Will AI Lower Legal Costs? Tim Fox Explains the Twist

September 24, 2026 Adrian Cea

Everyone wants AI to make legal cheaper. But what if that’s the wrong promise?

In this episode of Between the Briefs, Adrian Cea and Joe Stephens sit down with Tim Fox, Chief Data and AI Officer at Ogletree Deakins, for a sharp, practical conversation on what AI adoption really looks like when you are trying to scale it across a large law firm.

What You'll Learn:

Why build vs. buy is rarely as simple as “building is cheaper”
How internal tools create long-term support, maintenance and upgrade costs
Why legal is not a rational economic actor when it comes to technology adoption
How firms can measure adoption through actual use and attorney feedback
Why shadow AI, hallucinations and privilege risks make governance non-negotiable
How peer-to-peer learning moves lawyers faster than another mandatory webinar
Why law schools need to teach AI literacy before students arrive at firms
Why AI may increase quality, capacity and profits without reducing legal costs

This episode gets into the messy middle of legal AI: not the hype, not the doomsday predictions, but the actual work of making attorneys use tools responsibly, strategically and well.

Want to watch this episode of Between the Briefs instead? Get the full video on YouTube.

About the Contributors

Adrian Cea

Adrian Cea is Steno's Social Media Manager, leading content strategy, audience engagement, and digital brand-building across platforms. He also produces and co-hosts Between the Briefs, Steno's podcast covering the intersection of legal technology, court reporting, and the future of litigation. With a background spanning content creation, field marketing, and sales at companies like Sell Better and Chili Piper, Adrian brings a multi-disciplined lens to making complex legal tech topics accessible and engaging.

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Joe Stephens

Joe Stephens, J.D., is Steno's Director of Legal Solutions as well as a Clinical Lecturer at Texas Tech University School of Law. With over 15 years of experience in criminal defense and public service, he founded and led Texas' largest rural public defender office, which serves a 12-county area. A graduate of The University of Texas School of Law (cum laude) and Vanderbilt University (B.A.), Stephens currently serves as a Board Member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer's Association (TCDLA) and sits on multiple State Bar of Texas committees. His expertise spans the intersection of legal practice and technological innovation in the justice system.

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