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The Next Wave of AI: What’s Really Coming in 2025

By Pete Hanlon |
January 29, 2025

The Next Wave of AI: What’s Really Coming in 2025

The following post was contributed by Pete Hanlon, Chief Technology Officer of Moneypenny.

As CTO of Moneypenny, the leading outsourced communications company, Pete Hanlon brings a unique perspective to the transformative technology trends set to shape 2025 for lawyers. From advancements in AI to the realities of integration and regulation, he foresees pivotal changes that could redefine the legal profession and beyond.

Here’s a deep dive into what lies ahead—not just the obvious shifts, but the deeper changes that could impact how lawyers work,.

Open Source Is Coming for the Crown

The most exciting battle in AI isn’t unfolding in corporate labs, it’s happening in the open source community. They’re catching up fast, and were starting to see open source models going head to head with industry leaders such as OpenAI o1 and Claud-Sonnet-3.5. This isn’t just about matching performance metrics. It’s about making AI accessible to both large and small law firms that have been held back by data privacy concerns, opening doors for firms that have struggled to leverage this technology. The result? A new era where AI is democratized, accessible to all, and no longer controlled by closed source businesses.

Forget AI Replacing Lawyers – Think AI as Your Digital Colleague

Remember when everyone thought AI would replace many law firm jobs overnight? That’s not how it’s playing out. Instead, we’re witnessing the emergence of hybrid teams where AI takes on the repetitive tasks, leaving people free to handle more complex challenges. It’s less about replacing jobs and more about using AI to super power people and using data to enable smarter decision making. Moneypenny, for example, delivers outsourced communication solutions that blend the efficiency of AI with the personal touch of real people. This balanced approach boosts productivity and enhances customer satisfaction. 

Integration: The Real Challenge Nobody’s Talking About

Here’s where things get interesting and complicated. The next phase isn’t about building brand new AI systems, for lawyers it’s about weaving them seamlessly into existing business processes, work flows and infrastructure. Picture CRM systems that can predict what customers need, knowledge bases that update themselves, conversations that flow naturally between voice and text, and customer support that breaks language barriers. We understand the importance of seamless integration, and at Moneypenny, we’re fully embracing it helping legal teams embed AI powered systems into their infrastructure seamlessly . 

Industry Specific Models: Tailored AI for Specialized Needs

We’re entering an era of industry specific LLMs tailored for the legal field. These models will come pre loaded with domain-specific knowledge, enabling firms to deploy AI that understands their unique requirements, language, and regulatory needs. In finance, LLMs could support compliance and offer investment insights. In law, they could streamline contract review and case law analysis. These specialized models will allow companies to quickly implement AI that’s relevant, compliant, and impactful in their field.

The Reality Check Is Coming

Some firms may soon realize they’ve taken on more than they can handle with AI adoption, facing a range of unexpected challenges. Many will struggle with complex integration issues as they attempt to launch AI initiatives within existing systems. Additionally, there may be difficulties in managing the high expectations around AI’s capabilities, as reality often falls short of the hype surrounding its potential. 

Regulation: The Elephant in the Room

Law firms should prepare for the growing impact of AI regulations, particularly in customer facing applications. Forward thinking organizations are already taking steps to build transparency into their AI systems, overhauling data governance practices to ensure accountability. They are creating detailed audit trails to track AI decision making and making sure that their systems are both fair and accessible. These proactive measures not only help them stay compliant but also foster trust with their customers.

What This Means for lawyers

The next year won’t just be about AI getting better – it’ll be about AI getting smarter about how it fits into our existing world. Success won’t come from blindly adopting every new AI tool. It’ll come from carefully choosing where AI can genuinely improve how lawyers work.

The winners won’t be the companies with the most advanced AI. They’ll be the ones who figure out how to blend AI and human capabilities in ways that make sense for their business and their customers. Yes, we’ll see AI continuing to be more accessible and capable. But the real story will be about how lawyers learn to use it wisely. After all, technology is just a tool – it’s how the legal profession use it that matters.

About the author

Pete Hanlon

Pete Hanlon

Commercial

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Commercial

Woodville Collapse Deepens as Administrators Probe £249M in Loans and Misapplied Investor Funds

The administration of Woodville Consultants, the litigation funder that helped bankroll the wave of UK motor-finance claims, is proving more consequential than its modest headcount suggested, with administrators now examining hundreds of millions of pounds in outstanding loans and the possible misapplication of investor funds.

