Four talent priorities law firms cannot ignore this year
Law firms are entering 2026 with emerging pressures around how they develop and retain talent.
Expectations on lawyers are widening, the structure of early careers is changing and consolidation across the sector is bringing teams with different cultures and training approaches together for the first time — with this comes potential issues that need preparation.
Jonathan Worrell, director of business development at BARBRI, examines four talent priorities firms are increasingly having to address and why a more structured approach to development is becoming central to performance, consistency and retention.
AI fluency is now a question of professional judgement
For most firms, the issue is no longer whether lawyers will use AI, but whether they understand the responsibilities that come with it. In practice, AI fluency in 2026 is less about confidence with tools and more about judgement.
Lawyers are expected to recognise ethical and confidentiality risks, understand how bias and data quality affect output and review AI-generated work with appropriate scrutiny. There is also a growing expectation that lawyers understand how technology is changing the skills required in practice, including the ability to compare, question and challenge different tools rather than rely on them uncritically.
This has clear implications for training — AI capability cannot sit separately as a technical add-on. It needs to be built into wider professional development, alongside skills such as reasoning, accountability and client communication. BARBRI’s professional skills programmes increasingly reflect this approach, focusing on how technology fits within regulated, client-facing practice.
Training models are becoming learner-centred out of necessity
The traditional one-size-fits-all approach to legal training is proving less effective as roles become more demanding and workloads more varied. Lawyers absorb information differently: many must balance competing pressures, meaning they progress at different speeds. Firms are responding by reviewing how training is designed and delivered.
This is leading to greater use of neuro-inclusive approaches including shorter learning formats that fit around fee-earning work and practical training that allows skills to be applied rather than discussed in theory. Simultaneously, employers are looking for clearer links between training activity and performance expectations, so development can be assessed in terms of impact rather than presenteeism.
Flexible digital learning plays an important role here. BARBRI’s professional and compliance SkillBursts, for example, allow firms to target specific capability gaps while maintaining consistency across teams.
Gen Z expectations are influencing early-career development
As Gen Z lawyers make up a larger proportion of the workforce, firms are reassessing how early careers are structured and supported. This is not about lowering standards, but about providing clarity, support and consistency at a stage where expectations can otherwise feel unclear.
Younger lawyers tend to place greater emphasis on psychological safety: access to mentoring and coaching as well as transparency around progression. They also expect a clearer connection between their work and the firm’s values and purpose. At the same time, firms must manage differing expectations between generations, particularly around responsibility, resilience and pace of development.
Where qualification routes such as BARBRI’s SQE1 and SQE2 Prep courses are combined with ongoing professional skills development, firms are better able to support confidence and retention beyond qualification.
Learning cultures need aligning as firms consolidate
Ongoing consolidation across the legal sector is bringing together firms with different approaches to training and development. Without alignment, this can result in inconsistency, duplicated effort and uneven capability across teams.
Many firms are therefore using learning and development as a practical tool for integration. Reviewing role expectations, harmonising training frameworks and identifying best practice across organisations help establish shared standards while allowing for local differences.
Digital learning platforms and firm-wide skills frameworks are increasingly being used to support this process, reinforcing consistency and reducing friction during integration.
Looking ahead
So, to summarise:
- AI fluency is now a question of professional judgement
- Training models are becoming learner-centred out of necessity
- Gen Z expectations are influencing early-career development
- Learning cultures need aligning as firms consolidate
Taken together, these four areas point to a broader conclusion: capability needs to be built deliberately. Firms that take a structured approach to AI fluency, learner-centred training, early-career support and cultural alignment are better placed to improve performance, reduce early attrition and develop future leaders.
In 2026, development is less about isolated initiatives and more about creating firm-wide learning frameworks that support confidence, judgement and consistency across the firm.
