Okayyyy….
The boss of a top legal AI company has claimed that partners at elite law firms are undercharging.
Max Junestrand, the 26 year-old Swedish tech whizz who runs Legora, believes that law firms’ billable hour model means “you overcharge for the associates and you actually undercharge for the partners”.
Speaking to the All-In podcast, Junestrand cited Kirkland & Ellis, where average profit per equity partner stands at £8.2 million, and charge our rates for the best lawyers reach thousands of pounds per hour, to illustrate his point, explaining:
“Thirty minutes of a Kirkland partner’s time when it really matters can be worth a lot more than that, if it’s bet the company litigation or you avoid a pitfall that would have cost the company tens of millions of dollars.”
He continued: “The only way they know how to price that is to overcharge for the associates”.
Flattering partners, while downplaying the importance of their underlings, has long been a popular tactic for vendors selling to law firms. But the white collar job loss narrative around AI has seemingly taken this approach to the next level. Not that Junestrand, who graduated from a computer science degree in 2023, believes it’s all over for rookie lawyers. He added: “The job will exist, the tasks will be different. In order to have a partner-driven model you need to bring people up the ranks.”
Legora is one of a handful of legal AI companies that have experienced rapid growth in recent years. Awash with venture capital money, the company recently splashed out on a advertising campaign featuring actor Jude Law, which used the strapline ‘Law just got more attractive’.
