Todd Ehrenreich, Miami Managing Partner, Lewis Brisbois

Invest: spoke with Todd Ehrenreich, Miami managing partner of Lewis Brisbois, about how the firm differentiates itself in a crowded litigation market, how client expectations have changed, and what’s next for legal services as technology accelerates. “We’ve gone from doing research in books to searching online, and now to programs that can write drafts for you. That’s dangerous to me,” Ehrenreich said.

How does Lewis Brisbois differentiate itself in the national litigation market, particularly when competing with both regional firms and larger global firms?

What attracted me to the firm almost nine years ago was that we’re diverse. We handle just about everything, from white-collar criminal work, which I don’t handle, to product liability, to general liability, to construction, to intellectual property. When you have an all-encompassing firm, with the talent to match, it means you can build a pretty successful big firm nationally.

What changes are you seeing in client expectations or industry pressures that are influencing how firms operate and deliver services?

I’ve been an attorney for almost 34 years, and I’ve seen us go from using books to discs to everything being immediate and online. I try a lot of cases, and it used to be that when you left at 5 o’clock, you’d pick up again the next day at 9. Now judges want you to file things that night or the next morning, before you start the workday. There’s an immediacy to information, and clients are not that patient anymore. Previously, they were willing to wait, but now everything is immediate.

The other big change is post-COVID. I used to fly and sit with people around the country, and now everything is online. It’s more impersonal. People don’t want to pay for travel, but they also don’t want to wait two days for you to fly up. They want to talk to you now. That adjustment has impacted every firm.

With such a wide portfolio of services, how do you approach risk management and case strategy across different matters?

As attorneys, we owe our clients a duty to discuss risk. Whether we’re defending a case or we’re pursuing a claim, it’s always the assessment of risk. What’s involved? What is this going to cost to put on your case? What are your chances of winning? What are the legal issues that are involved?

Venue is part of it, too. Miami juries are typically more liberal than a Fort Myers jury, for example, which is usually more conservative. That venue analysis matters, and you owe it to your client to do it early on. Our firm does that well, which is probably why we have loyal clients. We’re honest, and we explain the risk of litigation, which is pretty expensive today.

How does the firm stay ahead of regulatory changes, litigation shifts, and broader economic changes that affect the industries you represent?

Regulatory work is a different world, and it’s not always litigation. It’s dealing with government at the local, state, and sometimes national level. But the larger point is the same: information moves faster than it ever has.

Before, you’d wait to get updates in the mail. Now something pops up, and there’s an update you can read immediately. As attorneys, we’re supposed to stay up to date, stay on top of things, and keep clients informed.

You see that through client alerts and newsletters. If there are changes to state laws that will impact clients, we provide those updates and encourage them to call us so we can explain what it means and walk them through it. The practice of law has changed so much, especially post-COVID, and the reliance on remote communication is now just part of how business gets done.

How is the firm adapting to remote proceedings, legal technology, and the operational reality of hybrid work?

It’s a process. On a management level, you deal with people asking to work from home, at least on a hybrid basis, versus coming in. I have a policy that if you’re young, you need to be in the office because you need to learn what it’s like to work with people and be at your desk. For more experienced lawyers, you can give more leeway.

One of the biggest changes is cybersecurity. One of the biggest expenses at law firms now is firewalls and protection because if your system gets corrupted and someone gets access to client files, you can get sued. We have a lot of layers of security to get through.

There’s also the practical side of supporting a workforce that isn’t always in the office. You have to program laptops to have the same protections as if they’re in the building, and you have to keep people in the loop for training and updates. Technology is so quick that what was technologically advanced four years ago is obsolete now. That’s true across industries, but in law, the stakes are high because you’re dealing with confidential information every day.

How do you balance efficiency and cost consciousness while still delivering high-quality legal strategies?

A lot of it comes down to how the economics of law firms have changed. Years ago, clients were constantly going to your office, and there was a lot of money spent on office build-outs. You had expensive furniture, large offices, and more support staff.

Now, the need for some of that has decreased. I used to dictate everything. People don’t do that as much anymore. Younger generations type everything; someone can edit it, put it in proper form, and file it.

Because of the reduction in the need for staff in certain roles and the reduction in the need for office space, firms can save a lot of money. On the flip side, we pay people more now. People are treated better than they were years ago. The savings from overhead are put into salaries and bonuses, and it allows many firms to pay people more and still operate at a profit.

Looking ahead, what do you think will shape legal services most over the next few years?

The scariest thing for me is artificial intelligence and its influence on the legal system. I think people should write their own briefs and make their own decisions and not rely too much on artificial intelligence.

We’ve gone from doing research in books to searching online, and now to programs that can write drafts for you. That’s dangerous to me. We have a whole policy about the use of artificial intelligence, and I think most firms do now.

One of the biggest issues is that these tools can create cases that don’t exist. They’ll generate a case name, summarize a holding, and someone will include it in a brief. Then when you try to find it, it doesn’t exist. People have been caught doing that, and it’s a serious problem.

I know firms are trying to move toward more use of artificial intelligence. I’m old school: you use your brain, your research, and your common sense. The struggle for big firms is how much do we use these tools, and how much do we rely on people’s judgment, education, and experience. As a manager, that’s the conundrum. I’m uncomfortable with it. I like people who take the time to do the research.

What is distinctive about litigation and the legal market in Miami and South Florida right now?

Miami is seeing a lot of expansion in international work and cross-border issues. South Florida is a gateway to the islands and to South America, and we’re seeing increases in international taxation and commercial litigation tied to investment.

The increase in commercial litigation for people investing in South Florida is tremendous. We seem to be above national trends in real estate development, and I think it’s because of foreign money continuing to come in. As governments destabilize throughout Central and South America and the islands, money seems to come here.

You can see it on the ground. Buildings keep going up, and development continues. Nationally, you may hear that housing costs and development are slowing, but South Florida often doesn’t track those trends the same way. When you have that kind of activity, you have litigation, and you need really good lawyers. There are a lot of good lawyers here, and the market stays active.