# A&O Shearman lawyers ordered to sacrifice billable hours to build AI tools

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/ao-shearman-lawyers-ordered-to-sacrifice-billable-hours-to-build-ai-tools/
- Published: 2026-11-05T13:09:50+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-05T13:23:42+00:00
- Original publisher: City AM (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.cityam.com/ao-shearman-lawyers-ordered-to-sacrifice-billable-hours-to-build-ai-tools/
- Topics: AI, Business, Technology

## Key points

- A&O Shearman is investing $1.1bn in AI over five years.
- Each practice must spend at least 3% of billable hours on AI tools.
- The firm says specialist legal expertise is key to effective AI systems.

## Summary

A&O Shearman will invest $1.1bn (£816m) over five years in its artificial intelligence strategy, committing more than 5 per cent of annual revenue. The Magic Circle firm says the investment will change how it delivers legal work and trains staff, and help it compete by combining legal expertise with AI’s speed and scale.

Each practice will be expected to devote at least 3 per cent of its billable hours to developing specialist AI tools and services. The firm says its four years of testing showed the strongest results when lawyers with deep expertise in a field help build systems tailored to that area. A&O Shearman reported $3.7bn (£2.8bn) in revenue in its latest financial year; rival Freshfields has also expanded its AI use through a deal with Anthropic.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.