P2P

P E E R T O P E E R M A G A Z I N E · S P R I N G 2 0 2 6 21 and unlock hidden opportunities for growth." LEGAL SERVICES DELIVERY: PRACTICE- SPECIFIC TOOLS FOR CLIENT WORK Associates and partners are building AI-assisted tools tailored to their specific practice areas. In M&A practices, associates build custom contract analysis tools that focus on the dozen clauses that actually matter for their deals -- change of control provisions, carve-out mechanics, specific indemnification structures -- rather than generic platforms that flag hundreds of issues. Litigation teams develop case-specific document processing workflows. Due diligence has proven particularly amenable: real estate groups build tools that extract and normalize key lease provisions; employment lawyers create compliance audit tools that check employee handbooks against jurisdiction-specific requirements. The common thread here is that these are not general-purpose tools trying to serve all lawyers. They are precision instruments built by lawyers who understand exactly what their practice group needs. When firms' M&A teams build tools that encode their analytical approach and domain expertise, those tools become proprietary competitive assets. Client pitches increasingly include demonstrations of custom technology capabilities. THE SHADOW IT PROBLEM: GOVERNANCE IN THE AGE OF "EVERYBODY BUILDS" The same characteristics that make vibe coding powerful -- speed, accessibility, customization -- also introduce significant risks. According to a 2025 global study by BCG cited in Law Practice Magazine, 54% of employees would use an AI tool that is not authorized by their employer, and Microsoft's 2024 Work Trend Index found that 78% of knowledge workers are "bringing their own" AI tools. Clio's 2025 Legal Trends Report found that while 79% of legal professionals use AI tools, 44% of law firms still lack formal AI governance policies. The data governance implications are particularly acute in law firms where client confidentiality and conflicts management are foundational obligations. When a non-technical professional builds an application using AI assistance, who ensures data handling meets security standards? What happens when an application built by a departing employee becomes critical to operations, but no one knows how it works or whether it is compliant? CODE MAINTAINABILITY AND TECHNICAL DEBT Beyond security, firms face the challenge of maintaining AI-generated code. When applications are built through conversational interaction rather than traditional software engineering, the resulting code often lacks documentation, testing, and architectural clarity that makes software maintainable over time. Chris Bridges, co-founder of Tacit Legal and one of the creators of vibecode.law, addressed this directly in Artificial Lawyer. "We're realistic about what vibe-coding can achieve. Projects built by non- developers through AI-assisted coding aren't production-ready out of the box. But that's not the point. Vibe-coding is a catalyst for change: it lets domain experts demonstrate ideas rather than just describe them, validate concepts before investing in full development, and communicate precisely what they need through working prototypes." Scott Kveton, CEO of CaseMark, launched the Thurgood platform specifically to address this gap. In a January 2026 LawSites interview, Kveton explained, "You built something useful. We'll help you get it into the hands of the people who need it. Not every attorney will build their own apps. But the ones who do shouldn't have to become infrastructure experts to share them." CORE FUNCTIONS

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