Jordan Furlong
@jordanfurlong.com
Legal sector analyst, consultant, author, speaker, and reformer (he/him). I publish a free bi-weekly Substack newsletter: https://jordanfurlong.substack.com/ "We have the chance to turn the pages over." Luke 12:24-32.
Reposted by Jordan Furlong
FYI, if you're outside the US, you can come here and just collect $3,000
Kristi Noem makes an announcement on Fox & Friends: "We are saying that if you voluntarily want to go home now to your country, if you're in the US illegally, we'll give you $3,000 through the holidays to send you home. We'll buy you a ticket, give you $3,000 to go home."
December 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
FYI, if you're outside the US, you can come here and just collect $3,000
Reposted by Jordan Furlong
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
One thing about redacting documents is that very few people know how to do it flawlessly, whereas many, many people know how to undo the work of mediocre redaction. Something to remember in the coming days.
December 19, 2025 at 11:16 PM
One thing about redacting documents is that very few people know how to do it flawlessly, whereas many, many people know how to undo the work of mediocre redaction. Something to remember in the coming days.
A judge of Quebec's Court of Appeal has (evidently) stepped down to become the new Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada, the highest-ranking government legal job in the country. I'm pretty sure that's unprecedented. www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news...
Prime Minister Carney announces changes in the senior ranks of the public service
Today, the Prime Minister, Mark Carney, announced the following changes in the senior ranks of the public service, to take effect early in the New Year:
www.pm.gc.ca
December 19, 2025 at 4:24 PM
A judge of Quebec's Court of Appeal has (evidently) stepped down to become the new Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada, the highest-ranking government legal job in the country. I'm pretty sure that's unprecedented. www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news...
Good morning. Water your Christmas tree.
You might be thinking, "CPSC, does a dry Christmas tree really burn that much faster than a well-watered tree?"
Friend, let's find out together by watching this PSA.
Friend, let's find out together by watching this PSA.
December 19, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Good morning. Water your Christmas tree.
I'm not usually that interested in BigLaw mergers. But there've been enough massive ones recently to tell me something serious is happening in this part of the legal economy. One of two things is going on here -- possibly both:
Lawyers Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader set to merge in record $3.6bn deal ft.trib.al/mRY40Bd
Lawyers Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader set to merge in record $3.6bn deal
Combination that would deliver 3,000-lawyer behemoth is the latest transatlantic merger
ft.trib.al
December 18, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I'm not usually that interested in BigLaw mergers. But there've been enough massive ones recently to tell me something serious is happening in this part of the legal economy. One of two things is going on here -- possibly both:
Describing the rule of law as the "terms and conditions of society that you can't scroll past" is one of the best plain-language descriptions I've heard: www.brittlestar.com/p/the-rule-o...
The Rule of Law: It’s Not Just for Lawyers and People Who Say “Whereas”
Ours To Protect
www.brittlestar.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Describing the rule of law as the "terms and conditions of society that you can't scroll past" is one of the best plain-language descriptions I've heard: www.brittlestar.com/p/the-rule-o...
Concise description of the American Arbitration Association's "AI Arbitrator" and why it's important: www.the8020lawyer.com/p/aaas-new-a.... I'm pretty confident AI is going to become a significant factor in dispute resolution. That's not at all the same thing as saying we'll have AI judges.
AAA’s new ‘AI Arbitrator’ launched last month
The 97-year-old AAA just debuted an AI that drafts awards—with a human arbitrator validating the decision. Here’s what matters.
www.the8020lawyer.com
December 17, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Concise description of the American Arbitration Association's "AI Arbitrator" and why it's important: www.the8020lawyer.com/p/aaas-new-a.... I'm pretty confident AI is going to become a significant factor in dispute resolution. That's not at all the same thing as saying we'll have AI judges.
Fifteen years ago, in a remarkably similar context (the impending end of WordPerfect), @sethgodin.bsky.social wrote: "When the platform changes, the leaders change." A technology platform shift in the legal sector on the scale Nikki describes could be cataclysmic. seths.blog/2010/03/the-...
December 17, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Fifteen years ago, in a remarkably similar context (the impending end of WordPerfect), @sethgodin.bsky.social wrote: "When the platform changes, the leaders change." A technology platform shift in the legal sector on the scale Nikki describes could be cataclysmic. seths.blog/2010/03/the-...
Insightful and important end-of-year article from @nikjet.bsky.social about how AI is shifting the gravitational center of legal work away from traditional hubs like email and Word documents and towards AI-native platforms. Must-read. www.legaltechnologyhub.com/contents/thi...
