Freshfields Bets Career Chips on Google’s Digital Roulette

When your firm’s innovation strategy consists of more than just letting associates expense their ChatGPT Plus subscriptions, you know something’s up. Enter Freshfields, whose leadership has apparently decided that billable hour efficiency needs the kind of boost only Silicon Valley wizardry can provide.

Freshfields is going all-in on Google Cloud’s AI portfolio. Global chief innovation officer Gil Perez, (pictured) whose job title alone costs clients an extra $50 per hour declared the firm is “laser-focused” on ensuring all 5,700 staffers can “master AI” daily.

Because nothing says “efficient legal service” like teaching document review attorneys to prompt engineer between doc batches.

And the move follows those made by other legal giants like A&OShearman as we recently reported. and Shoosmith’s million pound bonus move.

Freshfields plans to roll out Google’s generative AI chatbot Gemini across the firm, presumably so partners can finally get accurate answers about how the coffee machine works.

“We are particularly focused on harnessing AI as a tool to augment and empower our lawyers,” Perez explained, in what might be the most elaborate way to say “we want to bill the same amounts while doing less work” ever crafted by a C-suite executive.

The firm isn’t just stopping at basic AI implementation. They’re creating “bespoke AI agents” using Google’s Vertex AI platform to tackle “repetitive and time-consuming internal legal processes.” Translation: those first-years who thought doc review would be their ticket to partnership might want to update their LinkedIn profiles.

Freshfields has created an “AI oversight committee” and “cross-functional board” to direct their innovation strategy, to inspire confidence in cutting-edge technology with multiple layers of committee approval.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian called GenAI tools “a good fit” for regulated industries, which in BigLaw terms means “you can finally automate all those tedious tasks without accidentally disclosing privileged information or hallucinating case law.”

For Freshfields’ competitors still debating whether to upgrade from WordPerfect, the message is clear: the AI arms race has begun, and the robots are wearing bespoke suits.