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Jordan Furlong

@jordanfurlong.com

1.9K followers 140 following 14K posts

Legal sector analyst, consultant, author, speaker, and reformer (he/him). I publish a free bi-weekly Substack newsletter: https://jordanfurlong.substack.com/ "We have the chance to turn the pages over." Luke 12:24-32.

jordanfurlong.substack.com

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Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 10h

"White used ChatGPT to identify potential errors in a judge’s decision ... [to] overturn her eviction notice and avoid roughly $55K in penalties and more than $18K in overdue rent. 'I never, ever, ever, ever could have won this appeal without AI.'" www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nbcn...

People are using ChatGPT as a lawyer in court. Some are winning.

From pickleball disputes to eviction cases, litigants are using ChatGPT to fight their court battles — and they’re starting to win.

www-nbcnews-com.cdn.ampproject.org

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 16h

Pluto-cracy, if you will.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 2d

Everyone agrees that new lawyers need a solid foundation of legal knowledge and reasoning at licensure. But I'm more skeptical all the time that the lawyer formation process is inculcating those assets and that bar exams are ensuring them. We need to figure out where we're going wrong and fix it. //

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 2d

Two of the last four SQE1 sittings have produced failure rates in 55-60% range. That speaks to a yawning gap between the preparation candidates receive and the standards to which the exam will hold them. The SRA has a responsibility to close that gap, one way or another.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 2d

I welcomed the SQE system when it arrived because I believe the law degree requirement for bar admission imposes costs well beyond its benefits. But if you remove that requirement, you are required to ensure candidates can still acquire legal knowledge and reasoning skills effectively elsewhere.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 2d

Either too many candidates aren't being properly prepared for the exam (very possible. since the SQE1 is open to people without a law degree), or the exam itself is unduly and unnecessarily difficult (of course, there's no reason it can't be some of both).

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 2d

You can talk all you like about how "rigorous" an exam is and how it proves the regulator is screening for competence. That's been the SRA's tune in the past. But when 60% of the people taking your exam are failing, that's not quality assurance, that's a failure of exam preparation and/or execution.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 2d

SQE1 exam results from July 2025 (legal knowledge competence exam for solicitors in England/Wales) report a pass rate of just 41%. Even excluding repeat takers, it's just 46%. sqe.sra.org.uk/news-item/20.... The SQE1 pass rate has never exceeded 56%. This should be a red flag for the SRA. 1/

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 2d

ACC reports growth in number of in-house counsel outstripped growth in law firm lawyers 87%-23% since 2008: www.law360.com/pulse/modern.... Two thoughts:

1. This is mostly just redistribution of lawyers from multi-client private practice to single-client employment.
2. AI will shrink both numbers.

In-House Counsel Numbers Grow Much Faster Than Outside - Law360 Pulse

A report from the Association of Corporate Counsel released Tuesday highlights "a dramatic and consistent rise in the number of in-house lawyers" in the U.S., showing that their numbers have nearly do...

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 5d

“Revolutions and long weekends don’t go together”: Georgia Meloni giving it her best Marie Antoinette.

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 5d

Italy paralysed as Gaza protests mount pressure on Meloni on.ft.com/433zjAJ

Italy paralysed as Gaza protests mount pressure on Meloni

Italian premier under fire amid strikes and clashes with police in solidarity with Palestinians

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 6d

All states are purple. Both Republicans and Democrats prefer to overlook this.

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 6d

Some statistics about the 16 blue states Russ Vought wants to target:
- 39% of the country lives in those states.
- They contribute 44% of GDP.
- They are also home to almost a third of 2024 Trump voters, some 24 million of them.
www.pbump.net/o/sorry-abou...

Sorry about your luck, 24 million Trump voters

It has been the case since Donald Trump's first tenure as president that he wants to slice the size of the federal workforce. During his period in the political wilderness (also known as the Biden adm...

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 7d

“It takes two to lie, Marge. One to lie, and one to listen.”

Willow @rockshrimp.bsky.social · 7d

what's the stupidest/randomest Simpsons quote that lives in your head rent free? Mine is the urge to say "you said go to bread" every time I am about to head to bed.