Things Fall Apart, the Center Cannot Hold: Heralding the Replatformization of Law
We are transitioning from a world anchored in Outlook and the DMS to one where AI-native platforms — legal assistants, orchestration layers, and workflow engines — become the primary inter...
www.legaltechnologyhub.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Insightful and important end-of-year article from @nikjet.bsky.social about how AI is shifting the gravitational center of legal work away from traditional hubs like email and Word documents and towards AI-native platforms. Must-read. www.legaltechnologyhub.com/contents/thi...
I think the reason I sometimes irritate law firms is that I don't get worked up about their profitability nearly as much as I do about the future prospects of the legal profession. Law firms will be more than fine post-AI; they'll be hugely profitable. Lawyers' post-AI position is far more tenuous.
Everyone asks, "Where will future experienced lawyers come from if AI allows law firms to stop training new associates?" No one has an answer. Yet the beat goes on. www.law360.com/pulse/modern...
I'm working on an answer, but as is often the case with my solutions, law firms probably won't like it.
I'm working on an answer, but as is often the case with my solutions, law firms probably won't like it.
Law Firms' Junior Roles At Risk From AI, Report Says - Law360 Pulse
Law firms are looking at the reduction of junior roles in the coming decade, alongside increases in technical roles and new payment structures due to the adoption of generative artificial intelligence...
www.law360.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:37 PM
I think the reason I sometimes irritate law firms is that I don't get worked up about their profitability nearly as much as I do about the future prospects of the legal profession. Law firms will be more than fine post-AI; they'll be hugely profitable. Lawyers' post-AI position is far more tenuous.
Everyone asks, "Where will future experienced lawyers come from if AI allows law firms to stop training new associates?" No one has an answer. Yet the beat goes on. www.law360.com/pulse/modern...
I'm working on an answer, but as is often the case with my solutions, law firms probably won't like it.
I'm working on an answer, but as is often the case with my solutions, law firms probably won't like it.
Law Firms' Junior Roles At Risk From AI, Report Says - Law360 Pulse
Law firms are looking at the reduction of junior roles in the coming decade, alongside increases in technical roles and new payment structures due to the adoption of generative artificial intelligence...
www.law360.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Everyone asks, "Where will future experienced lawyers come from if AI allows law firms to stop training new associates?" No one has an answer. Yet the beat goes on. www.law360.com/pulse/modern...
I'm working on an answer, but as is often the case with my solutions, law firms probably won't like it.
I'm working on an answer, but as is often the case with my solutions, law firms probably won't like it.
People (including those in corporations) are using Generative AI to get legal work done. Most of the time, it's working fine for what they need. www.law.com/legaltechnew...
This is the biggest story of AI and the law, and I'm not sure why more lawyers aren't paying serious attention to it.
This is the biggest story of AI and the law, and I'm not sure why more lawyers aren't paying serious attention to it.
Embracing Gen AI Faster Than Their Outside Counsel, Legal Departments Expect to Do More Internally| Law.com
A new survey of legal operations teams finds them well ahead of their outside counsel in gen AI adoption, amid pressure to reduce spending and provide faster service.
www.law.com
December 17, 2025 at 7:26 PM
People (including those in corporations) are using Generative AI to get legal work done. Most of the time, it's working fine for what they need. www.law.com/legaltechnew...
This is the biggest story of AI and the law, and I'm not sure why more lawyers aren't paying serious attention to it.
This is the biggest story of AI and the law, and I'm not sure why more lawyers aren't paying serious attention to it.
A+. "[Treating] human suffering as an investment opportunity" is exactly what we have to condemn. The arrival of Gen AI really could help democratize civil justice -- but it could just as easily see techbros replace lawyers as the new gatekeepers and toll collectors of legal help.
This week's #FridayFavorite comes from Vivek Sankaran on the problem with over-monetizing #AccessToJustice. It reminded me a lot of a question I love to ask: Are you solving the problem or profiting off of it?
viveksankaran.substack.com/p/monetizing...
viveksankaran.substack.com/p/monetizing...
December 5, 2025 at 5:40 PM
A+. "[Treating] human suffering as an investment opportunity" is exactly what we have to condemn. The arrival of Gen AI really could help democratize civil justice -- but it could just as easily see techbros replace lawyers as the new gatekeepers and toll collectors of legal help.
Any discussion of "buying law firms" always triggers my cognitive dissonance because I still struggle to see what exactly there is to buy. In most cases, there's no (structured) data, no workflow infrastructure, no centralized business relationships. There's a brand and some lawyers. That's all.
December 5, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Any discussion of "buying law firms" always triggers my cognitive dissonance because I still struggle to see what exactly there is to buy. In most cases, there's no (structured) data, no workflow infrastructure, no centralized business relationships. There's a brand and some lawyers. That's all.
