Is AI Replacing Lawyers?

Today I'm sitting down with: Raffi Isanians, a former BigLaw M&A lawyer (with experience at Kirkland & Ellis, Gunderson, and Goodwin), Y Combinator alum, and founder of Mage Legal. Marcelo Moura, a dual-qualified associate in Mishcon de Reya’s Commercial Litigation team, co-founder of AI2L, and UK Ambassador of the Brazilian Legal Tech Association (AB2L). He has worked in law since 2005 and has been involved in AI, innovation, and legal-tech initiatives since 2017. Mike Kochkin, founder at BeSavvy, an AI-powered legal training platform helping law firms rethink how lawyers learn, develop judgment, and build practical skills in an AI-first world. We discuss the difference between automating legal tasks and replacing the lawyer, the risks of relying on AI without review, and the skills lawyers need to practise as their work changes. Mike also offers a practical response to the training challenge: faster feedback, stronger first principles thinking, and the ability to assess the answers AI produces. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Raffi Isanians 00:23 Will AI replace lawyers or change their work 03:52 Training programme announcement 06:12 Why lawyers need to invest time in learning AI 07:25 AI native law firms and the need for oversight 10:05 Are lawyers training their own replacement 11:11 AI as a copilot and the value of human lawyers 12:37 Building the future law firm with lawyers and developers 13:48 Marcelo Moura on future proofing your legal skills 16:33 Why you cannot outsource your reasoning 16:57 Mike Kochkin on how the role of junior lawyers is changing 17:24 AI handles the writing while lawyers focus on content 18:04 How AI can shorten the learning and feedback loop 19:18 AI gives answers but lawyers must judge them 20:19 First principles thinking before AI tools 20:54 AI agents builders and client relationships -------- Want to build AI agents for your own legal work? Join me for The Global AI Agent Build for Lawyers, a six-week live programme starting in January 2027. Build a working AI agent around the legal tasks you handle every day. Learn through live workshops, expert office hours and hands-on practice. Test your agent’s accuracy and put safeguards in place for client confidentiality and human review. Join the Waitlist here: https://www.fridayaiadvisory.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.