Junior
associates
powered
the
engines
of
Biglaw.
Like
the
human
batteries
of
the
Matrix
except
instead
of
the
deluded
bliss
of
the
late
20th
century,
they
survive
on
the
deluded
bliss
of
ever
having
the
time
to
spend
their
bonus
on
something
fun.
They
slogged
through
document
review,
churned
out
first
drafts,
and
otherwise
served
at
the
beck
and
call
of
their
senior
colleagues
while
drowning
under
the
crushing
weight
of
student
loans.
While
artificial
intelligence
generates
a
lot
of
hype
as
a
threat
to
junior
associates,
AI
still
requires
a
junior
user.
Firms
may
not
need
as
many
juniors
in
the
world
of
AI,
but
some
of
those
jobs
will
survive
the
AI
onslaught.
Alternative
legal
services
providers
(ALSPs),
on
the
other
hand,
could
join
forces
with
AI
and
decimate
the
junior
ranks.
The
word
“decimate”
is
often
misused,
but
in
this
case
we
mean
it
literally…
AI
will
one
day
send
centurions
to
publicly
execute
every
tenth
associate
to
enforce
the
discipline
of
Rome.
All
right,
maybe
not
literally
and
realistically
it’s
going
to
be
more
a
lot
more
than
10
percent.
ALSPs
are
increasingly
taking
on
the
grunt
work
that
used
to
be
the
proving
ground
for
new
attorneys.
According
to
the
Alternative
Legal
Services
Providers
2025
Report
—
produced
by
the
Thomson
Reuters
Institute,
the
Center
on
Ethics
and
the
Legal
Profession
at
Georgetown
Law;
and
the
Saïd
Business
School,
University
of
Oxford
—
35
percent
of
law
firms
already
use
independent
ALSPs
to
deliver
services
to
clients,
with
usage
expected
to
increase
in
the
next
year.
Among
firms
with
their
own
affiliate
ALSPs,
a
remarkable
62%
also
engage
independent
ALSPs
to
handle
tasks
like
eDiscovery,
contract
review,
and
compliance
work.
The
report
estimates
the
ALSP
market
reached
$28.5
billion
in
2023,
growing
at
an
18
percent
compound
annual
rate,
outpacing
traditional
legal
services.
While
ALSPs
have
always
offered
corporate
law
departments
a
cost-effective
solution
for
high-volume
work,
those
clients
have
increasingly
overcome
their
hangups
as
junior
associate
rates
climb.
Beyond
the
these
tasks,
ALSPs
are
also
penetrating
niche
areas
like
regulatory
compliance
and
tech-enabled
legal
operations,
markets
that
law
firms
tend
to
neglect.
For
junior
associates,
this
trend
strips
away
some
of
the
foundational
work
historically
relied
upon
to
develop
professional
skills.
This
outsourcing
is
great
for
clients
looking
to
save
money
and
increase
efficiency,
but
it
deprives
new
lawyers
of
the
opportunity
to
develop
expertise
in
these
areas.
And
while
few
tears
are
shed
over
combing
through
irrelevant
emails,
there’s
something
to
be
said
for
learning
why
something
is
irrelevant.
And
let’s
not
forget
the
joy
of
piecing
together
an
office
affair
from
the
email
dump—one
of
the
last
perks
of
document
review.
Junior
associates
also
used
to
create
legal
content
from
scratch
before
an
avalanche
of
red
ink
created
an
unrecognizable
final
draft.
But
with
AI
and
ALSPs
delivering
polished
drafts,
juniors
spend
more
time
editing
than
analyzing.
That’s
all
well
and
good
until
you
remember
that
they
don’t
actually
know
what
makes
a
good
draft
in
the
first
place.
And
it
will
only
get
worse
as
the
report
found
that
40%
of
firms
anticipate
increasing
their
use
of
independent
ALSPs
specifically
because
it
is
“more
profitable
to
outsource”
such
work.
It’s
not
that
ALSPs
actually
outperform
junior
associates.
In
fact,
the
report
highlights
lingering
concerns
about
ALSP
quality
and
confidentiality,
with
half
of
corporate
respondents
citing
these
as
barriers
to
full
adoption.
Yet
the
price
gap
between
ALSPs
and
law
firm
associates
has
made
the
decision
an
easy
one
for
many
corporate
law
departments.
Clients
may
see
ALSPs
as
a
value
play
rather
than
a
skill
play,
there’s
something
to
be
said
for
the
fact
that
ALSPs
are
staffed
with
folks
with
experience
—
the
experience
that
the
juniors
used
to
get
on
the
job.
For
tasks
like
document
review
and
due
diligence,
where
the
stakes
are
low
but
the
volume
is
high,
ALSPs
offer
efficiency
that
most
law
firms
simply
cannot
match.
Volume
work
is
their
bread
and
butter.
Which
is
where
the
AI
comes
in.
While
generative
AI
remains
in
its
infancy
within
the
legal
sector,
45
percent
of
law
firms
are
at
least
exploring
the
development
of
GenAI-powered
services…
but
ALSPs
already
lead
the
way
in
adoption.
The
report
paints
a
sobering
picture
for
the
future
of
legal
apprenticeship.
If
firms
and
ALSPs
continue
down
their
current
paths,
junior
associates
may
find
themselves
doing
less
legal
analysis
and
more
project
management,
overseeing
the
work
of
ALSPs
and
AI
tools.
While
this
might
make
for
more
efficient
firms,
it
risks
creating
a
generation
of
lawyers
as
middle
managers
lack
hands-on
legal
skills
needed
to
progress
to
more
traditionally
senior
tasks.
This
shift
also
has
implications
for
client
service.
Corporate
clients
may
appreciate
the
immediate
cost
savings
ALSPs
and
GenAI
deliver,
but
will
they
still
value
these
savings
if
they
come
at
the
cost
of
eroding
the
next
generation
of
legal
talent?
Clients
have
long
complained
about
paying
for
the
training
pipeline,
but
as
the
report
notes,
clients
already
cite
quality
as
a
significant
concern
when
dealing
with
ALSPs
and
“decrease
the
quality
across
the
board”
is
a
less
than
efficient
solution.
Or
maybe
the
future
of
law
is
bland
middle
management.
When
Elon
makes
Trump
turn
over
the
judiciary
to
the
robots,
maybe
we
won’t
need
lawyers
to
think
creatively
or
persuasively.
Just
ones
who
can
click
“approve”
on
a
machine’s
work.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
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and
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Joe
also
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Managing
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