:Harvey: Power Users: The New Generation of Legal Change Agent

Change management in law firms has always been a thorny challenge. Sceptical observers of the profession used to query whether meaningful change was even possible. I remember the managing partner of a magic circle law firm discussing the FT Innovative Lawyers reports with me, when the programme was in its early years, saying, “the problem with legal innovation is that the pace of change in law firms is glacial.”

Fast forward 15 years from that conversation and the legal world feels quite different (even if it still looks quite similar). A lot of that change has happened in the last five years, and particularly in the last 18 months. First Covid and then generative AI are pushing lawyers to change their working patterns and approaches.

That managing partner comment however sticks in my mind when I look at the power user stats in the report RSGI did with Harvey last year on its usage with 40 customers. Typically, 20-30% of the lawyers at the 29 participating law firms in the report could be categorised as power users. (Law firms defined the power users themselves as being either volume or strategic users.)

These power users saved nearly 37 hours per month, double the amount compared to standard users. For in-house legal teams, power users save 28.3 hours per month compared to 11.8 for standard users.

For these mature users, using Harvey and other AI tools is essential to remain competitive. It could be said that early adopters show a clear “Harvey Fluency Curve”: as teams develop expertise in prompting, workflow design, and collaboration, impact compounds.

Power users were spread through the ranks of a law firm. They weren’t confined to hungry, digital natives or younger lawyers keen to progress. Older partners were as likely to be a keen adopter of Harvey. Schoenherr, an Austrian law firm, for example said, “We see power users on all levels. Even equity partners are heavy users. It is super exciting.” Jackson Walker, a US law firm said, “Partners are the most vocal and are finding the best ways to streamline processes with Harvey. They know where the pain points are and what can be done better.”

The Impact of Power Users

Law firms are using power users much as they did innovation champions a few years back or change agents. They are becoming rapid enablers of cultural change within the firms. Degreed, a US-based, learning experience platform found that 55% of employees generally turn to colleagues for advice when learning new skills, making internal power users more influential than external trainers.

Some of the firms in the Harvey report did point out that not all power users are change agents. Some are just heavy users. But a significant number could be called champions who are keen to spread the word about Harvey and its benefits.

One of the characteristics of a power user is that they are more likely to change how they do work, rather than just use Harvey as an augmentation tool. Their fluency rises exponentially, as do the benefits they see from using Harvey or other AI. They are more than twice as productive and as effective, often able to create a flywheel effect in their practices.

In some cases, their effect in their practice areas is contra to that noted by Erik Brynjolfsson, the Stanford Economist in his ‘j-curve analysis’. Here, he points out that there is often a dip in productivity following the adoption of a transformative technology, where companies invest time and capital into restructuring before seeing the benefits. While law firms in the report had not, in the main, implemented formal and institutional ‘ROI’ (return-on-investment) frameworks for Harvey, they were seeing immediate productivity gains across the board albeit not quantifiable cost savings — yet.

Power Users as Change Agents

The rise of the AI power user is significant for change management in law firms. Historically, law firms have tended to vote into management and leadership positions popular lawyers with influence, mistakenly charging the people pleasers with effecting change and then wondering why it remained elusive. For the first time, the lawyers tasked with change may not be the people pleaser or those with the most social charisma and fee-earning clout. They may be the AI power user.

John Amaechi OBE, the change consultant points out that it is important not to mistake charisma for competence. And this is what law firms have been doing for decades.

But now, with the advent of the legal AI power user, there is an opportunity for law firms to effect transformative change. These digitally enabled partners and lawyers - who can lead by example, restructure workflows and show colleagues how to work better and smarter - have a moment in the sun.

Amaechi writes about the need for change agents to have ‘true presence’. This is a notion he derived from Angela De Castro, a famous theatre performer and clown in Brazil, who defines this idea of being passionately present as “loving being where you are”.

One of the impacts of Harvey is that it has removed the drudgery from legal work: 83% of the Harvey study participants agreed or strongly agreed that its impact on workplace fulfilment was positive. Lawyers who use it are saying they would rather have their coffee taken away, or to lose a limb in one case. They have fallen in love with being lawyers again.

These happy power users can be a cohort of change agents unlike any that law firms have seen before. They are not people pleasers, but competent doers and digital lawyers. They still have challenges and must work within existing law firm systems and hierarchies but the firm that organises and co-ordinates their power users is likely to get ahead of the game.

For a deeper look at these insights, access the full report, Defining the Impact of Legal AI: How Harvey Customers Realise Value.