Zach Abramowitz is Legally Disrupted

Richard Tromans of Artificial Lawyer is back with Zach and on the attack as they square up over whether massive Legal AI funding, truly signals systemic transformation. They then discuss whether these massive sums of money are hitting a tipping point and what could happen if the levee breaks. Maybe the legal industry is simply running in place. 

In this Episode:

00:00  Zach’s Hot Disruptive Legal Take
00:42  Could Harvey be Valued at $16B?
01:50   Legal AI Fatigue
03:20  Harvey, Legora and The Big Short?
08:46  Legal AI a Luxury Handbag Market?
10:31   AI Wizards and Muggles in Big Law 
13:35   The Seeds of Systemic AI Impact
21:36   Valuations Signal Technology is Essential In Legal Service Delivery
23:02   Jevons Paradox and the Volume of Modern Contracts
30:08   AI Still Needs Daycare
36:48   “New Mod” and “AI First” Firms are Pressuring Big Law
44:18   Is the Market Wrong on TR/Lexis
49:48   Are Chief AI Officers CINOs Differently Packaged?

 

Subscribe to Zach’s newsletter https://www.legallydisrupted.com/

Follow Zach on X https://x.com/ZachAbramowitz?lang=en

Engage Killer Whale Strategies https://www.killerwhalestrategies.com

Learn more about Richard - tromansconsulting.com, artificiallawyer.com 

Follow Richard - linkedin.com/in/artificiallawyer, https://x.com/ArtificialLawya

A 35-Year Big Law Veteran Is Doing the Best Work of His Career With AI But He Doesn’t Call His Firm AI-First. Brian Belt explains why Acevedo Belt is “judgment-first,” why he thinks legal AI is a bargain, and how AI is changing everything from junior-lawyer training to the kinds of matters a small firm can take on.

In this episode:

0:00      Zach's Hot Disruptive Legal Take
4:25      The Big Law Veteran Who Loves AI
6:21      "Harvey Writes Better Than I Do"
7:39      Why "ROI" Is the Wrong Metric
11:13     Clients Notice the Difference
13:47     You Can Finally Train Junior Associates
16:07     New Way to Train Associates
21:17     Scaling Up and Scaling Down
24:24     Why Harvey Is Better for Small Firms
28:46     Legal AI is a Bargain!
34:46     Process Mapping & the Best Use Cases
36:59     Why Not Just Use the Base Models?
37:54     Do Your Old Big Law Colleagues Get It?
40:32     What Is a "Judgment-First" Law Firm?
43:21     Do the Best Lawyers Run on No Sleep?

 

Subscribe to Zach’s newsletter: https://www.legallydisrupted.com/

Follow Zach on X: https://x.com/ZachAbramowitz?lang=en

Follow Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbelt

Engage Killer Whale Strategies: https://www.killerwhalestrategies.com

What happens when a veteran litigator starts treating AI less like a chatbot and more like an operating system for his cases? In this episode, Zach speaks with Arlo Devlin-Brown, founder of TDB Law, about how AI is changing the way he actually practices law. They discuss why AI may be particularly powerful for litigators, how Arlo has built an AI-powered system that continuously tracks his cases, and why the technology is more useful for exploring arguments and strategy than simply generating finished work. The conversation also explores the future of junior lawyers, why big law’s leverage model may be under pressure, and why Arlo rejects the idea that firms should sell themselves as “AI-native” rather than simply being excellent lawyers who use AI well.

In this episode:

Why AI may be more transformative for litigation than transactional law

How Arlo uses AI as an operating system and shared memory for his cases

Why AI can make junior lawyers more valuable, not obsolete

How AI could fundamentally reshape the Big Law leverage model

Why “AI-native” law firms may be missing the point

 

Subscribe to Zach’s newsletter
https://www.legallydisrupted.com/

 
Follow Zach on X
https://x.com/ZachAbramowitz?lang=en
 

Follow Along on LinkedIn:
Arlo - https://www.linkedin.com/in/arlodb
Zach - www.linkedin.com/in/zachabramowitz
 

Engage Killer Whale Strategies
https://www.killerwhalestrategies.com

What happens when a veteran Big Law attorney leaves a traditional partnership to help build a law firm from scratch? In this episode, Zach speaks with Batya Nadler, Partner at Norm Law, about her decision to join one of the legal industry's most ambitious AI-native firms. They discuss how Norm combines experienced lawyers with legal engineers and AI agents, why repeatable legal workflows are the ideal starting point for automation, and how AI is changing, not replacing, the role of senior attorneys. The conversation also explores why client relationships remain the foundation of legal practice, what skills lawyers need to thrive in an AI-first world, and why Batya believes the future belongs to firms built around AI from day one.

In this episode:

Why Batya left Big Law to help build an AI-native law firm from the ground up

How legal engineers and AI agents are transforming repeatable legal workflows

Why senior lawyers remain essential, even as AI automates more legal work

How Norm is rethinking the traditional law firm model around AI-native infrastructure

What lawyers can do today to become AI-fluent and prepare for the future of legal practice

 
Subscribe to Zach’s newsletter
https://www.legallydisrupted.com/
 
Follow Zach on X Zach 
https://x.com/ZachAbramowitz?lang=en
 

Follow Batya
https://www.linkedin.com/in/batya-nadler-1ba85410
 

 
Engage Killer Whale Strategies
https://www.killerwhalestrategies.com

Why are some general counsel suddenly becoming the most influential executives in the C-suite? In this episode, Zach speaks with Ross McNairn, founder and CEO of Wordsmith, about why AI is fundamentally changing the role of in-house legal teams. They discuss how legal departments are evolving from cost centers into strategic operators, why generic AI chatbots aren't enough for enterprise legal work, and how the next generation of legal technology will help GCs measure ROI, manage legal operations, and reduce reliance on outside counsel. The conversation also explores why traditional CLM systems have fallen short, the emergence of legal engineering, and what the future of corporate legal teams looks like in an AI-native world.
 

In this episode:

•⁠  ⁠Why AI is turning general counsel into technology leaders inside their organizations
•⁠  ⁠Why enterprise legal teams need more than ChatGPT to transform their workflows
•⁠  ⁠How legal departments can finally measure ROI and demonstrate business value
•⁠  ⁠Why traditional CLM systems failed and what comes next
•⁠  ⁠How legal engineering is becoming one of the most important new roles in corporate legal

 
Follow Along:
Ross - https://x.com/rossmcnairn?lang=en, https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossmcnairn
Zach - https://x.com/ZachAbramowitz?lang=en, www.linkedin.com/in/zachabramowitz

 
Subscribe to Zach’s newsletter
https://www.legallydisrupted.com/
 
Engage Killer Whale Strategies
https://www.killerwhalestrategies.com