“Soon, lawyers like us won’t be needed anymore.”
A sentence that’s been making the rounds in many law firms over the past few 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 isn’t that it “knows” laws or “finds” rulings.
Software could already do that before.
The new thing is: It understands structures. It can logically connect contexts, compare suggestions, identify weaknesses—and at a speed no human could ever achieve.
But that doesn’t mean lawyers are becoming 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 the 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’s 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 connection between machine precision and human judgment.
Why now is exactly the right time
Every technological revolution follows the same pattern:
- Pioneers experiment.
- The hesitant observe.
- Late adopters get swept away.
Law firms and consulting professions are now 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 great thing about it: This learning curve is no longer just about technology.
It’s about attitude. About curiosity. About the willingness to think with a machine as an equal.
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 are even relevant.
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 isn’t a loss of meaning, but a return to the essentials:
Lawyers will once again become what they always truly 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’s a third camp—and those are the innovators who are now starting not just to work with AI, but to think with it.
They’re building new law firm formats.
They’re relieving their teams of routine.
They’re creating space for strategy, negotiation, and humanity.
And they understand:
AI isn’t taking their work away.
It’s changing which work is even worthwhile.
Conclusion
The coming years will show who truly thinks legally—and who just writes.
The machine can analyze, structure, formulate.
But it can’t decide.
Not feel.
Not lead.
Those who understand this realize: The golden age has long since begun—not for those who are afraid, but for those who are starting.