The Information Want to know more? Here’s what we’ve discovered in the ALM Global Newsroom: The Coming of Trump’s Judicial Picks Spurs Liberals to Press for Biden’s Picks Battle for Talent Pushes Big Law Into Uncharted Territory Gen AI Is Eliminating Legal Research and Internal Work Product Silos Challenges to Regulators Mount as the U.S. Supreme Court Mulls Chevron Deference Legal Rushes to Address AI Risk but Some Efforts Come Up Short What it Means to be a Law Firm Partner Now Everyone Wants a Bite of Apple Why Retirement Might Be Increasingly Top of Mind for Attorneys The Growing Tension – And Opportunity – In Big Law Nonequity Tiers The Techification of the Law Firm C-Suite More Judges Voice Their Concerns as AI Enters Courtrooms How Tech is Helping Fuel the Rise of the Midmarket Can Big Law Extract the Maximum Value of AI? In Partner Pay, Law Firms Are Under Pressure to Strike the Right Balance Legal Forges Ahead With DEI Efforts Despite Backlash Law Firms Are Turning to Online Training Platforms as Apprenticeship Model Falters Gen AI Is Reorienting the Legal Tech Industry. Are Legal Professionals Ready? Horizon Scanning the Election’s Impact on Antitrust Regulation Chief Justice Loses Ability – or Willingness – To Be a Consensus Builder Don’t Be an Ostrich: Understand (and Embrace) the Benefits and Risks of AI Legal Industry Gears Up as Presidential Election Hangs in the Balance The Forecast Oh, what will 2025 bring? What might we recap 12 months from now? There will of course be something that happens that no one saw coming or could have predicted, but that we will have had to react to and be impacted by. It’s the dealing with the unknown where the legal industry thrives, at least as it relates to advising clients through it. What we can probably be sure of is that the key overarching issue that will consume the legal industry in 2025 is working through the impacts of the administration change and all that will come with it. Whether its the changes at the top of regulatory agencies, new executive orders or whether there will be a uniform approach to how various industries and issues are handled (i.e. tech or antitrust), the legal industry will be at the heart of unraveling, interpreting, renegotiating or reimagining how business gets done. It promises to be a busy, fruitful, complex year. Perhaps we will stop focusing on whether to use generative AI in 2025 and instead talk about how we are changing our service delivery models to better handle workloads, with the tool being gen AI. Adoption and point solutions will be the focus. It will be interesting to see whether the plethora of legal work will slow firms’ efforts to adopt AI and adjust business or pricing models because the money is flowing in — a shortsighted and limiting approach, of course, but it could be reality. It’s hard to imagine a year where talent won’t be a key theme for the legal industry. Skill sets and roles will continue to evolve around the edges within each segment of the profession. Even the day-to-day practitioner will have to become more tech proficient. Talent’s sway over particularly law firm operations and commentary may wane. Whatever the trends may be, we will be covering them in this space as they unfold and discussing them with you and other experts at our events. We look forward to continuing the conversation in 2025! | 