How The Legal Market Is Changing—and Why GCs Are Leading It
July 21, 2026
Global regulatory strategist Crispin Passmore joins Axiom’s Daniel Hayter to examine how AI and capital are forcing legal regulation to evolve—fast. From unauthorized practice rules that block client-centered services in the US, to AI efficiency charges appearing on law firm invoices, to structural reform opening global law firms to outside capital, Passmore maps where regulation is enabling innovation, where it stands in the way, and how GCs can leverage these trends to their advantage right now.
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Show Panelists
- Daniel Hayter is Managing Director and VP of Axiom in Europe
- Crispin Passmore is Founder and Chair of Passmore and Oliver Partners, a specialist global legal services strategy and regulation consultancy headquartered in the UK, and one of the foremost experts on legal services regulation globally
Key Topics
- Why the legal market may have finally hit the inflection point reformers predicted for decades
- Why an AI efficiency charge on a law firm invoice reveals a deeper transparency problem, not just a billing quirk
- How England and Wales moved first on legal market reform in 2007—and what the US can learn 15 years later
- Where AI is accelerating regulatory pressure, and why regimes that don’t adapt risk becoming irrelevant
- Why routine legal work is where AI disruption hits first, and what that means for how regulation should respond
- Why AI efficiency charges on client bills echo the old LexisNexis research fee debates
- What “get big, get niche, or get out” means for mid-market firms caught between giants and specialists
- Why GC panels are shrinking even as law firm rates keep climbing
- How equity structures, not salaries, may solve talent retention in a world without non-competes
- Why data and insights, not legal advice, could be the next great differentiator for providers
Episode Resources
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Speakers
Crispin Passmore
Founder and Chair
Passmore and Oliver Partners
Daniel Hayter
Managing Director and VP
Axiom
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