Stories making recent headlines on LawFuel . .
- Which Law Firms Could Be Left Behind in the 2025 Pay + Legal AI Shake-Up?
Big pay cheques, flashy AI demos, bold merger promises — these are all the usual theatrics in law firm press releases. But beneath the PR sheen, cracks are widening: not every firm can sustain both rising compensation and heavy AI spending without wobbling. Some are already looking shaky. - Deputy PM David Lammy’s Return to the Law
From Global Diplomacy to Leaking Courthouses David Lammy has swapped the trappings of global diplomacy for the joys of leaking court lavatories and backlogged justice. The former foreign secretary is now justice secretary, taking on a role that’s less about international summits and more about fractured legal aid, crumbling court estates, and prisons stuffed to… Read more: Deputy PM David Lammy’s Return to the Law - The Giorgio Armani Business Rules That Lawyers Could Learn From
What Lawyers Could Learn from Fashion’s Last Emperor Norma Harris, Contributing writer Giorgio Armani died last week at 91, still clutching the reins of his $12 billion empire like a silk-suited Napoleon. While the fashion world mourns the loss of its most stubborn perfectionist, lawyers—those other merchants of expensive suits—might want to examine what the… Read more: The Giorgio Armani Business Rules That Lawyers Could Learn From - Google’s $425 Million Trial Loss And Cooley’s Surprise Starring Role
The Lawyers Who Took Google’s Billing Bonanza Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor Google has been whacked with a $425 million jury verdict in a class-action privacy trial in a case that centres on the company’s habit of harvesting user data even after people switched off supposedly protective settings. It’s the corporate version of saying “don’t… Read more: Google’s $425 Million Trial Loss And Cooley’s Surprise Starring Role - The Lawyer Who Worked 23 Hours a Day And the Billing Scam Everyone Knows About
The Law Firm Billing Myth Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing editor The legal profession has always been fond of a long lunch, a late night, and a generous definition of billable. But every now and then, someone pushes the grift so far it becomes a morality tale, which is what just occurred with an associate at… Read more: The Lawyer Who Worked 23 Hours a Day And the Billing Scam Everyone Knows About - Japan’s Biggest Publishers Just Sued Perplexity AI for $44m
Bezos-Backed Perplexity AI Accused of Free-Riding on Journalism Journalists aren’t thrilled about being turned into free training fodder for Silicon Valley’s latest obsession. Now Japan’s Nikkei, owner of the Financial Times, and the Asahi Shimbun have filed a lawsuit accusing US-based Perplexity AI of industrial-scale plagiarism dressed up as “answer search.” Nikkei and Asahi Take… Read more: Japan’s Biggest Publishers Just Sued Perplexity AI for $44m - AI Is Smarter Than You—Until It Lies. Here’s How Your Firm Will Go Up in Flames If You Let It
Generative AI is everywhere, but when lawyers used it, two ended up sanctioned for fake citations it’s time to cue the panic or – much better – privot to control and oversight of what your legal AI efforts are doing. Here we look at some of the key steps law firms should take to avoid the risks increasingly associated with generative AI tools. - Lawyers Built This AI to Read Judges’ Minds — And BigLaw Is Already Hooked
And Now Legal AI That Sees Into the Judge’s Mind . . Almost Tom Borman, LawFuel contributing editor Every litigator wants the edge. Some want it ethical. Others want it engineered and now a trio of brains — one BigLaw, two tech — have raised $5.3 million to deliver a crystal ball for courtrooms. It’s… Read more: Lawyers Built This AI to Read Judges’ Minds — And BigLaw Is Already Hooked - £65m Lifeline or Financial Casket? Pogust Goodhead’s Hedge-Driven Drama Unfolds
A Hedge Fund Lifeline – With Strings Attached Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing editor Pogust Goodhead, the claimant firm spearheading the £36 billion Mariana dam class action against BHP, has drawn another £65 million from hedge-fund backer Gramercy, taking its overall debt north of $1.7 billion, once interest is factored in. The chief Executive and co-founder… Read more: £65m Lifeline or Financial Casket? Pogust Goodhead’s Hedge-Driven Drama Unfolds - Harmeet Dhillon’s DOJ Shake-Up
Dhillon DOJ: A Purge or a Reset? Ben Thomson, LawFuel contributing editor The appointment of Harmeet Dhillon as the top government lawyer for civil rights law is the kind of reshuffle that resets enforcement priorities, unsettles BigLaw practice groups, and sets the stage for an increase in DEI litigation. Most DOJ appointments don’t trend outside… Read more: Harmeet Dhillon’s DOJ Shake-Up - Burford Capital Isn’t Just Financing Suits Anymore; It’s Trying to Own the Firm Too
Burford Capital the litigation finance behemoth wants not just to bankroll lawsuits but to buy stakes in actual U.S. law firms. The move isn’t your garden-variety PE play; it’s a direct challenge to the profession’s no-capital-external-to-the-firm orthodoxy. Burford, under the ever-quotable Jonathan Molot, (pictured above) told the Financial Times he is floating a structure ripped from healthcare and accounting playbooks: split a law firm into two entities, a lawyer-owned practice handling client work, and a Managed Service Organization (MSO) holding assets and providing back‑office muscle in exchange for a cut. It’s a classic “external capital without violating ethics rules.” - AI Is Hiring and Firing – The Legal Jobs Recovery Nobody Asked For
Five Straight Months of Job Growth in Legal — But AI Is Replacing Your Paralegal Norma Harris, LawFuel contributing editor The US legal sector just clocked five straight months of job growth, Reuters reports — the longest streak since the pandemic years. But before junior associates start high-fiving in the cafeteria, here’s the catch: many… Read more: AI Is Hiring and Firing – The Legal Jobs Recovery Nobody Asked For
