Law firms grapple with agentic AI

The law never stops shifting, and neither should we. Today is all about staying ahead while the ground keeps moving. And moving it is, as the latest data from the BLS shows continued growth in the industry. 

Meanwhile, the robots are here. We’ll walk through why appealing to AI might matter more than Google, and what “agentic AI” means before it becomes the next buzzword you wish you understood sooner. Pair that with a blogging giant turning his empire into a podcast about… blogging, and you’ve got a reminder that the profession is changing fast, but those who pay attention are the ones who thrive. 

Speaking of change, it may be time to update the laws in the UK before this legal loophole leads to more modern-day grave robbing. 

The Sultan of Swindle.
A Tennessee man named George Herman Ruth has been charged with fraud for filing class action claims as dead and retired baseball players.

Songs to fill out timesheets to.
This Y2K gem from Britney is on our new work playlist. Email us what’s on yours and our love will never die.

Not much has changed. Did people really think that the realtor fee lawsuit was going to lower home prices? 

Running the courtroom like a “brothel.”
Last year, a Kentucky sheriff shot and killed a judge in his chambers. It’s now alleged the judge was involved in a “nasty and sickening” sex party ring. 

The wedding announcement of the year. 
Now that Taylor Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelce, finally put a ring on it, all eyes are on the (expected) prenup.

Latest legal jobs report shows gains

Despite the drama at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the agency is still cranking out reports. Its latest update on the legal industry shows steady growth for the fifth straight month, bringing employment close to its pre-pandemic peak of 1.2 million.

But a longer view tells a more complicated story: despite recent growth, the industry is still only 1.7% above where it stood in 2007. In other words, nearly two decades later, legal employment levels remain largely stagnant, even as the broader economy and corporate legal needs have evolved dramatically. A large portion of the industry’s growth is concentrated among the nation’s largest firms. 

Why this matters: The data reveals more than the health of the legal market; it shows how the profession is changing. For those outside the Am Law 200, the flat growth in overall legal jobs underscores the importance of adapting to the new normal rather than expecting broad-based expansion to lift all boats. (Reuters)

Not so secret agent 

The latest AI Pulse Report from EY (Ernst & Young) is out, and it’s chock full of interesting insights into the adoption of AI. The number one take-away from this is that companies aren’t debating the use of chatbots and LLMs anymore; that ship has sailed. The focus is now on the development and use of agentic AI—think agents in both the layman and legal sense. 

About 34% of the business leaders surveyed have started using some form of agentic AI, but 87% of those surveyed identified specific barriers to agentic AI adoption within their organizations, including cybersecurity and data privacy concerns. 

Why this matters: When it comes to AI, use is outpacing governance. There may be few explicitly legal barriers to AI adoption, but attorneys still need to carefully evaluate the risks. (EY)

Real lawyers have blogs podcasts
If you know who Kevin O’Keefe is, you either have a legal blog or have thought about launching one. He and his company, LexBlog, are virtually synonymous with that particular marketing medium, which is why it is notable that he is branching out into podcasts. 

Each episode explores how lawyers, journalists and technologists are creating content that pushes the legal profession forward. It’s worth a listen if you need some marketing motivation or want to hear what the leaders in this area are doing. 

Why this matters: O’Keefe is a giant of the legal publishing world. He and his guests have a lot of knowledge to share, and they are doing it in a really engaging way. If you’re still questioning if this podcast is for you, check out the show notes, which helpfully outline the “key takeaways” from each episode. (Real Lawyers)

• FTC sues L.A. Fitness over hard-to-cancel memberships
• Cases on hold in NJ while Habba appointment is sorted out
• Judge tosses DOJ lawsuit against Maryland judges  
• Deep dive on the efforts to overturn Obergefell
• Trademarking the F-word

Yet another acronym you need to know

If you still think Master of Laws every time you see “LLM,” I’ve got bad news for you. Another confusing new acronym just dropped. GEO now has nothing to do with geography or Chevrolet; instead, it’s a quick way of saying online content now needs to be optimized for AI.

As this article from experienced online marketer Dan Taylor explains, search isn’t what it used to be. Clients aren’t just Googling their questions anymore; they’re asking AI platforms for instant answers. And this is making it harder for all sorts of businesses, including law firms, to get their websites in front of potential clients. 

Taylor argues that businesses that want to stay relevant in this new era of searching need to think about both SEO (search engine optimization—the traditional method of ranking higher in search results) and GEO (generative engine optimization—which helps AI tools pull and cite your content) when creating marketing content. 

Why this matters: This article explains the basics of both SEO and GEO, and provides tips for doing both well. For lawyers who want to stay ahead of the curve, this is less about gaming the system and more about meeting clients where they are—whether that’s on a search results page or inside an AI-generated response. (Search Engine Land)

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 Raise the Bar is written and curated by Emily Kelchen and edited by Bianca Prieto.