“Soon, we lawyers won’t be needed anymore.”
A sentence that has been making the rounds in many law firms in recent months—often half-ironically, but always with a hint of seriousness.
Because since ChatGPT-5 Pro and comparable models have hit the market, something has changed: The machine no longer just writes text fragments, but complete, logically sound arguments.
And yes—that’s impressive. And unsettling.
But above all, it’s one thing: a huge opportunity.
From Knowledge Work to Thinking Work
What makes this new generation of AI so special is not that it “knows” laws or “finds” rulings.
Software could do that before.
What’s new: It understands structures. It can logically connect relationships, compare suggestions, identify weaknesses—and at a speed no human could ever achieve.
But that doesn’t mean lawyers will become obsolete.
On the contrary.
The work is changing—from knowledge holder to decision architect.
It’s no longer the retrieval of statutes or templates that makes the difference, but the creative combination of knowledge, experience, and common sense.
Or, as a client recently put it so aptly:
“For us, a golden age is dawning—for everyone who can think combinatorially.”
What “combinatorial thinking” means today
Combinatorial thinking means: bringing together things that others see as separate.
In a legal context: law and real life.
In business: risk and opportunity.
In human terms: rule and empathy.
AI can organize knowledge—but it doesn’t know what’s important.
It can recognize patterns—but it doesn’t feel what is fair.
It can weigh arguments—but it doesn’t take responsibility.
All of that remains with humans. And that’s exactly where the future of legal work lies: in the combination of machine precision and human judgment.
Why now is exactly the right time
Every technological revolution follows the same pattern:
- Pioneers experiment.
- The hesitant observe.
- Latecomers get overrun.
Right now, law firms and consulting professions are standing at this threshold.
Anyone working with AI today isn’t just learning a new tool—they’re building a strategic competence that will determine competitiveness in five years.
And the best part: This learning curve is no longer just about technology.
It’s about attitude. About curiosity. About the willingness to think on equal footing with a machine.
From Craft to Responsibility
In traditional law, it was long about writing error-free texts.
In the future, it will be about taking responsibility for good decisions.
AI can help avoid mistakes—but it needs people who know which mistakes even matter.
It can check a thousand variants—but it needs someone to say which one is right.
It can formulate arguments—but it needs people to decide what is just.
This is not a loss of meaning, but a return to the essentials:
Female and male lawyers will once again become what they always were—navigators in a complex world.
A Golden Age—for the Right People
When you talk to lawyers today, you hear two camps:
Some see AI as a threat.
Others as a tool.
But there is a third camp—and these are the innovators who are now beginning not just to work with AI, but to think with it.
They are building new law firm formats.
They are relieving their teams of routine.
They are creating space for strategy, negotiation, and humanity.
And they understand:
AI doesn’t take work away from them.
It changes which work is even worthwhile.
Conclusion
The coming years will show who really thinks legally—and who just writes.
The machine can analyze, structure, formulate.
But it can’t decide.
Can’t feel.
Can’t lead.
Whoever understands this realizes: The golden age has long since begun—not for those who are afraid, but for those who are starting.
