AT&T plans to narrow its outside-counsel panel as LegalEdge scales

On October 8, Reuters reported that AT&T’s 38-person LegalEdge team is using AI-enabled review, research, witness interviews and drafting to reduce reliance on outside firms, with the company considering a panel reduction from roughly 30 firms to 18–20. The signal for firms is not simply lower external spend; it is that clients are building an internal delivery layer capable of deciding which work should never leave the department. Relationship partners need to identify where their firm adds differentiated judgment, cross-border capacity or risk transfer rather than defending volumes of routine work. Panel reviews may increasingly ask for workflow interoperability and transparent scoping alongside traditional expertise and rates.