Firm pilots scheme directing first year associates to embed AI training into billable work
Ropes and Gray has launched a significant shift in the way junior lawyers are trained by requiring them to dedicate a substantial part of their billable time to artificial intelligence. The initiative is being piloted in the United States and is due to expand across the firm’s international offices, including London. It forms part of a wider strategy to integrate the use of AI into everyday legal work and to ensure that new lawyers gain meaningful experience with the technology from the outset of their careers.
The Boston founded firm is encouraging first year associates to allocate around 20 percent of their billable hours to AI related activity. New associates are set an annual billable target of 1,900 hours. Under the new programme, approximately 400 of those hours are intended for training, simulations and workflow testing with AI systems. The firm has presented the initiative as a structured approach that allows junior lawyers to understand how technological tools operate within complex legal processes.
The pilot is already underway in the firm’s United States offices. Planning for a global roll out is ongoing and covers all 16 offices across the United States, Asia and Europe. Ropes and Gray employs more than 1,500 lawyers worldwide, and the initiative represents one of the largest coordinated efforts by an international law firm to embed AI into early career development.
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The shift follows news earlier this year of an expanded partnership between Ropes and Gray and the legal AI company Hebbia. Hebbia’s platform is designed to support complex document review and data analysis in high value matters, particularly in transactions where time sensitive document handling is crucial. The firm has stated that the platform offers improved speed and accuracy when compared with a number of other large language model based tools. The collaboration provides the underlying infrastructure for the new training initiative and reflects the increasing prominence of AI across corporate legal services.
Other major law firms are also adjusting early career structures to address the growing role of AI. Reed Smith has begun to offer credit to junior lawyers who participate in innovation work. Kennedys has been working with the generative AI platform Spellbrook to help trainees and junior associates adapt to changes in the nature of entry level case work. These measures signal a broader industry trend in which firms are encouraging junior lawyers to develop skills that align with evolving expectations for legal service delivery.
Senior partner John Bruce described the Ropes and Gray programme as an attempt to ensure that junior lawyers develop confidence in using AI at the same pace as the technology becomes more integrated across the profession. He said that the firm had a responsibility to prevent early career lawyers from being left behind as the sector undergoes rapid technological change. He characterised the aim as producing lawyers who can combine strong legal reasoning with the ability to operate effectively alongside AI systems.
The firm has clarified that the overall billable hour target for associates remains the same. Instead, the initiative classifies AI training as billable activity in the same way as other forms of professional development that contribute to client service and legal capability. The decision to assign a substantial portion of the billable target to structured practice with AI reflects a view that such proficiency has become a core component of modern legal work.
The outcome of the pilot scheme is expected to shape how the initiative is implemented across the firm’s international network. London is anticipated to be among the first offices to adopt the model after the initial trial period in the United States. The firm has stated that feedback from junior lawyers will be central in refining the approach for different regions.
The launch of this programme highlights the wider challenge for law firms in balancing the use of AI with the need to preserve essential training opportunities for junior lawyers. Ropes and Gray’s approach suggests that allocating billable time to structured AI development may form part of the solution as the sector adapts to new expectations and technologies.