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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

AI-ASSISTED AFAs? - Yesterday in this space we told you about how alternative fee arrangements are still struggling to catch on, largely due to the same problems that have long hindered their widespread adoption. All of that's true—but we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the new X factor that could finally move the needle in a real way: artificial intelligence. Legal professionals told Law.com's Jessie Yount that, while AI has yet to upend the billable hour or usher in a new era of AFAs, change is coming, faster than before. For example, Karen Buzard, a partner and member of the Markets Innovation Group at Allen & Overy, said she's seen examples of how AI can drive efficiencies that clients are already demanding or finding from alternative legal services providers, making billable hour alternatives like fixed fee models a real part of the conversation.

PAYING MORE TO COST LESS - So the key to more efficient law firms and happier clients may lie in tech investment. Sounds good, right? But before you read this next part, try to remember that life is all about balance. As legal tech becomes more indispensable, it is also becoming (much) more expensive. And industry consolidation is exacerbating the problem. As one CIO at an Am Law 200 firm told Law.com's Isha Marathe, "all the all the big [legal] tech companies, whether it's Litera, or Aderant, or Thomson Reuters have done a great job at buying up the competition … and killing it … that's the model, these companies swallow up the competition." "That's why we hate them," the CIO continued, "because they keep buying the great tools and jacking the prices up."

ON THE RADAR - Caesars Entertainment, the hotel and casino operator, was named in a data breach class action Nov. 13 in Nevada District Court. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of individuals whose personally identifiable information was allegedly compromised in a cyberattack that occurred is September 2023. The complaint was brought by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll; Kemp Jones LLP and Hausefeld. Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendant. The case is 2:23-cv-01865, Martin v. Caesars Entertainment, Inc. Stay up on the latest state and federal litigation, as well as the latest corporate deals, with Law.com Radar.