Boughton Law has stopped chasing gold medallists and is betting on human skills instead
Grades are no longer the primary hiring filter at Boughton Law in Vancouver – and Luca Citton, the firm’s president and board chair of Meritas, the global alliance of independent law firms, thinks this signals a shift in the legal profession. If AI can now handle the drafting, research, and first-contract work that associates have historically been hired to do, then the trait worth recruiting for, Citton argues, is something he calls “lawyer fluidity.”
What lawyer fluidity means – and where the idea came from
Citton defines lawyer fluidity as adaptability. He says the concept describes "a lawyer’s ability to move comfortably between not just the legal work, but business, technology, client relationships, leadership.” The pivot at Boughton Law began in 2023, when Citton attended a Meritas annual meeting in Chicago, where a speaker demonstrated that ChatGPT had scored almost 90 percent on the LSAT. The implication was immediate: if AI can handle the work that typically fills a junior associate’s first few years, the old case for hiring on academic credentials alone collapses.
“What we’re looking for now is that really broader life and business experience,” Citton says. “Candidates who’ve maybe run a small business, who have some kind of entrepreneurial spirit, maybe they’ve developed some exceptional interpersonal skills.” He describes a recent recruitment scenario in which a gold medallist from a law school “came into the meeting and could not look at me in the eye. They could not speak, they could not carry the conversation.” Another candidate, from a less prestigious school but conversationally at ease, came across very differently. “The conversation flowed and … it just felt like it flew by,” Citton says. “I didn’t have to draw anything out of them. And the thought is that, well, if I enjoyed this conversation, my clients are definitely going to enjoy this conversation.”
Mentorship and training in the age of AI
The shift in recruiting has been paired with a rebuilt mentorship program. Where associates once spent years in back offices before sitting across from a client, Boughton Law now puts them in those rooms from day one. “We redid our mentorship program last year to really make it robust,” Citton says, “such that from day one in the office, as a student, you’re assigned your mentor … and right away you’re exposed to client meetings, business development opportunities, any interactions with other lawyers.”
Associates rotate through multiple mentors rather than shadowing a single senior lawyer – on the theory, drawn from Citton’s own career, that professional style is an aggregation of many influences. There are trade-offs: duplication of effort affects billings. But Citton says the investment is essential. As Paul Saunders has argued in his call for a training overhaul to protect junior lawyers from AI, firms cannot assume old developmental pathways will survive the shift.
As for law schools, Citton is direct about the gap they still leave. "What they didn't often teach was the business of law," he says – the practical mechanics of how firms generate revenue, manage profit margins, and bring in clients. That gap has always existed; AI has made it urgent to close.
A global shift – but an uneven one
Marti Phillips, who leads the legal technology program at Meritas, sees Boughton Law as ahead of the curve. Most firms are still focused on AI tools and compliance policies, not the harder question of how to develop distinctly human skills in their lawyers. Phillips thinks that question will define 2026. “The only thing left to charge for,” she says, “is the human work – the judgment, the relationship, that holding someone’s hand when something terrible happens in your life and your attorney is the only one there.” Citton’s approach is one that Meritas has highlighted as key to AI adoption across the network.
She says the global picture is uneven: UK firms are focused heavily on human skills training; US firms on structured boot camps and succession planning; Singapore and Southeast Asia have seen government-coordinated junior lawyer programs; and Australia has taken a governance-first approach. Meritas is expanding its innovation roundtables from four annually to six or seven in 2026, driven by demand from member firms across all those jurisdictions.
At a Paris gathering two weeks before the interview, Citton heard a speaker suggest that firms should be recruiting engineers. “The room erupted,” he says. “The commentary back was, listen, we need those social skills and that EQ.” The disagreement itself was telling: regardless of geography, the underlying urgency is the same. As AI is reshaping workflows at Canadian firms, managing partners can no longer delay change.
For those still finding their footing, both offer concise advice. Citton’s is to invest now in judgment, trust, and human connection, because those skills take years to cultivate. “I’m not worried about my lawyers understanding and learning how to use the tech,” he says. “I’m worried about them figuring out what to do after they’ve learned how to use the tech.” Phillips’ advice is to change the frame. “The first thing you need to do is breathe,” she says, “because we are running from a place of fear.” Citing legal industry commentator Zach Abramowitz of Legally Disrupted, she notes that clients may pay a premium for human expertise long before the billable hour disappears. “Maybe this is a positive,” Phillips says. “I think we need to get away from the fear and work more from that positive.”
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