IBA Annual Conference Copenhagen 2026
4 Oct - 9 Oct 2026
Session information
What are clients really paying for? From hours to outcomes, AI and (the end of) traditional billing
Tuesday 6 October (1115 - 1230)
Committee(s)
Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee
(Lead)
Description
As AI tools draft contracts, predict case outcomes and analyse vast datasets in seconds, clients are confronting a fundamental question: what are they actually paying for? This session examines how technology is transforming the essence of legal practice – shifting from time-based billing to value-driven partnerships, from individual expertise to human–AI collaboration, and from traditional service delivery to platform-based models. We’ll explore how forward-thinking firms are reimagining their business models, how clients are demanding unprecedented transparency and measurable outcomes, and how a new generation of lawyers is combining technological fluency with strategic insight. This is the new age of law: faster, smarter and fundamentally different from what came before.
Session / Workshop Chair(s)
| Tal Eyal-Boger | FISCHER, Tel Aviv, Israel; Membership Officer, Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee |
Speakers
| Yoram Elkaim | Google, Paris, France |
| Sönke Lund | ÉCIJA, Barcelona, Spain; Member, Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee Advisory Board |
| Mark Sansom | Freshfields, London, England |