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Small firms, big tech

05 September 2025 / Robert Taylor
Issue: 8129 / Categories: Features , Profession , Artificial intelligence , Legal services , Technology
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Access to AI risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms. Robert Taylor sets out the tools they need—& how to find them
  • SME law firms need AI tools that are simple, affordable, cloud-based, and focused on practical contract review.
  • AI should support, not replace, solicitor judgment, with built-in regulatory safeguards.

  • Legal technology has evolved rapidly over the past five years. From contract analytics and document automation to artificial intelligence (AI)-driven decision support tools, these developments have been enthusiastically adopted by large regional, national and international law firms, as well as by alternative legal service providers.

    However, as innovation has accelerated, so too has a growing disparity in access. Many small and high-street firms remain unable to engage with these tools, held back by barriers including cost, system complexity and limited internal technical resource. This technological divide is not merely inconvenient; it risks entrenching long-term disadvantage for firms already operating under economic pressure.

    Without access to affordable and efficient AI tools, smaller firms may find themselves offering slower

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    MOVERS & SHAKERS

    Mourant—Stephen Alexander

    Mourant—Stephen Alexander

    Jersey litigation lead appointed to global STEP Council

    mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

    mfg Solicitors—nine trainees

    Firm invests in future talent with new training cohort

    360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

    360 Law Group—Anthony Gahan

    Investment banking veteran appointed as chairman to drive global growth

    NEWS
    Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
    Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
    Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
    Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
    The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
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