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The Doorman Fallacy refers to the mistake of automating a role because its most obvious function can be replicated by technology — while missing the implicit value that disappears along with it.

The doorman is the classic example of this phenomenon. A hotel has a doorman, and a consultant notes that adding an automatic door would eliminate the need to pay for the doorman’s salary. At first blush, replacing the doorman seems like an obvious choice.

It is, of course true, that the automatic door still opens without the doorman.

But over time it becomes clear the doorman was providing important value beyond opening the door. He was a form of security, and a warm face greeting guests after a long day. He knew the regulars and made children laugh. He was someone who helped make sure people got into the right Ubers. While none of that was in his job description, it was part of what the hotel was selling.

When you define value only by what's explicit — "we hired someone to open the door" — you miss everything implicit. And implicit value is often just as important as the explicit.

This is the trap in-house legal teams are walking into right now with AI.

We can use AI to do much of our work. A tool grabs contracts from your email or legal intake platform, reviews them against your playbook, and sends back redlines and a response to your colleague. Another automatically reminds people when you're waiting on them. Another routes work to the right person. Another delivers regulatory updates before you've had a chance to go looking.

When we use agents instead of humans, we gain efficiency. Sometimes, we also improve quality.

But what do we lose? And how can we make sure we get the best benefits out of available tools, without automating away our implicit value?