# Rethinking the Billable Hour, the Apply All Dilemma, and AI Curiosity with Amy Grubb
Episode of Studying Law Around the World, hosted by Claudio Klaus.
Published: Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMT
Duration: 00:24:50
## Summary
In this week's episode of Studying Law Around the World, I sat down with Amy Grubb. Amy began her career in big law before transitioning into business strategy, entrepreneurship, and eventually legal technology. Today, she works as a Legal Solutions Architect at Spellbook, helping in-house teams integrate AI into their daily workflows. She generously shared the invisible mechanics of navigating modern legal practice and why curiosity is the ultimate career accelerator.What you will learn:The "Apply All" Dilemma: Why features that allow you to instantly accept AI generated contract revisions are incredibly efficient for senior lawyers, but potentially dangerous for juniors who still need to learn the rationale behind those changes.Rethinking the Billable Hour: How the integration of AI is exposing the deep flaws in the billable hour model, and why smaller firms are often much faster at adapting to highly profitable flat fee structures.The Power of Curiosity: Why dedicating just one hour a week to testing new technology is the simplest way to overcome the fear of falling behind in a rapidly changing profession.Why this mattersFor early career professionals, the pressure to instantly master artificial intelligence can feel overwhelming. Amy's non-traditional career path proves that you do not need to be a software engineer to thrive in legal tech; you just need to be curious. The true challenge for the next generation of lawyers is not learning how to use the tools, but learning how to use them without skipping the fundamental steps required to build professional confidence. By blocking out dedicated time to experiment and refusing to rely blindly on the "apply all" button, you can safely integrate AI into your practice while actually developing your legal expertise.Three takeawaysBlock the time to experiment. You do not need to master AI overnight. Schedule exactly one hour every Friday afternoon to test a new tool or write a new prompt. The compound effect of that single hour will keep you ahead of the curve.Understand the "Apply All" trap. Efficiency tools are designed for professionals who already know the law. If you are a junior lawyer, force yourself to review the rationale behind every AI generated change before accepting it. You cannot outsource your legal judgment.Lean into the network. The legal tech community is incredibly welcoming. Do not let the fear of sounding foolish stop you from reaching out to colleagues on LinkedIn to ask them exactly how they built a specific workflow or used a new tool.Guest: Amy Grubb, former big law attorney, entrepreneur, and Legal Solutions Architect at Spellbook. She specializes in redesigning how legal work gets done by building AI workflows for in-house teams.Where to listen and how to support the showSearch Studying Law Around the World on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast app.If you found value in this episode, please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show on your platform of choice. Leaving a rating and review is the best way to support the podcast, helping us continue to grow and bring these invisible rules of the legal profession to more junior lawyers around the world.Selected episodes of Studying Law Around the World are eligible for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit with the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) and Continuing Legal Education (CLE/CPD) credit with the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC).For approved episodes, accreditation details, and participation information, please visit: ⁠https://studyinglawaroundtheworld.com/
## Listen
- Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/studyinglawaroundtheworld/episodes/Rethinking-the-Billable-Hour--the-Apply-All-Dilemma--and-AI-Curiosity-with-Amy-Grubb-e3mm9qu
- Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/38a26d44/podcast/play/123462942/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-29%2F428808725-44100-2-a172859bb63fe.m4a
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/34QvO0swkWx4XtNxlItXWe
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/studying-law-around-the-world/id1547616885
Show page: https://claudioklaus.com/podcast
Canonical: https://claudioklaus.com/podcast/episodes/rethinking-the-billable-hour-the-apply-all-dilemma-and-ai-curiosity-with-amy-gru.md