Bloomberg Law: BigLaw AI Build-or-Buy Debate — Two-Thirds of BigLaw Spent a Minuscule Portion of Budget on New Tech Last Year

Bloomberg Law reported (August 1) that about two-thirds of BigLaw firms spent a minuscule portion of their budgets on new technology last year, despite the industry narrative of AI investment. Separately, Bloomberg Law Texas Brief (August 3) examined whether the future of BigLaw is building, not buying — covering Kirkland's $500M proprietary AI platform investment and Palantir partnership as the test case for firm-as-platform strategy. Consumption-based pricing for AI is also emerging: Bloomberg Law's opinion column described how "as AI providers seek to recoup their investments, lawyers should expect a gradual shift toward consumption-based pricing — AI won't be an unlimited subscription, but a metered business." For mid-sized firm managing partners: the gap between BigLaw's stated AI investment narrative and the actual proportion of budget deployed is a useful reference point. BigLaw's build-vs-buy inflection (Kirkland at $500M) is being used as competitive pressure on mid-sized firms, but the consumption-pricing transition means the cost structure of AI tools is changing — moving away from per-seat subscriptions toward usage-based billing that rewards high-volume users (BigLaw) more than moderate users.