No surprise. As long as law firms hire associates primarily to be engines of leveraged labor and producers of billable work, associates will be rewarded on the basis of hours billed. www.law360.com/pulse/modern... How associates are compensated is a lagging indicator of change in the law firm model.
Billable Hours Still Drive Atty Bonuses. Is Change Coming? - Law360 Pulse
The primary factor determining whether a law firm associate receives a year-end bonus is not individual performance, firm performance, or firm citizenship. Instead, it is the number of billable hours ...
www.law360.com
December 5, 2025 at 4:54 PM
No surprise. As long as law firms hire associates primarily to be engines of leveraged labor and producers of billable work, associates will be rewarded on the basis of hours billed. www.law360.com/pulse/modern... How associates are compensated is a lagging indicator of change in the law firm model.
Loving the no-holds-barred honesty of comments from a top British consultant (Adil Taha) about law firms seeking private equity investment: www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/... So rare to see anyone shooting this straight about the challenges of dealing with and running law firms. A few excerpts:
"Why are law firms giving away stakes in their businesses?"
While it is not surprising that private equity is interested in investing in law firms, the real question is why law firms are giving away stakes in their businesses, a leading consultant has argued.
www.legalfutures.co.uk
December 4, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Loving the no-holds-barred honesty of comments from a top British consultant (Adil Taha) about law firms seeking private equity investment: www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/... So rare to see anyone shooting this straight about the challenges of dealing with and running law firms. A few excerpts:
Time to get the Christmas cards sent out.
December 4, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Time to get the Christmas cards sent out.
Reposted by Jordan Furlong
’m excited to share a new co-authored draft: Grading Machines: Can AI Exam-Grading Replace Law Professors? papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... It shows that the latest AIS can mirror human law professor grading of real law school exams, with correlations in scores of up to 0.93.
Grading Machines: Can AI Exam-Grading Replace Law Professors?
<div>
<p>In the past few years, large language models (LLMs) have achieved significant technical advances, such that legal-advocacy organizations are increasin
papers.ssrn.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:20 PM
’m excited to share a new co-authored draft: Grading Machines: Can AI Exam-Grading Replace Law Professors? papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... It shows that the latest AIS can mirror human law professor grading of real law school exams, with correlations in scores of up to 0.93.
It’s been that kind of year.
December 3, 2025 at 1:02 PM
It’s been that kind of year.
A terrific and important article about AI's impact on lawyer formation. "Becoming, Doing, Being: GenAI and the Promise of Professional Identity in Law." lthj.qut.edu.au/article/view... HT @julianinoz.bsky.social
Law, Technology and Humans
Law, Technology and Humans provides an inclusive and unique forum for exploration of the broader connections, history and emergent future of law and technology through supporting research that takes s...
lthj.qut.edu.au
November 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
A terrific and important article about AI's impact on lawyer formation. "Becoming, Doing, Being: GenAI and the Promise of Professional Identity in Law." lthj.qut.edu.au/article/view... HT @julianinoz.bsky.social
Don't wait around for corporate law departments to lead meaningful change in the commercial legal market. 48% of in-house survey respondents don't track internal legal spend. 72% don't track time to resolution. 88% don't track outside counsel performance metrics. www.law.com/legaltechnew...
In-House Teams Are Struggling to Measure Impact of Gen AI| Law.com
Everlaw and the ACC's “The Role of Generative AI in Proving Corporate Law Department Value” report found that in-house teams see potential in gen AI but are not tracking its impact on in-house team pe...
www.law.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Don't wait around for corporate law departments to lead meaningful change in the commercial legal market. 48% of in-house survey respondents don't track internal legal spend. 72% don't track time to resolution. 88% don't track outside counsel performance metrics. www.law.com/legaltechnew...
Top-line numbers for BigLaw look great. But demand up only 1.9%, productivity down 0.6%, collection cycles increasing 1.2%, and expenses (more senior income-partner salaries and AI investments) up 9.1%, collectively is cause to tread with some caution here. www.law360.com/pulse/modern...
Law Firm Revenue, Demand Are Up, But So Are Expenses - Law360 Pulse
U.S. law firms saw an average of double-digit growth in both revenue and inventory during the first nine months of 2025, signifying they're on pace to end the year on a positive note, according to the...
www.law360.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Top-line numbers for BigLaw look great. But demand up only 1.9%, productivity down 0.6%, collection cycles increasing 1.2%, and expenses (more senior income-partner salaries and AI investments) up 9.1%, collectively is cause to tread with some caution here. www.law360.com/pulse/modern...