Why AI Could Turn Small Law Firms Into Billion-Dollar Businesses
What happens when AI makes legal work cheap enough to take cases lawyers couldn't afford to touch before? Eve CEO Jay Madheswaran argues that AI won't just cut costs for law firms. It could expand access to legal representation by making an entirely new class of cases economically viable. Jay joins a16z General Partner Alex Rampell to explain how Eve is automating plaintiff law from the first client call through settlement, and why some firms are already using it to increase the number of clients each attorney can manage from roughly 100 to 500. They also discuss how AI could shift lawyers toward higher-value advocacy, why agents may eventually negotiate with other agents, and what happens to the legal system when bringing a case becomes dramatically cheaper.