Law firms are shifting away from top-down AI mandates after discovering that telling attorneys how much to use the technology hasn't produced the productivity gains leadership expected. Instead, innovation teams are tailoring training to individual learning styles and hiring dedicated staff to support adoption.
The change reflects a growing recognition that AI's impact depends on policy and organizational structure as much as the technology itself, according to innovation leaders from firms including Ogletree Deakins and Crowell & Moring. It also accounts for the unique anxiety AI creates around job security.
"We're not teaching technology anymore," Rebekah Everest, a technology training supervisor at Kelley Drye & Warren, said at a recent technology conference. "We're teaching behavior."
The stakes are high. Firms are spending heavily on AI platforms - some costing more than $1,000 per attorney per month - while facing competition from venture-capital backed AI-powered law firms and corporate clients bringing more work in-house. According to Bloomberg Law's Leading Law Firms survey released in June, firms with more than 500 attorneys reported an average 78% AI training completion rate, with five of 31 large firms hitting 100%.
"Everybody hears AI should be completely overhauling how we practice law," said Tim Fox, chief data and AI officer at Ogletree Deakins. "But here we are four years later and we're still trying to figure out where we capture those opportunities."
Becoming tool agnostic
Some AI experts argue that chasing the latest platform updates is a losing game. Fox said adoption strategy and training matter more than buying new tech. "Most of the firms and most people are just thinking about the technology," he said. "But really two firms with the exact same tool can have completely different adoption success."
Johnathan Nixon, an attorney at Crowell & Moring, said firms that focus too narrowly on specific platforms risk falling behind when the market shifts. Instead, they should teach transferable skills like prompting and AI for Legal workflow integration. "The best way you can position your firm and your individuals at your firm is to be AI agnostic," Nixon said.
Bringing in AI buddies
Firms are adding full-time staff to teach attorneys how to use AI tools. Some assign attorney power users to share their firsthand experiences with peers. Others lean on vendors to lead adoption efforts.
"If you're like, 'I can't get to the gym,' what do you need to do to get there? You need to get a buddy," said Sarah Hirebet, director of knowledge & innovation at Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young. "Well then, your firm should have people who have a dedicated role to helping with that very human need."
Nixon noted that attorneys often respond better to peers than to innovation staff. "A lot of times people don't want to hear from somebody like myself in the innovation department," he said. "Even though I was a practicing attorney for many years, they want to hear from individuals that they sit with night-in, night-out."
Diversifying messaging and allowing experimentation
Harriet Joubert-Vaklyes, senior manager of legal process improvement at Michael Best & Friedrich, said firms should ask attorneys about their problems before purchasing tools and pushing adoption. "They feel like they've had a say long before you've tried to introduce a new process or a new tool," she said. "And that is one of the easiest ways to get people on board with you."
Training formats should vary: some people learn best through videos, others through one-page guides. But Everest said the most critical element is hands-on practice. "We need to give people a chance to get their hands dirty, play in the dirt - which is artificial intelligence - and not just sit there and talk."
Why this matters for legal professionals
If your firm's AI training feels like a checkbox exercise, the shift toward human-centered adoption could change how you learn. Attorneys who get to experiment with tools, learn from peers, and receive training in formats that match their preferences are more likely to integrate AI into daily workflows. For paralegals and support staff, structured resources like an AI Learning Path for Paralegals can build the practical skills firms now expect across legal roles.
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