Legal Innovation Spotlight Will AI Create Better Lawyers or Fewer Lawyers
Feb 18, 2026
Lev Loukhton, legal-tech investor and ex-Magic Circle partner, and Antti Innanen, legal design founder and former tech lawyer, debate AI’s impact on legal work. They weigh which tasks are automatable versus strategic. They argue about who should drive change, how firms must train lawyers, and whether AI will reshape revenue and roles across practice areas.
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Regular Legal Work Is The Majority
- Most legal work is neither boring clerical nor highly strategic; it's regular legal work that blends both elements.
- Automating routine tasks may also erode parts of strategic work because strategy often arises from client context, not lawyer availability.
AI As An Inevitable Game Changer
- AI is a fundamental game changer capable of doing a meaningful share of legal work today.
- Whether the percentage is 20% or 44% is secondary; the baseline is that the technology already exists and matters.
Signing Paperwork Consumed Associate Bandwidth
- Lev recalls junior-associate signing logistics that consumed hours: printing signature pages, fixing jams, and version control.
- He says tools like DocuSign removed that clerical burden and he won't miss those tasks.