What If AI Makes the Legal Market Bigger, Not Smaller?

Live from ILTACON | Sponsored by Steno Legal technology used to move on annual planning cycles. Now, even 90 days can feel too slow. Live from ILTACON, David Cowen sits down with Damien Riehl, Solutions Champion at Clio, to unpack what happens when the pace of AI development becomes exponential and the traditional boundaries between law, LegalTech and frontier AI begin to disappear. Their conversation moves from the influx of capital and outside talent into legal to the arrival of foundation model companies as new competitors. But the bigger question is what all of this means for lawyers. Could AI reduce the cost of legal work so dramatically that instead of shrinking the market, it unlocks entirely new demand? In this episode: Why legal technology may have moved beyond the 90-day change cycle Where Damien looks to understand what is coming next in AI Why new talent and capital are flooding into legal What happens when frontier AI companies move directly into LegalTech Why data may become the defining advantage for legal technology companies What curiosity, adaptability, resourcefulness and grit mean in an exponential market Why multi-agent AI represents another major shift in how work gets done How AI could dramatically expand access to legal services Why lawyers could become busier because of AI, not in spite of it Chapters 00:10 | Why LegalTech Is on an Exponential Curve 01:18 | From 12-Month Planning to 90-Day Change Cycles 01:42 | Where to Look to Understand What AI Will Do Next 02:39 | The New Talent Entering the Legal Industry 03:21 | Why Capital Is Flooding Into LegalTech 04:27 | When Frontier AI Companies Enter Legal 05:46 | Disruption Disrupting Disruption 06:28 | What Blockbuster, Nokia and Kodak Can Teach Legal 07:16 | The New Build vs. Buy Question 08:10 | You Don't Have to Keep Up With Everything 09:07 | Curiosity, Adaptability, Resourcefulness and Grit 10:19 | What Was Impossible Three Months Ago Is Possible Today 10:35 | The Shift From AI Answers to AI Agents 11:50 | What Happens to Human Capital in an AI Economy? 12:59 | Could AI Actually Increase Demand for Lawyers? 13:38 | The Opportunity to Serve Unmet Legal Needs The Big Idea What if AI doesn't make the legal market smaller? What if it makes the pie dramatically bigger? If AI lowers the cost of legal services, work that was previously too expensive to justify may suddenly become accessible. That creates a very different future for the profession. Instead of lawyers becoming less necessary because of AI, Damien sees the possibility that lawyers become busier than ever because of AI, while serving legal needs that historically went unmet. The challenge isn't knowing everything that's changing. It's staying curious enough to see what just became possible. Follow SOLID for more conversations with the leaders shaping what comes next in legal: https://solid.legal/ 🎧 Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Share this episode and take your career from now to next! Never eat alone!