In a move that feels like a preview of what Big Law will look like in the AI era, Linklaters has officially launched a 20-lawyer global “AI Lawyer” team—a specialist squad embedded across the firm’s worldwide offices to accelerate the shift toward AI-powered legal delivery.
The firm isn’t just testing GenAI tools on the sidelines. It’s institutionalizing them.
A Law-Firm Power Play in the AI Arms Race
While most global firms are quietly experimenting with AI behind closed doors, Linklaters has taken a louder, bolder step: creating a dedicated cohort of lawyers trained not just in legal doctrine, but in AI workflow design, prompt engineering, and tech-driven delivery models.
These aren’t data scientists parachuted in from Silicon Valley. They’re practicing lawyers who know client work inside out — and are now being upskilled to rebuild it.
Each member goes through a rigorous internal bootcamp covering AI strategy, tooling, advanced prompting, and change management. After training, they return to their home practice groups, serving as in-house catalysts for AI adoption and new workflow creation.
Why This Matters
Linklaters is making a clear strategic bet: the next competitive edge in Big Law won’t simply come from digital tools but from lawyers who know how to wield them at scale.
By embedding AI-native lawyers directly into transactional, regulatory, and litigation teams worldwide, the firm is signaling three big shifts:
- AI isn’t a “support function” anymore. It’s becoming a frontline capability.
- Legal workflows are getting redesigned, not just automated.
- Clients expect more: faster, leaner, and tech-augmented delivery.
This puts pressure on rival firms still treating AI as an innovation side-project.
A Glimpse Into the Future of Legal Work
The new team isn’t tasked with replacing legal work — but with re-engineering how it’s done. That includes:
- building repeatable AI-driven workflows for research, contracts, and due diligence
- training practice teams on power-use techniques
- identifying tasks that can be redesigned for speed or scale
- piloting firm-wide GenAI tools and driving adoption
Essentially, the “AI Lawyers” act as internal transformation architects.
The Bigger Picture
Law firms have long struggled to convert tech hype into everyday practice. Linklaters’ move attempts to break that cycle by formalizing expertise and making AI fluency a core legal skill — not an optional curiosity.
If this experiment works, it could reset expectations for what a modern global law firm looks like. If it doesn’t, it will still likely spark a wave of similar initiatives across the industry.
Either way, this is one of the strongest signals yet that AI-augmented lawyering is shifting from buzzword to job description.