‘The competition will change’: Goodwin chair on AI and Big Law’s next era

Goodwin is not considering external investment despite spending $25 million a year on AI and technology, chair Anthony McCusker says.

The US firm, which generated $2.7 billion in revenue last year, believes it can fund that investment itself.

“Twenty-five million dollars is a big number,” McCusker told The Non-Billable Podcast. “But it’s one that we as a partnership believe will help us be the firm that we want to be in the future.”

“If we could move faster and it made sense to spend more, we would,” he added.

An AI future

Goodwin has been one of the more ambitious firms when it comes to AI. An internal initiative known as GAIN - short for Goodwin AI Native - looks at how the technology can be embedded into lawyers' day to day work. The firm has also built an AI operating system called Regina OS - named after former chair Regina Pisa.

McCusker says Goodwin plans to build its own technology where it thinks that can give the firm an advantage, while buying tools for more standard tasks.

AI is also part of Goodwin 2033, the firm’s strategy focused on six industries: private equity, investment funds, technology, life sciences, healthcare and real estate.

“In a world where the legal answer is very fast and potentially close to free, you need to be adding additional value,” McCusker says.

McCusker also expects AI to change who Big Law firms compete with. Goodwin will not only be up against traditional law firm rivals, but also AI-native firms, alternative providers and technology companies giving clients tools to do more work themselves.

“The type of competition is going to change,” he says.

No plans for outside capital

McCusker says Goodwin’s partners want to keep control over the business and how it invests.

“We like being owners that control our business,” he says, adding that external capital isn’t something the firm is considering,

London is important to its growth strategy. The office is Goodwin’s third largest, with around 65 partners, and operates across all six of the firm’s target industries. Revenue reached $225 million last year.

“We believe that to be the global law firm that we want to be, we have to be very successful in London,” McCusker says.

Goodwin has no current plans for further European offices, although McCusker says the firm would consider expansion if client demand justified it.

Listen to the full conversation with Anthony McCusker on The Non-Billable Podcast, sponsored by Thomson Reuters.