Skip Lohmeyer and Carlos Manzano were quoted extensively in a Thomson Reuters article about what clients expect from AI-enabled law firms and what it takes for law firms to earn client trust in the "AI era."

"Increasingly, clients view AI through the lens of risk management, operational efficiency, and business value," Skip said. "We see that reflected in conversations with clients, in RFPs, and in outside counsel guidelines."

"Many clients are establishing expectations around confidentiality, data security, transparency, and attorney accountability when AI is used," Skip added. "At the same time, a growing number are asking different questions: where is AI improving efficiency and responsiveness, why would a law firm not use it responsibly, and how is it reducing legal costs?"

"Two or three years ago, clients were mostly asking whether AI use was permissible," Carlos said. "The legal profession did not fully understand what AI was at that point, so clients were primarily concerned with whether the firm had thought through the risks, whether their data and confidentiality were protected, and whether the technology was mature enough to trust."

"In 2026, that conversation has fundamentally shifted," Carlos continued. "Today, in-house legal teams are leveraging AI themselves to compress timelines, reduce routine work, and handle high volumes. Clients are benchmarking firms against their own operations and asking not whether their law firm uses AI, but what value outside counsel can actually deliver that their own capable teams cannot. The expectation has moved from permission to performance, and the firms that have not kept pace are starting to feel it."

Click here to read the full article: From Permission to Performance: What Clients Now Expect From AI-Enabled Law Firms

Thomson Reuters is a global content and technology company.