If law firms want to understand how they will be impacted by AI they should understand their customers' expectations.

Deloitte just gave us the answer key.

They published a study last month of 121 in-house legal leaders and there are some warning lights flashing.

58% of General Counsels say their law firms rarely or never bring up AI with them. Only 4% have seen any actual benefit from their firms' use of it.

Your clients are not waiting for you.

Here's what they told Deloitte: They expect hourly rate work to fall from 72% of engagements today to 44% within 2 to 3 years. In the Americas, from 82% to 56%.

Some GCs are committing to cut external legal spend by 20 to 40% over the next three years. Those targets directly impact outside counsel revenue.

They're already running AI across years of your invoice narratives to decide what gets insourced or automated. Your billing data is training their sourcing strategy.

And a new workflow is spreading: legal departments draft with AI first, then send the document to their firm for review. The firm's role shifts from author to editor.

There's debate as to whether that's creating more work for law firms or less.

Regardless, most firms aren't tackling the conversation head on.

48% of legal departments report only initial conversations with providers about AI. 19% report none at all.

Deloitte's read is pretty clear: where firms stay silent, clients draw their own conclusions.

Then the client opens the conversation with pre-formed demands on price and transparency, and the firm negotiates from a defensive stance.

The window hasn't closed. 42% of GCs say AI cost savings should be split equally between firm and client.

Almost half your clients are literally offering to share the upside with firms that show up prepared.

The firms that move first get to frame benefit sharing as collaboration.

The firms that wait will explain their rates to a procurement team armed with their own invoice data.

A proactive approach wins the day here.

Waiting until the client brings it up puts firms at a disadvantage.