Law firms grapple with rising costs of using artificial intelligence
AI subscriptions in the legal sector are becoming more expensive, according to reporting from the Financieele Dagblad (FD), as providers shift pricing models and firms face rising costs.
At present, law firms generally pay a fixed subscription fee of a few hundred euros per month per user for legal AI tools. However, that pricing level is increasingly seen as temporary rather than stable, as companies move away from predictable monthly billing.
A major change was announced this week by Legora, a widely used AI platform for legal professionals. The company is replacing its fixed subscription model for its most advanced product with a usage-based system. Under this structure, clients are billed according to how much they use the AI model, meaning higher usage directly increases costs.
Elgar Weijtmans, former IT lawyer and head of technology at HVG Law, described the impact on firms. “I receive various law firms on the phone in panic asking how they are still supposed to afford this,” he said.
Weijtmans added that adoption is already widespread. “Virtually all law firms now have an AI system. In most cases they pay a fixed amount per user per month. For a long time that seemed sustainable. It is now becoming clear that this is no longer profitable for many providers.”
Cost increases are also expected to continue. Douwe Groenevelt, legal tech expert at Datacation, told the FD that firms relying on the most advanced AI models should expect significantly higher expenses. “Law firms that want to continue using the very best models will have to take into account that the AI costs will be about two to three times higher,” he said.
Experts cited by the FD also expect other major providers of legal AI tools to follow Legora’s lead and adjust their pricing models in a similar direction in the near future, reinforcing the trend toward higher and more variable costs.