Reposted by Jordan Furlong

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 8d

It is undeniable that this moment is being shaped by people who marinated for years in an informational environment where reality was not only demoted but actively disdained. It took a while for that bubble to become impermeable but it did and now we have a chunk of people who know nothing but.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 12d

When I wrote last week about the divergence of law firms from lawyers, I foreshadowed this: As trial work migrates to boutiques and tech takes over most commercial law tasks, a lot of firms will dwindle to a small band of rainmakers overseeing a lot of AI. jordanfurlong.substack.com/p/the-diverg...

The divergence of law firms from lawyers

LLMs' absorption of legal task performance will drive law firms towards commoditized service hubs while raising lawyers to unique callings as trustworthy legal guides — so long as we do this right.

jordanfurlong.substack.com

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 12d

"Full-service" law firms that handle both commercial and litigation matters can work, up to a certain size anyway. But as this article suggests, "BigLaw" is really only corporate law firms now; litigation is a secondary distraction. Look for this divergence to continue. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Trial Separation: Courtroom Lawyers Are Breaking Up With Big Law

Top litigators are leaving elite firms to start boutique firms, a trend that is accelerating in the Trump era.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 12d

There are clear cases of AI's applicability to legal tasks, there are edge cases, and there are "of course not" cases. Letting AI anywhere near the drafting of court judgments is squarely in the third category - if for no other reason than public confidence in the courts. www.law.com/legaltechnew...

AI Opinion-Drafting Tools Are Emerging, but Will They Gain Traction With Judges? | Law.com

Some on the bench are already employing gen AI to help draft routine orders, but even as specialized tools become available, judges remain cautious about just how far the tech’s uses extend.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 12d

I don't like this new version of the TARDIS.

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 12d

See the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, autumn colors in New Hampshire, damage from Super Typhoon Ragasa in Hong Kong, the start of the Oktoberfest in Munich, and much more.

Photos of the Week: Rainy Games, Police Pups, Beard Championship

See the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, autumn colors in New Hampshire, damage from Super Typhoon Ragasa in Hong Kong, the start of the Oktoberfest in Munich, and much more.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 12d

Odd movie. Great direction of course, and I'm somehow willing to overlook Andrew Garfield as a Portuguese missionary. Spiritually it gets at something important about "faith despite" rather than "faith because," but I found the wordplay twist at the end annoying. Its impact stays with me, though.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 13d

Me, whenever the Harvey AI Discourse Machine powers up:

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 13d

Sincere thanks to @stephenpoor.bsky.social and his "PIoneers and Pathfinders" team for inviting me back to their terrific podcast! I was surprisingly (even to me) blunt about the mid-term prospects for law firms, but hopeful for the future of lawyers after AI. www.seyfarth.com/news-insight...

Pioneers and Pathfinders: Jordan Furlong Returns

We're pleased to welcome back Jordan Furlong. Jordan is one of the legal industry's leading voices on the future of the profession. He continues to advise legal organizations through his consulting…

www.seyfarth.com

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 15d

Now it's getting fascinating: bsky.app/profile/chad...

Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 15d

This is interesting:

Zelenskyy: “I am very grateful to Trump. I cannot share the details right now. Trump possesses very important information regarding the situation at the front.”

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 15d

And of course, a new Truth Social post tonight could refute everything here. It's just exhausting dealing with him.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 15d

That would mark an extraordinary (and welcome) turnaround from where things stood a few months back. I can't imagine Zelenskyy showed him any new intel that would have changed his mind, though -- Russia's currently preparing a major offensive into Pokrovsk. We need to wait for more info to come.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 15d

Calling Russia not "a real military power" is an insult from Putin's perspective.

The more I look at this, especially the lucid grammar and correct spelling, the more I think this does not sound like him at all. Deeply weird.

Jordan Furlong @jordanfurlong.com · 15d

If so, I'll give him a lot more credit than he's deserved so far. It certainly wasn't Vance, at any rate.

Now, of course, a Truth Social post is one thing, American intel and weapons in the hands of Ukrainian soldiers is another thing a thousand miles away from here. But at least it's one thing.