The adoption of artificial intelligence is disrupting the hourly billing practice that is a core revenue model in the legal industries of Britain and Ireland.

CNBC reported on Oct. 10 that Clio's 2026 UK-Ireland Legal Insights Report showed about 90 percent of lawyers in the two countries use AI in their work.

Among law firms using AI, about 80 percent said they can handle more work without adding staff or resources. More than 70 percent said costs fell as AI handled administrative tasks previously done by support staff. As efficiency rises, the existing approach of charging fees based on time spent comes under pressure.

The shift is directly linked to law firms' revenue structures. Nick Rolls-Davies (닉 롤스-데이비스), founder and CEO of legal finance fund Lexolent, which is based in London and Dubai, said, "You can't bill 16 hours for something that takes 16 seconds."

The impact of automation is showing up first in repetitive work. Rolls-Davies cited as a typical example the task of filling in details in standard documents. He stressed that complex legal advice still requires human judgment. He said it is difficult to automate interpreting AI-generated results and deciding strategies tailored to clients.

AI hallucinations, in which it generates false information, are another issue to address. Rolls-Davies pointed to numerous cases in which sanctions were imposed after filings containing non-existent precedents were submitted to courts. As AI use expands, the ability to verify errors and take responsibility is becoming more important alongside the ability to produce outputs quickly.

How junior lawyers are trained is also under review. Document review, drafting contracts and researching precedents have been key processes through which junior lawyers learn practical fundamentals. As AI takes over these tasks, law firms face the challenge of creating new learning opportunities. Jorge Bestard (호르헤 베스타르), head of Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Harvey, said, "Just because drafting has been automated does not mean the process after that automatically becomes faster, too."

Recruitment and career development are also changing. Francesca Benez (프란체스카 베네츠), head of legal talent at A&O Shearman, said she places greater importance on curiosity and entrepreneurship in talent assessment. She also said the firm is expanding career paths related to legal engineering, product development and AI adoption. She stressed, however, that the need to nurture outstanding lawyers who will become future partners and specialists remains unchanged.

How to use time saved by AI is another issue. In Clio's survey, 51 percent of legal workers said they also worked in the evening, but only 32 percent said they wanted to. The share working on weekends was 22 percent, double the 11 percent who said they wanted weekend work. Joshua Lenon (조슈아 레넌) of Clio said some lawyers are already feeling the change, adding that assessments show AI tools are improving work.

The shift shows AI is not only increasing the speed of legal work but also affecting law firms' revenue structures and talent development. As automation of repetitive tasks spreads, the value of lawyers has become more tied to judgment and verification capabilities than to time spent drafting documents.