Will AI create a golden age for lawyers — or make them obsolete? In her latest column for LawNext, AI strategist Jennifer Case explores a fascinating paradox: As AI tools lower barriers to legal services, they are simultaneously creating more legal work and potentially eliminating the need for lawyers altogether.

Jennifer Case

The numbers are stark: 92% of low-income Americans receive no help with substantial civil legal problems, while small claims filings have plummeted 32% in just four years. But AI is changing the game. By making legal procedures accessible to pro se litigants and supercharging legal aid organizations, these tools are reviving dormant disputes and opening courthouse doors that have been effectively closed to millions.

The twist? Case argues this surge in legal activity may be temporary — much like how the automobile industry initially boosted demand for better horseshoes before eliminating horses entirely. With firms like Garfield.Law already running debt recovery practices almost entirely through AI, the same technology expanding access to justice today could reshape the profession tomorrow.

Read her full analysis here to discover why the justice gap might close not by adding more lawyers, but by making them unnecessary for routine cases.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.