Over 40% of lawyers are now using AI, and that figure is expected to grow rapidly in the near future. Barriers to usage and the typical hesitancy to embrace new technology do not appear to be slowing these trends down. A rude awakening may be on the horizon for the Luddites among us who have eschewed prior technological developments such as voicemail, the fax machine, computers, and email. And it is clear that competitive advantages are being obtained by lawyers now using AI compared to their less tech-savvy counterparts. Answers to complex legal questions are increasingly being broken down and answered by large language models and increasingly sophisticated GenAI tools that are being deployed by companies serving the legal industry – both large incumbents and a plethora of legal tech startups looking to upend the way law is practiced. Clearly, many lawyers remain wary of the limitations and ethical considerations involved with using AI, but the dam has broken and adoption rates are climbing at an increasing pace. As in other industries, those not using AI tools will soon be seen to be the outliers and increasingly at a disadvantage as others deploy AI tools to cut costs and increase efficiencies in the provision of legal services. Will a GenAI bot become the lawyer of the future? Time will tell. In the meantime, obtaining AI skills will be a key factor in remaining competitive in the marketplace.
“New research reveals that over 40% of lawyers now use artificial intelligence (AI) in their daily work, citing the ability to complete tasks faster as the main benefit. A survey of more than 800 UK legal professionals at law firms and in-house legal teams found that a further 41% planned to use AI for work “in the near future”, up from 28% the previous year. Meanwhile, only 15% of respondents have no plans to adopt AI, a significant drop from 61% the previous year. In other findings from the research conducted by LexisNexis, 71% of lawyers cited faster delivery of legal work as a key benefit, followed by improved client service (54%) and gaining a competitive advantage (53%). Over a third (39%) of respondents in private practice believe AI will require them to adjust their billing practices, with 17% suggesting it could signal the end of the billable hour model. Forty percent believe the billable hour model will remain, while 42% are uncertain about AI’s impact on it.”
