ArentFox Schiff Shut Down Proprietary Chatbot
The law firm decommissioned its custom generative AI tool in October.
Updated on Oct. 8, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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ArentFox Schiff has officially retired AFSChat, a proprietary generative artificial intelligence chatbot. The firm shuttered the platform after determining it had become redundant.
Why it matters
The decision to decommission the internal software reflects the firm's broader strategy of pivoting toward third-party enterprise tools to manage its AI-driven legal operations.
The firm shuttered its custom generative artificial intelligence software in favor of adopting external platforms. The specific technical parameters and processing capabilities of the retired chatbot were not disclosed.
The players
ArentFox Schiff
ArentFox Schiff is a prominent law firm that provides legal services and has been actively integrating artificial intelligence tools into its practice.
The details
ArentFox Schiff decommissioned the software following the procurement of Harvey and Copilot. These newer tools replaced the functionality previously provided by the firm's custom AI chatbot.
Timeline
ArentFox Schiff shut down the AFSChat chatbot in October 2026.
The Tech Race
The firm's shift away from its own proprietary chatbot marks a transition toward using established, third-party AI platforms like the Harvey generative AI legal platform. This transition highlights a broader industry shift as law firms abandon custom internal solutions for more robust, scalable enterprise AI tools.
The replacement of internal AI tools with enterprise software like Copilot typically leads to more standardized workflows for staff and attorneys. Users of the firm's internal systems will now utilize the new integrated platforms for their daily legal tasks.
The takeaway
Law firms are increasingly finding that specialized third-party AI tools outperform the internal chatbots they built during the early stages of the generative AI boom. Companies that prioritize off-the-shelf enterprise software often benefit from more frequent updates and wider feature support.
Further reading
For more context on how legal organizations are adopting new software, see our section on Artificial Intelligence.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Law.
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