Cash rewards for reaching one million prompts on Microsoft Copilot
Shoosmiths has become the first major UK law firm to announce it will tie bonuses to how much lawyers use artificial intelligence (AI), encouraging its staff reach one million prompts to unlock a £1 million payout.
The firm has launched a scheme in which staff are encouraged to prompt the Microsoft Copilot AI one million times. If — or when — the one million prompt target is hit, Shoosmiths will “unlock” an extra £1 million for the collegiate bonus pot. All staff, except partners and business services directors (who are nevertheless encouraged to use the technology), will benefit.
According to the firm, if each employee used Copilot just four times per working day, the target would be easily reached.
“We don’t fear AI”, said Shoosmiths CEO David Jackson, who linked the scheme to the firm’s innovative side as well as seeking client “benefits”. Shoosmiths hopes the initiative “frees” lawyers’ time to do “the human-to-human work that really matters: solving problems, building trust, and supporting clients through complexity.” The statement added that AI “won’t replace” any staff.
Shoosmiths’ initiative is backed by a partnership with Microsoft, which includes training and a firmwide “knowledge hub” where teams will share AI use cases and success stories. New internal roles – including “innovation leads” under a “head of legal innovation” plus a “data manager” – have also been launched. The firm also claims AI usage will help them achieve their net zero goals by 2040. This will mean managing “upstream emissions from AI” in approaching sustainability.
The move to offer a financial reward for using AI signals Shoosmiths’ commitment to “embedding AI into the day-to-day work” for lawyers and support staff. This follows Shoosmiths’ recent advice, where in a blog post for training contract seekers, Shoosmiths described AI use as “tool to refine and develop your own original thoughts, not replace them”, Legal Cheek reported.
AI is being embraced by some major law firms. A&O Shearman launched guidance for using AI in TC applications issued last year. The firm had previously hired the “Harvey” AI tool, which was also adopted by Macfarlanes.
But Shoosmiths strategy with integrating AI — not least with monetary rewards for using it – also diverges from other firms’ more cautious approaches. Hill Dickinson, for example, recently restricted AI tools following a surge in staff use. Meanwhile, prospective barristers were barred from using ChatGPT or other generative AI tools in their pupillage applications this year. Nevertheless, over 70% lawyers thought AI was a “force for good” last year, when Legal Cheek also reported over 40% lawyers used the technology already.
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