Kirkland & Ellis Commits $500 Million to Build Proprietary AI Platform as Fried Frank Rolls Out Internally Built FundAssist Tool for Private Equity Funds Practice

Two major US law firms have made significant AI infrastructure investments on the same day, signalling an acceleration in the legal industry's proprietary AI platform race. Kirkland & Ellis has committed $500 million over the next three to four years to develop its own proprietary artificial intelligence platform, in what is described as one of the most ambitious technological bets ever made by a law firm. The firm's strategy is to control its own technology stack to outperform competitors — rather than relying on third-party legal AI tools. Kirkland did not publicly comment on the investment. On the same day, Fried Frank announced the rollout of FundAssist — an internally built AI platform designed to streamline its practice advising private equity funds. The tool uses OpenAI's latest models to process Fried Frank's previous work and identify client-preferred approaches. The firm says it will provide a strategic advantage through client collaboration and cost savings. Together, the announcements mark a qualitative shift in how elite law firms are approaching AI: moving from licensing third-party tools to building proprietary platforms trained on firms' own work product. This in-house development model raises distinct legal considerations — including data governance, client confidentiality obligations over the training data used, and ownership of AI-generated outputs. For students targeting elite US firms in London, the competitive implications are direct: firms that establish early proprietary AI advantages may be able to serve clients faster and at lower cost, reshaping the competitive dynamics of high-end legal practice.