When AI shrinks time, a lawyer's billable hour becomes harder to defend
Source: The Straits Times
Published on: 2026-04-08 21:07
As AI reduces the time needed to perform legal work, lawyers are finding harder to justify billing by the hour. For Singapore's legal profession, artificial intelligence is not an issue that lurks in the distance. The disruption is already here and the sector is trying to come to grips with the impact of generative AI. In his 2026 Committee of Supply speech, Minister for Law Edwin Tong touched on topics that the legal profession faces: who bears responsibility when AI makes errors, how young lawyers are to develop judgment if basic tasks are automated, and how regulation should keep pace without crushing innovation. Those are important questions. But there is another one that law firms may find even more uncomfortable, because it goes to the heart of legal practice and encompasses how the services are delivered and ultimately how clients are billed. If AI sharply reduces the time ne...
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