The Billable Hour Isn't Dying — It's Bifurcating. And Most Law Firm Software Can Only Handle One Half of the Split

Roughly 90% of legal dollars still move through the hourly rate — but AI is hollowing out the commodity layer beneath it. The result isn't the death of the billable hour; it's a split into fixed-fee commodity work and premium hourly judgment work. Running both profitably requires a financial system most firms don't have.