Field Notes · 2024 — 2026
Transforming
legal economics
into decisions
Principal · NYC
Ashley Fry
A running set of notes on alternative fee design, deal-level profitability, and the AI tools quietly rewriting the economics of complex legal work.
Practice Areas · Click a tile, then read the philosophy
All philosophy →Pricing Strategy
Designing the commercial shape of a matter before the engagement letter goes out — what to charge, what to bundle, what to hold back.
My philosophy →Matter Economics
Tracking margin, realisation, and leverage in-flight so partners can course-correct before write-offs lock in.
My philosophy →AFA Design
Structuring fixed, capped, blended, and success-linked fee models that survive scope creep without burning the relationship.
My philosophy →AI Workflows
Using AI to creatively solve problems — stated or ambiguous — without sacrificing credibility, and architecting the solution, not just visualising it.
My philosophy →Pitch & RFP
Pitch architecture and competitor framing for elite practices — built around what GCs and PE buyers actually read.
My philosophy →Client Value
Post-engagement reviews, rate strategy, and the quiet work of turning one good matter into the next five.
My philosophy →AI is changing the work faster than it is changing the bill.
— Working thesis · 2026
Fig. 01 — The Efficiency Dividend Gap
AI adoption climbs.
The invoice barely notices.
Roughly 90% of corporate outside-counsel spend is still tied to hourly rates, even as GenAI use among legal professionals nearly doubled in a single year. The open question for pricing teams: who captures the delta — the firm, the client, or neither?
79%
Legal pros using AI at firms
Clio · 2025
71%
Clients unsure if firms use GenAI
Thomson Reuters
7.3%
Worked-rate growth, 2025
Thomson Reuters
GenAI Adoption vs. Hourly Billing Share
Thomson Reuters · Clio · 2022–2026
§ Field Intel
Recent writing
Pricing · PE & IB/Jun 1, 2026
What PE buyers actually read on a fee proposal
Sponsors don't read your pitch the way partners think they do. A short note on what gets underlined, what gets ignored, and why the budget page is the only page that matters.
Read→AI in Legal · Pricing/May 25, 2026
AFAs after Harvey: what changes in the model, what doesn't
Generative AI compresses the cost of a defined slice of legal work. That changes what an alternative fee should look like — but not as much, or in the direction, most people assume.
Read→Matter Economics · AI in Legal/May 18, 2026
Realization is the wrong KPI for an AI-augmented matter
Realization assumes hours are the unit of production. Once a meaningful slice of the work happens outside the timekeeper system, realization measures the wrong thing — and rewards the wrong behaviour.
Read→