BigLaw Chairs Say AI Is Redefining Associate Roles and Hiring
BigLaw leaders report AI is accelerating associate advancement and changing hiring practices.
Why it matters: Understanding AI’s impact helps BigLaw partners and talent leaders adapt workforce strategies and improve technology use.
- Fried Frank’s AI platform FundAssist aims to fast-track associates from junior to mid-level roles.
- Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease created AI partner personas to aid in associate training and document editing.
- Goodwin Procter targets 90% AI tool usage by its staff by year-end 2026.
- An unnamed BigLaw partner notes AI is reducing junior associate and support staff hiring.
- Foley & Lardner’s Chief Talent Officer stresses incoming associates need AI literacy and sound human judgment.
BigLaw firms are leveraging artificial intelligence to reshape the role and expectations of associates amid growing technology adoption. Fried Frank’s internal AI platform, FundAssist, exemplifies this trend by helping junior associates move more rapidly into mid-level positions, accelerating their development and productivity. Co-head of Fried Frank’s private funds group Becky Zelenka commented, "It enables you to do more deals. We do expect a junior would become what we think of now as a mid-level faster." (Above the Law).
At Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, the introduction of "AI personas"—digital profiles mimicking 19 partners’ thinking styles—helps associates learn partner preferences and improve document editing, illustrating personalized AI assistance in training (Above the Law).
Goodwin Procter LLP aims to become an "AI-native" firm by equipping all employees with AI tools, targeting 90% usage by the end of 2026. This broad technology integration highlights the industry’s commitment to embedding AI into daily legal work (Law360).
However, an unnamed BigLaw partner has observed that AI adoption is already reducing the need for junior lawyers and support staff, signaling a shift from traditional large-scale hiring strategies: "Scale armies are dead in the water. AI is already obliterating the high-leverage model. We are a million miles from that, but even we have started recruiting less, at the junior levels, support, everywhere" (Above the Law).
Rebecca Bradley, Chief Talent Officer at Foley & Lardner LLP, emphasizes that new associates must come equipped with AI literacy — they should be able to identify when AI can enhance work, but also recognize when human judgment must prevail. "We’re building an AI-first approach, so I’d want them to walk in with enough familiarity to recognize when AI can be an enabler in legal work but also know when human judgment has to lead," she said (Foley & Lardner LLP).
These developments at leading firms reflect a broader evolution in associate roles to meet client demands for efficiency and the realities of AI-driven legal practice. Law firm leaders will need to balance technology integration with managing talent pipelines to maintain a competitive edge.
By the numbers:
- FundAssist helps junior associates advance faster — Fried Frank’s AI platform.
- 19 partner AI personas aid associate training — Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease.
- 90% AI tool usage target by 2026 — Goodwin Procter LLP
Yes, but: While AI adoption is accelerating associate work and reducing some hiring, long-term effects on talent pipelines remain unclear.
What's next: Firms will likely continue refining AI tools and adjusting hiring as technologies and workflows evolve through 2026 and beyond.