I hate the idea of AI, but…
…I also don’t want to be the last one figuring it out.
You’ve probably said some version of that to yourself.
Because part of you thinks this whole thing is overhyped.
And another part of you knows it isn’t.
You don’t love the idea of handing work to a machine.
You’ve built a career on being the one who makes the calls.
And now there’s this AI thing…
Spitting out answers in seconds.
It's confident, fast and unbothered.
Giving you summaries, timelines, draft language, case analysis.
And you’re supposed to…
Well, what are you supposed to do with it?
Trust it?
Ignore it?
Outwork it?
It's not the right question to ask whether AI is "good."
What's going on is that you don't fully understand it yet.
You don't know whether to trust it or dismiss it.
So it sits in this gray area.
Maybe someone on your team uses it to clean something up.
Or they pasted something in "just to see."
You tried it late at night when no one was around.
Just... testing it.
That's the part that doesn’t feel great.
Because you’re not wired to operate in gray areas.
You’re wired for control.
You usually control narrative, risk, outcomes...
People call you and lean on you because of it.
You don’t like not knowing how something works...
Or whether it's right...
Or if someone else is already using it better than you.
And lately… you can feel that things are already different.
Not because you keep seeing headlines and a bunch of hype about AI.
But because more lawyers are building things for their own firm, behind the scenes.
Internal shortcuts and workflow tweaks...
Small tools that eliminate small frictions.
While everyone else is still debating whether this is “real.”
The thing is, you don’t need to become a coder or rebuild your firm.
But you probably don’t want to wake up six months from now...
And realize you’ve been reacting instead of directing.
The silver lining is this:
You’ve worked too hard to build something you don’t control.
And that’s what this really comes down to.
Control... not fear or chasing shiny objects.
Control over how this thing fits into your firm.
How it's used and where it's used...
And whether it actually makes you even more efficient instead of sloppier.
Most lawyers are going to bounce between curiosity and avoidance.
That’s normal.
A smaller group is going to get structured without fanfare.
They’ll understand what’s useful to their firm.
And what's dangerous...
What they should avoid or ignore...
And the exact leverage points that will catapult them ahead of the rest.
That difference won’t show up tomorrow.
But it will show up in six months.
The speed of your operations…
Your confidence and workflow...
Your margins.
It'll be obvious who is doing it better.
If you care about staying in control of your firm as this unfolds…
Keep reading The PI Brief.
We’re not here to hype tools so that we can sell you on them and make a cut.
We want to make sure you're the one directing what happens next.
So be honest for a second:
Right now, are you…
A) Avoiding AI altogether
B) Quietly experimenting after hours
C) Trying to build structure before it builds around you
Hit reply with A, B, or C.
No explanation needed.
If you expand, we’ll know exactly where you stand.
See you Thursday.
P.S. If you want a clearer picture of what’s happening…
See what we’ve been tracking the last few weeks.
AI sanctions…
VC-backed law firms…
300+ PI firms admitting what’s really happening…
The intake gaps no one wants to talk about.
It’s all here:
Go read a few.
Then decide if you want to stay ahead of this.
If you’d like to be considered for a feature in an upcoming issue of The PI Brief…
Hit reply with the word “feature.”
We’ll send over a few quick questions.
No cost or pitch.
Just spotlighting PI firms doing great work.
Or if you prefer, join the feature waitlist here:
Until next time,
-The PI Brief