WALL STREET BANKS PUSH BIG LAW TO CUT FEES AS AI REDUCES LEGAL WORKLOADS

Summary from the TLDR Fintech newsletter

Morgan Stanley, Citi, and Goldman Sachs are pressing major law firms to share the efficiency gains from AI through lower fees, competitive bidding, fixed-fee arrangements, and other alternatives to traditional hourly billing. The shift threatens Big Law's leverage model, which depends on large teams of junior lawyers billing long hours, and could accelerate smaller associate classes, more in-house legal work, and a broader move toward pricing based on outcomes rather than time.