“There are now two distinct eras in legal pricing, pre-AI and post-AI. And if your firm is still operating in the former, your clients already know it.”

That was the blunt message from Aaron Boersma of Ford Motor Company during a recent session at the LMA Annual Conference. Joined by Iwona Kesting of Jones Day, who facilitated the discussion, and Adam Barvels of Wilson Sonsini, the panel brought together perspectives across in-house LegalOps, marketing & business development, and pricing & legal project management.

The conversation focused on a central shift, how AI is redefining the commercial relationship between law firms and their clients, and what that means for pricing, value, and expectations going forward.

The Client View Has Changed, Fast

The old way of pricing still shows up too often. A partner picks a number just before the pitch or proposal deadline. A slide sits there with a question mark. It is not just inefficient. It does not hold up anymore.

Meanwhile, clients have moved on. They are using AI to analyse spend, compare rates, check billing rules, and test proposals against their own risk. Adam was clear. “You can no longer think the client doesn’t know where this should be priced.” That idea was always questionable. Now it is simply wrong.

Proposals, Profitability, and the New Transparency Imperative

The expectation from sophisticated clients is that firms arrive having done their homework, not just on the matter, but on the client. Aaron mentioned how tools like Perplexity AI, at roughly $20 a month, can surface a company's risk posture, strategic priorities, and organisational structure in minutes. 

For BD and pricing teams, this changes the pitch dynamic entirely. Proposals need to be stress-tested against the client's full profile before they leave the building. AFAs and value-based pricing arrangements need to be grounded in real data, not instinct. And profitability conversations have to happen earlier, with more rigour.

Collaboration Is the Competitive Advantage

Perhaps the most important takeaway is structural. Winning in this environment requires BD professionals, pricing specialists, lawyers, and AI tools to operate as an integrated team, not in sequence, but in parallel. Aaron was clear that the pace of change makes complacency dangerous: "Everything is moving fast, and just because it's what we've always done, it's not an excuse." That means shared data, shared accountability, and a shared understanding of what clients actually know when they sit down across from you.

Addressing The Fear That AI Will Reduce Your Firm's Fees 

Aaron shared a brilliant analogy on this. When Ford introduced the assembly line, cars became cheaper to produce, and customers expected lower prices. Ford reduced costs, but because they could build and sell far more cars, the business still grew, and for the first time, households in the US owned multiple vehicles. He drew a parallel with AI in legal. Yes, rates may come under pressure, but firms will be able to handle more work, more efficiently, and at a greater scale.

The firms that treat AI as a back-office efficiency tool will lose ground to those that embed it into how they price, pitch, and partner with clients from day one. The window to make that shift is narrowing.