Start Small. Validate Everything.
Don’t wait for perfect conditions; take small steps forward and validate your thinking before you build.
You don’t need a five-year roadmap. You need a 90-day plan. And the time to start is now.
If you share our view on the future of legal and you're looking to build and scale your own tech enabled legal service - get in touch with our team to see how we can help you on your journey.