Magic Circle firm ramps up AI efforts
A&O Shearman is set to divert a chunk of its lawyers’ billable hours towards building specialist AI tools as part of a whopping $1.1 billion (£800 million) investment over the next five years.
Under the plans, the Magic Circle player will channel more than 5% of its annual revenue into its AI ambitions, with lawyers across every practice required to set aside at least 3% of their billable time to help develop the tech.
The idea is to put lawyers at the centre of AI development, using their specialist knowledge to create tools that can take on tasks within their respective practice areas and change how legal services are delivered to clients.
The firm says its approach follows several years of experimenting with the technology, with a focus on building AI systems around the expertise of its lawyers rather than relying solely on ready-made products.
Hervé Ekué, the firm’s global managing partner, said:
“This significant investment signals where we intend to take the firm over the next decade. AI lets us bring an enhanced skillset to our clients’ work, however complex, on a global scale and in a way that wasn’t possible before. The firm that leads will combine exceptional legal judgment with the speed and scale to apply it consistently, anywhere in the world. We intend to be that firm and that is what this investment accelerates.”
A&O Shearman is no stranger to legal AI. It started testing Harvey back in 2022 and went on to become one of the platform’s earliest major law firm customers, before developing AI-powered products of its own.
The announcement comes as the competition to get ahead on AI continues to heat up across BigLaw. Fellow Magic Circle outfit Freshfields teamed up with Anthropic earlier this year, giving nearly 6,000 staff across its global offices access to the company’s Claude AI models.
A&O Shearman’s latest move suggests the AI race is no longer just about getting access to the latest tools, but also how much lawyer time firms are willing to throw at developing their own.