BigHand Report Finds Law Firms Restructuring for AI Without Managing the Cost of Delivery
BigHand's 2026 Law Firm Talent and Resourcing Report
New research finds 99% of firms say AI is changing team composition, yet only 22% consider matter profitability when allocating work
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, November 10, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Law firms are rebuilding their teams around AI, but few are factoring in what it costs to deliver the work, according to new research published today by BigHand.
The Law Firm Talent and Resourcing Report 2026 surveyed more than 800 law firm leaders across the UK and North America. Almost all (99%) said AI is already changing their hiring priorities and team composition. Yet only 22% explicitly consider matter profitability when allocating work, and just 13% are focusing on improving lawyer leverage.
The gap is becoming harder to ignore as clients push for AI to show up in what they pay. Nearly half of firms (46%) say clients have questioned why fees have not fallen despite the firm’s use of AI, and 42% have received requests for alternative fee arrangements linked to AI efficiencies. Only 1% said clients had not raised AI’s impact on pricing or service delivery at all.
“Demand for legal services is still rising, and rate increases remain the status quo However, clients are beginning to push on price. Clients are becoming more familiar with the efficiency that AI can offer through their own use of the tools. That tells you that pricing pressure is building and ultimately here to stay,” said Eric Wangler, Global President and Chief Revenue Officer at BigHand.
“Clients now come to pricing conversations better informed, with better data and are expecting to see where efficiency shows up. The firms best placed for that conversation are the ones that can speak to a staffing plan prior to engagement, see who is doing the work throughout the matter and make strategic adjustments as the matter ebbs and flows. Dynamically managing matter staffing versus presenting a bill and hoping for the best is what will differentiate firms and help them grow trust with their clients, which leads to more business.”
The research suggests most firms do not yet have that view. Only 23% regularly monitor matter-level profitability at management or executive level. More than a third (37%) still allocate work primarily by partner preference, and two-thirds (67%) have no formal process for preventing lawyer underutilization.
Firms also pointed to barriers that pull against better staffing. The most-cited limit on lawyer utilization was client budgets restricting delegation (24%), followed by partners holding work rather than passing it on (22%) and over-specialization limiting cross-staffing (22%).
“If we ask people to delegate work to improve profitability, while measuring their individual success predominantly through the hours they personally record, we’re giving them conflicting instructions,” said Mark Johnson, CFO of Flint Bishop, who contributed commentary to the report. “AI makes that tension even harder to ignore.”
There are signs of change. Some 57% of firms now employ dedicated Resource Managers, up from 51% last year. But only 16% combine structured processes, technology, matter budgets, and dedicated resourcing support.
DLA Piper, a BigHand Resource Management customer, replaced informal, relationship-led resourcing with a centralized, data-driven model. The firm reports saving more than 600 hours and £673,000 ($890,000) in resourcing time by the half-year point alone.
“Most firms are already changing their teams because of AI. What’s often missing is the information to do it commercially,” said Alex Tring, Director of Operations, Resource Management at BigHand. “When firms can see their people’s availability, skills, and development needs alongside matter economics, they can build the right team for each piece of work, including where technology plays a role in the delivery of legal services. Profitability becomes part of the allocation decision, rather than something the firm discovers after the work is done.”
The full Law Firm Talent and Resourcing Report 2026 is available at bighand.com.
About the research
The Law Firm Talent and Resourcing Report 2026 is based on a survey of more than 800 law firm leaders and senior operations, HR, and resource management professionals at UK- and North American-headquartered firms with 50 to 1,000+ lawyers. Many questions allowed multiple answers, so percentages do not sum to 100.
About BigHand
BigHand is the specialist technology partner for the business of law. As the performance engine within the modern firm, it turns operational and financial data into intelligence that supports better decisions across financial performance, matter pricing, resource management, workflow management, and document creation.
By surfacing trusted intelligence before the point of decision, BigHand helps law firms protect profitability, improve operational performance, and deliver greater client value.
Gavin Lee
BigHand
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