Guest Contribution: From Kevin Bashaw, MBA, Esq., CEO of Mason
There are moments in every industry when strong financial performance can either reinforce complacency or ignite transformation.
For law firms, 2025 was a year of record profits, expanding margins, and sustained client demand. By traditional measures, it was a year to celebrate. But leadership is not defined by what happens in strong markets. It is defined by how you prepare for what comes next.
Today, that preparation is about Legal AI and Legal Technology.
Profitability Is a Result. Legal AI Is a Strategy.
The financial results of 2025 were impressive. Higher billing rates, resilient demand, and disciplined cost management drove meaningful margin expansion. But those gains were built on a model that is increasingly under pressure.
Clients are demanding more value. Corporate legal departments are investing in Legal AI internally. Alternative providers are leveraging Legal Technology to deliver work faster and at lower cost.
In that environment, relying on rate increases alone is not a long term strategy. The firms that will define the next decade are those that understand this truth: Legal AI is not about automation. It is about reinvention.
Legal Technology Is About Serving Clients Better
At its core, Legal Technology should not be viewed as a cost center or an experiment. It is a commitment to client service.
When a firm invests in AI driven legal research, automated document review, or predictive analytics, it is not simply chasing efficiency. It is choosing to reduce friction in how it delivers expertise. It is choosing to give clients clarity faster. It is choosing to compete on insight, not just hours.
Legal AI enables lawyers to focus on judgment, advocacy, and strategy. It handles the repetitive tasks that once consumed valuable time. It allows firms to shift from reactive work toward proactive counsel grounded in data.
This is not about replacing lawyers. It is about elevating them.
Leadership in Legal AI Requires Courage
Investing in Legal Technology during a record breaking year requires conviction. It is easier to protect margins than to reinvest them. It is easier to preserve legacy systems than to modernize them.
But leadership has always required courage.
Firms that integrate Legal AI thoughtfully will need governance frameworks, training programs, and cultural alignment. They will need to redefine workflows. They will need to measure return on investment not only in cost savings, but in client satisfaction and competitive positioning.
That kind of transformation does not happen by accident. It happens when leaders decide that excellence tomorrow matters more than comfort today.
Legal AI Is Becoming the Competitive Baseline
The legal market is changing. Corporate clients are adopting Legal Technology inside their own departments. They are using AI to analyze contracts, manage compliance, and model risk. As their sophistication grows, so do their expectations of outside counsel.
Soon, Legal AI will not be a differentiator. It will be a baseline expectation.
The firms that move early will shape pricing models, staffing structures, and client engagement strategies around intelligent automation. They will create scalable systems that protect margins even as clients demand efficiency. They will define what premium service looks like in an AI enabled world.
Those that delay may find themselves competing on price alone.
The Responsibility of This Moment
A record breaking year offers firms something rare: the financial flexibility to invest in the future without crisis forcing their hand.
The question is whether leaders will use this moment wisely.
Legal AI and Legal Technology are not passing trends. They represent a structural shift in how legal services are delivered, measured, and valued. They offer an opportunity to strengthen trust with clients, empower professionals, and build resilient institutions.
The next era of the legal industry will not be defined by who had the highest profits in 2025. It will be defined by who used that success to build lasting capability.
Leadership is not about celebrating the past. It is about building what comes next. In law today, what comes next is being written in Legal AI and Legal Technology.