The Innovation Bottleneck No One Talks About
Kaichen Xu recently laid out a compelling case for why Big Law is an extreme example of the innovator’s dilemma. He’s right: law firms are structurally wired to resist the very kind of change that AI demands. But there’s another bottleneck—just as real, just as limiting - that rarely gets discussed.
It’s not just the firm’s structure that stalls transformation. It’s the behavior of the individuals within it.
Even with a perfect GenAI strategy in place, a firm will struggle to move forward unless attorneys - especially partners - start using GenAI tools for simple, everyday tasks, learning from them, and building new habits. Unfortunately, that first step isn’t happening in many firms.
Most Law Firms Are Collections of Individuals, Not Unified Machines
Let’s get practical: firms don’t “adopt” AI- people do. Or don’t.
Strategy decks and firmwide goals matter, but the real pace of change is set by what attorneys actually do in their day-to-day work. And too often, when it comes to GenAI, the answer is: nothing.
That attorneys hesitate to use GenAI for client work is understandable. But what’s surprising is how many haven’t tried any GenAI tool - not even for personal use. Not for brainstorming a vacation. Not for writing a love song. Not even out of curiosity.
Instead, their understanding is shaped by headlines—about hallucinations, copyright lawsuits, and misuse. These stories reinforce the belief that GenAI is too risky to trust. But those beliefs aren’t based on experience. They come from distance.
And that’s a problem. Because the people avoiding GenAI altogether are often the same ones making firmwide decisions about it. The joke about someone referring to AI as “A-one” instead of “A-I” isn’t a joke - it happened. And it reflects a deeper issue: how can someone lead or evaluate AI adoption for law firm partners without ever having tried the tool themselves?
It’s like warning others about the dangers of electric bikes without ever having ridden one. From a distance, it’s all risk. But up close, it’s just a different way to ride. And you’ll be surprised how far and how fast you can go once you try.
Update: Recent Incidents Highlight the Importance of GenAI Familiarity Among Partners
Recent events have underscored the critical need for law firm partners to develop a hands-on understanding of Generative AI tools. Notably:
- Butler Snow LLP: Partners at the firm submitted court filings containing AI-generated citations that were inaccurate, leading to judicial scrutiny and potential sanctions. The firm acknowledged the misuse of AI without proper verification. (Read more)
- K&L Gates LLP: In collaboration with another firm, attorneys filed briefs with fictitious legal citations produced by AI tools. This resulted in a $31,000 sanction and highlighted the dangers of unvetted AI usage in legal documents. (Read more)
These incidents are not isolated missteps but serve as cautionary tales about the risks of relying on AI without adequate understanding and oversight. They reinforce the argument that partners, not just associates or support staff, must engage directly with GenAI tools to grasp their capabilities and limitations fully.
Building familiarity through regular, hands-on use is essential to prevent such errors and to harness the benefits of AI responsibly within legal practice.
Why Traditional Training Doesn’t Stick
To be fair, many firms haven’t made it easy to try GenAI tools. Some require hours of mandatory training, often focused on learning how to prompt. For a busy attorney, especially a partner juggling dozens of matters, that’s a hard sell.
Worse, most GenAI training misses the mark - not because the content is wrong, but because the format doesn’t change behavior.
Learning GenAI isn’t hard. What can be confusing is that the prompt bar makes many tools look like Google. But if you use a GenAI tool like you would Google, Google often will be better.
The training programs often focus on features or narrow use cases - how to use the tool for one specific task. That may help in the moment, but it rarely leads to lasting change.
What people need is support to build a habit - ways to make the tool useful in their everyday work. Without that, GenAI becomes just another promising initiative that fades into the background.
Xu is right: structural challenges in Big Law are real. Risk aversion, the billable hour, and the partnership model all make it hard to carve out time for experimentation.
But here’s the irony: attorneys are already overwhelmed with non-billable work - responding to complex emails, writing internal memos, preparing presentations, or drafting recommendations. (Some estimates suggest over 40% of attorney time is spent on non-billable tasks - Clio.)
That’s where the opportunity lies, especially when it comes to AI adoption for law firm partners. The tools are there. The use cases are obvious. What’s missing is the habit.
Micro-Change Is Possible—Even in Big Law
Structural change is slow. But micro-change? That’s absolutely possible - especially for individuals who want to stay relevant. And it seems every attorney I meet falls into that category.
You don’t need to overhaul the firm to make progress. You just need to help attorneys build one new habit. One way to make GenAI part of how they already work.
And the biggest gains? They’re unlikely to come from associates, who are still learning the fundamentals of practice. Partners, however, stand to gain significant time and leverage if they start using GenAI for non-billable tasks.
Once someone starts - for example by investing just 30 minutes a week - they begin to understand what’s possible. They will see how fast the technology is evolving. They will start asking better questions. And perhaps most importantly, they will stop watching from the sidelines.
This foundational comfort matters. Before law firms can deploy GenAI agents or build agentic workflows, their decision-makers need to understand what the technology can do—and what it can’t. That kind of understanding only comes from regular, hands-on use.
It’s another reason why firms need AI adoption for law firm partners, not just younger, tech-savvy associates.
That’s Why We Created the Gen AI Edge Program
We created the GenAI Edge Program to address this exact bottleneck in AI adoption for law firm partners and other busy professionals.
It’s not another training. It’s a habit-building experience designed for people who know GenAI matters - but aren’t sure how to get started.
Over four weeks, participants receive gentle nudges and practical use prompts to help them integrate GenAI into their daily routines. No pressure. No jargon. Just progress.
And once they see the time saved, the creative ideas unlocked, and the friction reduced, any next step becomes easier and more comfortable. With firsthand experience, decision-makers are far better equipped to make strategic investment choices.
That’s how transformation starts.
Not with a vision. Not with a mandate. But with new habits.