Transcript of my conversation with Jeroen Plink, co-founder of Legaltech Hub

This is a condensed transcript of my conversation with Jeroen Plink for the Beyond Billable podcast. Find the whole conversation here: https://lnk.bio/PimBetist

Pim: Welcome, Jeroen! You're the co-founder of Legaltech Hub, and we're here today at Lexpo 2025. Your talk was quite the wake-up call. You started by mentioning a significant shift compared to older legal tech. Can you explain that?

Jeroen: Previously, technologies like document automation or e-discovery provided marginal productivity gains. But with LLM-based technologies, like Agentic AI, the productivity improvements are huge. AI now genuinely changes the fundamentals of providing legal advice, not just slightly speeding up document creation.

Pim: You even suggested innovation departments could move from being cost centers to profit centers?

Jeroen: Absolutely. Previously, technology improved internal processes slightly, but now vendors like Harvey and Legora can create products to sell directly to clients, generating additional revenue and deepening client relationships. It's a strategic imperative.

Pim: How do law firms practically make money with AI?

Jeroen: A clear example is using AI for tasks like compliance reviews. Manually reviewing thousands of documents is expensive. Using traditional tech, it still costs millions. With AI, costs drop dramatically, profits increase significantly, and firms can resell these solutions multiple times. It shifts law firms from selling hours to selling scalable products.

Pim: What's necessary to achieve such outcomes?

Jeroen: Legal expertise, access to relevant documents, basic programming skills, and licenses for AI technologies. You also need sales skills—often viewed negatively in the legal sector but critical for success in this new era.

Pim: You highlighted a massive revenue drop scenario, where AI significantly reduces project costs. What's your recommendation for firms facing this?

Jeroen: Firms must move from single-project sales to building repeatable, scalable products. The traditional model can't sustain these revenue drops. Firms should focus on selling one solution many times, shifting from services to products.

Pim: Isn't this shift challenging for lawyers accustomed to bespoke work?

Jeroen: Yes, it's difficult. However, most legal work, like routine NDA reviews, isn't particularly creative or joyful. AI frees lawyers from repetitive tasks, improving quality of life and productivity. Traditional models, especially selling billing hours, aren't sustainable. A U.S. top-50 firm is even rumored to be eliminating billable hours completely within three years.

Pim: Some might say the transition feels overwhelming. What's your response?

Jeroen: If you're nearing retirement, maybe don’t bother changing. But most lawyers should think about the economic reality of losing 50-70% of their work to automation or in-house departments leveraging AI. Lawyers must act now, either pushing their firms to evolve, joining forward-thinking firms, or building something new.

Pim: Should firms merge these new AI-driven teams within traditional structures or create separate companies?

Jeroen: Existing firms should experiment with dedicated innovation units—essentially internal startups—to quickly adapt without disrupting current operations. Cultural change is the toughest challenge. Ultimately, traditional partnership structures may become obsolete, replaced by models similar to successful modern companies.

Pim: What's your final message to law firms hesitant about this change?

Jeroen: Embrace intellectual curiosity and seriously consider how AI will impact your practice. Adapt proactively, because delaying will significantly harm your competitiveness and relevance.

Pim: Thank you Jeroen. This has been really insightful.

Jeroen: You're welcome!