As reported by Legal Futures, Woodville had funded more than 300,000 claims since 2019 and carried some £249 million in outstanding loans at the point of collapse — figures that stand in stark contrast to its staff of roughly 10. As many as six law firms are understood to be affected.

The funder's model required fixed quarterly returns and fixed repayment dates without reference to actual case recoveries, an arrangement fundamentally misaligned with the uncertain timelines of litigation. That mismatch became untenable once the Financial Conduct Authority's motor-finance redress scheme was suspended, leaving the underlying claims effectively on hold and cutting off the repayments Woodville expected from partner firms.

Administrators are now investigating how the company funded quarterly returns and redemptions to loan-note holders before its collapse, alongside potential wrongdoing and the misapplication of investor funds by directors and introducers. Joint owners Peter Legge and Ann Marie Bell opposed the administration order.

The failure follows a familiar pattern. Fenchurch Legal entered administration in April 2026 and Katch Fund Solutions in December 2025, both citing the prolonged resolution of motor-finance claims — underscoring the sector-wide strain the FCA's redress delays have placed on funders exposed to those cases.

Commercial

Uber’s New Litigation Funding Terms Would Hinder Accountability, Commentary Argues

Uber's revised terms of service — which require users who sue the company to disclose their litigation funding agreements and to waive attorney-client privilege and work-product protection over communications with funders — are legally vulnerable but could still deter funders from backing claims against the ride-hailing giant, according to new legal commentary.

As reported by Bloomberg Law, Brianne Holland-Stergar of the University of Montana School of Law contends that the provisions rest on shaky legal footing. Courts have extended work-product protection to funder documents, particularly those reflecting attorney opinions, and burying the terms within a 14,000-word clickwrap agreement is unlikely to extinguish a user's reasonable expectation of confidentiality. The commentary argues the clause could also face unconscionability challenges.

Even if the terms would not survive a court test, the analysis warns they may achieve their aim in practice. With the litigation finance market having reached an estimated $20 billion by 2025, funders weighing where to deploy capital may simply avoid cases likely to become entangled in enforcement disputes — an aversion sharpened by mounting political opposition through state-level bans and congressional scrutiny.

Holland-Stergar frames the stakes in terms of accountability rather than consumer protection. Citing Uber's prior efforts to curtail litigants, she argues the tactics appear aimed at discouraging suits against the company, including cases brought by more than 3,000 individuals alleging sexual assault. The result, the commentary concludes, would be a chilling effect on meritorious claims that depend on outside capital to reach court.

Commercial

Nera Capital Secures £75 Million Funding Commitment for UK, EU and US Investment

Nera Capital has secured a new £75 million funding commitment, capital the litigation funder will deploy across three strategic initiatives spanning the United Kingdom, continental Europe and the United States.

According to a press release from Nera Capital, the commitment reflects the firm's focus on financing claims with strong legal merit and substantial economic impact, and reinforces investor confidence in the litigation finance sector.

A significant portion of the capital will support a growing portfolio of personal injury claims in the United States, where Nera Capital continues to expand through partnerships with specialist American law firms. The investment is intended to provide claimant firms with the capital required to pursue those cases efficiently, while helping injured individuals access justice without bearing the cost of lengthy litigation.

The funding will also be allocated to one of Europe's largest competition litigation matters — a €12 billion antitrust claim in Portugal. The claim is expected to involve thousands of businesses and consumers affected by alleged anti-competitive conduct, with the financing covering the legal costs required to progress the case through the Portuguese courts.

In the United Kingdom, part of the new capital is dedicated to the next phase of motor vehicle finance litigation following the Court of Appeal decision in Angel v Black Horse. That judgment confirmed that large volumes of claims can proceed using omnibus claim forms, improving procedural efficiency for claimant firms pursuing undisclosed commission claims. Nera Capital is working with leading claimant firms to finance those omnibus strategies, providing disbursement funding and operational support to manage claims at scale.

A spokesperson for Nera Capital said the commitment "demonstrates continued investor confidence in both our underwriting model and the long-term opportunities within Nera and litigation finance," citing exceptional demand across multiple jurisdictions. "Our role is to provide law firms with the financial resources they need to pursue meritorious claims, allowing individuals and businesses to access justice irrespective of their financial circumstances."

Established in 2011 and headquartered in Dublin with offices in Manchester and the Netherlands, Nera Capital is a member of the European Litigation Funders Association.