Freshfields

Buy, Build, or Partner: Four BigLaw Bets on AI

22 April 2026·3771 words·18 mins

BigLaw AI-Strategy Cleary-Gottlieb Sullivan-Cromwell A&O-Shearman Freshfields Anthropic Harvey-AI Springbok-AI LAER-AI Legal-Tech-M&A Build-vs-Buy Knowledge-Management Hybrid-AI-Strategy Law-Firm-Innovation

Cleary Gottlieb acquired an AI company. A&O Shearman co-develops with Harvey and shares the revenue. Sullivan & Cromwell invested in a startup and lost it to an acquirer. Freshfields partnered with both Google and Anthropic while building its own tools. Four elite firms, four AI strategies, four very different results.

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