Mathew Kerbis: How AI Is Forcing Lawyers to Rethink Pricing

Jan 15, 2026

Mathew Kerbis, Founder of Subscription Attorney LLC and co-founder of Practi.ai, discusses the profound shift AI brings to legal billing. He highlights how traditional hourly billing practices are becoming obsolete as AI automates tasks, pushing lawyers to rethink their pricing structures. Subscription models emerge as a solution, offering clients predictable costs while enabling firms to scale operations. Mathew emphasizes the importance of specialized tools and delegation for solos and small firms to thrive in this rapidly changing landscape.

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ANECDOTE

Launching Subscription Attorney

Mathew launched Subscription Attorney LLC in 2022 to serve small businesses with monthly tiers and fractional GC work.
His current pricing includes $500, $1,000, and $2,000 monthly packages for different client needs.

INSIGHT

AI Threatens Hourly Revenue

AI can automate roughly 75% of billable law firm hours, which threatens hourly revenue models.
Automating billable tasks will collapse revenue if firms keep billing by the hour.

ADVICE

Use AI Responsibly And Efficiently

Use AI ethically and correctly when it reduces time dramatically because you may have an obligation to deploy efficient tools.
Pair foundational models with retrieval and grounding to avoid hallucinations and protect quality.

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In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Mathew Kerbis discuss:

AI’s impact on billable work
Recognizing the limits of hourly and flat fees
Using subscriptions to create stability and scale
Positioning lawyers for long-term resilience

Key Takeaways:

AI is set to automate most billable legal tasks, collapsing the hours firms rely on for revenue. Continuing to bill time while effort shrinks creates ethical and financial strain. The profession must rethink pricing before the model breaks entirely.
Hourly billing punishes efficiency and leaves clients unable to budget. Flat fees help, but often trigger resistance when AI makes work appear “too easy.” Both models strain under faster, AI-driven workflows.
Subscription pricing offers predictable costs for clients and recurring value for firms. Changing needs are handled through tier shifts instead of constant renegotiation. This approach opens access to the vast unmet legal market.
Solo and small firms can thrive by pairing subscriptions with purpose-built AI tools. Clear value mapping enables strong good-better-best service tiers. Sustainable growth requires leverage, focus, and letting go of doing everything alone.

"The flat fee or fixed fee model… hasn’t supplanted the billable hour… because of exactly this problem I call the under‑scoping and over‑scoping problem. You don't know if you're going to overscope or underscope the work when it's on a fixed‑fee model." — Mathew Kerbis

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About Mathew Kerbis: Mathew Kerbis is the founder of Subscription Attorney LLC and co-founder of practi.ai, where he helps lawyers move beyond the billable hour and build sustainable, client-friendly practices. A longtime advocate for subscription-based legal services, Mathew pioneered one of the earliest low-cost legal subscription models and has since expanded into fractional general counsel work for small businesses. He also hosts the Law Subscribed podcast, where he explores alternative fee models, legal innovation, and the future of law in an AI-driven world.

Connect with Mathew Kerbis:

Website: https://www.practi.ai/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerbisverse/

Connect with Steve Fretzin:

LinkedIn: Steve Fretzin

Twitter: @stevefretzin

Instagram: @fretzinsteve

Facebook: Fretzin, Inc.

Website: Fretzin.com

Email: Steve@Fretzin.com

Book: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more!

YouTube: Steve Fretzin

Call Steve directly at 847-602-6911

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