Garfield AI CEO Discusses AI Pricing and Legal Economics at Alternative Management Summit
Philip Young joined leading law firm managing partners at the Alternative Legal Management Summit to discuss how AI is reshaping the economics of legal services, challenging the traditional billable hour model, and requiring new approaches to pricing and profitability.
Garfield AI CEO Joins Senior Law Firm Leaders to Explore How AI is Fundamentally Reshaping Legal Service Economics
London, 15 September 2025 – Philip Young, CEO and co-founder of Garfield AI, participated in a panel discussion titled "Efficiency gains vs. profit: Rethinking AI, pricing & the future legal model" at the Alternative Legal Management Summit. The panel explored one of the legal profession's most challenging questions: as AI accelerates efficiency, how can law firms adapt their pricing models and protect profitability while delivering greater value to clients?
Addressing Strategic Challenges in Legal Economics
The Alternative Legal Management Summit brings together leaders from mid-market law firms to address strategic challenges including leadership, technology adoption, and business model transformation. The AI pricing panel represented a critical focus area for firms navigating the intersection of technological change and economic sustainability.
As the panel description noted: "AI isn't just changing how work gets done - it's reshaping the economics of legal services. As AI accelerates efficiency, the traditional billable hour model is coming under more pressure."
Distinguished Panel of Legal Leaders
Philip joined an impressive lineup of legal sector leaders with deep experience in law firm management and strategy:
- Joanna Kingston-Davies - Facilitator, The MAPD Group
- Clare Murray - Managing Partner, CM Murray
- Ed Turner - Former Managing Partner, Taylor Vinters & Board Member, Mishcon de Reya
- Philip Young - Co-founder & CEO, Garfield AI
The panel brought together perspectives from established law firm management alongside Garfield's experience building an AI-native legal service from the ground up.
The Billable Hour Under Pressure
The traditional billable hour model has long been the dominant pricing mechanism in legal services. However, AI's ability to dramatically accelerate routine legal work creates fundamental tensions:
The Efficiency Paradox
As AI makes lawyers more efficient, completing work in fewer billable hours, firms face a paradox: technological investment increases productivity but potentially reduces revenue under time-based billing.
Client Value Expectations
Clients increasingly expect to benefit from efficiency gains rather than pay the same total fees for work completed more quickly. This creates pressure to move toward value-based or fixed-fee pricing models.
Competitive Dynamics
Firms that adopt AI and reduce costs gain competitive advantages but only if they can capture value through appropriate pricing strategies rather than simply passing all savings to clients.
Garfield's Alternative Model
Philip's perspective from Garfield AI offered a distinctive viewpoint on the panel. Unlike traditional law firms adapting existing business models to incorporate AI, Garfield was designed from inception with an AI-native architecture and pricing approach:
Fixed-Fee, Accessible Pricing
Garfield offers transparent, fixed unit pricing for debt recovery services, making legal help accessible to small businesses that would never engage a traditional law firm on hourly billing.
Technology-First Economics
By building on an AI-native foundation, Garfield's economics aren't constrained by legacy infrastructure, staffing models, or billing practices developed for pre-AI legal work.
Market Expansion Strategy
Rather than competing for existing legal work, Garfield addresses market segments underserved by traditional providers, i.e. businesses owed less than £10,000 where conventional legal fees would be uneconomical.
Scalability Through Automation
AI automation enables Garfield to serve large volumes of clients profitably at price points traditional firms cannot match, expanding the addressable market for legal services.
Key Questions Explored
The panel addressed critical strategic questions facing law firms:
How to Price AI-Enhanced Work?
Should firms charge based on time spent, value delivered, or outcomes achieved? How do you price work that takes two hours with AI but would have taken twenty hours without it?
Protecting Profit Margins
As efficiency increases, how can firms maintain or improve profitability? Is the answer higher volumes, higher rates, value-based pricing, or new service offerings?
Investment vs. Return
AI implementation requires significant investment in technology, training, and change management. How should firms think about ROI when the technology fundamentally challenges their revenue model?
Client Communication
How do firms explain pricing to clients in an AI-augmented environment? Do you highlight efficiency gains or emphasize maintained quality and reduced risk?
Competitive Positioning
Should firms compete on price (leveraging AI efficiency) or value (investing efficiency gains in better outcomes)? How does this vary by practice area and client segment?
Implications for Different Firm Types
The discussion recognized that AI's economic impact varies across different types of legal practices:
Large Commercial Firms
May use AI to improve margins on high-value work, investing efficiency gains in deeper client relationships and strategic advice rather than reducing fees.
Mid-Market Firms
Face particular pressure as they compete both upward (against large firms with AI capabilities) and downward (against AI-enabled alternatives for routine work).
High-Volume Practices
Can potentially benefit most from AI automation, using technology to profitably serve larger client volumes at accessible price points.
Specialist Practices
May find AI less disruptive where deep expertise and judgment remain central to value delivery, with technology augmenting rather than replacing core services.
The Broader Business Model Evolution
Beyond pricing, the panel explored how AI necessitates rethinking fundamental aspects of law firm business models:
Skill Mix and Staffing
As AI handles routine tasks, firms need different skill mixes, with lawyers focused on judgment, strategy, and client relationships rather than document production.
Service Offerings
AI enables entirely new service offerings at price points previously uneconomical, potentially expanding firms' addressable markets.
Client Relationships
More efficient delivery can strengthen client relationships by providing faster turnaround and more predictable costs ... if priced appropriately.
Competitive Advantage
Early AI adopters may gain sustained advantages, but only if they develop appropriate business models rather than simply doing old things faster.
Garfield's Market Expansion Approach
Philip's contribution highlighted how AI can expand legal services markets rather than simply redistributing existing work. This market expansion approach suggests one path forward for the profession: using AI not just to do existing work more efficiently, but to profitably serve previously uneconomic client segments and legal needs. Philip observed there is a large market for unmet legal needs that can now be addressed by law firms of the future.
The Path Forward
As the panel discussion underscored, AI is forcing the legal profession to confront fundamental questions about how legal services are priced, delivered, and valued. There are no simple answers, but the conversation is essential for firms seeking to thrive in an AI-augmented future.
Firms that successfully navigate this transition will likely combine technological capability with innovative business models, appropriate pricing strategies, and clear value propositions that resonate with clients in a changing market.
Learn More
More information about the Alternative Legal Management Summit is available at alternativeevents.co.uk/legal-management.
About Garfield AI Garfield AI is the world's first AI-native law firm, approved by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The platform helps businesses recover small debts through automated processes that combine AI technology with expert legal systems, offering transparent fixed-fee pricing that makes legal services accessible to UK SMEs. Founded by senior City litigation lawyer Philip Young and quantum physicist Daniel Long, Garfield demonstrates how AI can expand access to justice through innovative business models. Visit garfield.law to learn more.
Media Contact: Philip Young, CEO - philip@garfield.law Daniel Long, CTO - dan@garfield.law
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