Alison Rich

Alison Rich

Partner, Evans Fox LLP

Years in current role: 19

What changes in the legal industry do you believe will have the biggest impact on clients over the next few years?

Artificial intelligence will have the most significant impact on the legal industry in the years ahead. Clients will increasingly turn to lawyers with new expectations, and lawyers, in turn, will need to adapt their services to meet the needs of clients who are themselves leveraging AI.

What is one challenge currently facing the legal profession that deserves more attention?

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly pervasive, the ethical rules governing its use have not kept pace. As one example, the duties of competence and supervision presuppose that the supervisor already possesses the underlying skill. For generations, junior attorneys acquired judgment through the slow accumulation of routine tasks, drafting, reviewing, and revising until competence became second nature. If those formative tasks are now delegated to machines, the profession risks producing supervisors who have never developed the expertise their oversight role demands. The result is a quiet erosion of competence that current rules neither anticipate nor address, leaving open the question of who is truly qualified to check the machine’s work.

What is one accomplishment — professional or personal — that you are especially proud of?

One of the accomplishments I am most proud of is completing the Marine Corps Marathon a few years ago. Training for and finishing 26.2 miles demanded months of early-morning runs, discipline and determination. Crossing the finish line was a reminder that persistence and steady effort can carry you through even the most demanding challenges.

This profile is part of our Real Estate Law Power List for 2025. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. View the full list at nydailyrecord.com.