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AI is changing how law firms handle research, document review, drafting, and some operational work—but it is assisting lawyers, not replacing their judgment or responsibility. Survey results show growing personal use alongside uneven firm-wide adoption, and lawyers still need to check outputs, protect client information, and comply with the rules that apply in their jurisdiction.
How widely are law firms using AI?
Adoption depends on what is being measured. The American Bar Association (ABA) and MyCase’s Legal Industry Report 2025 found that 31% of surveyed legal professionals personally used generative AI at work in 2024, up from 27% in 2023. In the same report, firm-level generative AI use was 21% in 2024, compared with 24% in 2023; 15% of respondents in 2024 said they were unsure whether their firm used it.
A separate ABA survey, the 2024 Artificial Intelligence TechReport, found that 30.2% of 512 respondents said their offices were using AI-based technology. It reported a rate of 47.8% among respondents at firms with 500 or more lawyers. The two reports use different respondent groups and survey frames, so their figures should not be combined as one trend line or treated as a census of the legal profession. The 2025 report also found a gap by firm size: 39% of respondents at firms with 51 or more lawyers reported generative AI adoption, versus approximately 20% at firms with 50 or fewer lawyers; the report cautions that the larger-firm subset was smaller.
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1. Research and first-pass legal analysis
AI tools can help lawyers explore a legal question, organize an initial analysis, or identify issues to investigate. The ABA’s 2024 AI TechReport listed ChatGPT (52.1%), Thomson Reuters CoCounsel (26.0%), and Lexis+ AI (24.3%) among the leading AI-based research tools respondents had adopted or were seriously considering. These are survey mentions—not market-share figures, product endorsements, or proof that any tool produces complete or correct research.
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The practical value is in accelerating an initial pass, not outsourcing legal analysis. A lawyer must confirm that the authorities exist, remain valid, support the propositions attributed to them, and apply to the relevant jurisdiction and facts. Check quotations and citations against reliable legal sources, and independently review the reasoning before relying on it in advice, a filing, or a negotiation.
2. Document review and e-discovery
In e-discovery, AI-supported approaches can help search large collections of electronically stored information and prioritize material for human review. In the ABA’s 2024 AI TechReport, respondents cited natural-language search in 64.9% of mentions, AI-assisted search in 27.6%, and predictive coding in 22.3%. Among reported predictive-coding uses, document prioritization was the leading application, at 71.4%.
These figures describe respondent practices; they do not establish a guaranteed reduction in review time or cost, or that relevant material will always be found. Counsel remains responsible for defining the search and review protocol, assessing whether it is appropriate for the matter, checking the results, and meeting applicable discovery obligations.
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3. Drafting and client correspondence
Generative AI can produce a first draft or help refine routine correspondence. The ABA/MyCase 2025 report found that 54% of surveyed legal professionals used AI to draft correspondence. That is a reported use, not evidence that generated messages are ready to send without review.
Before a lawyer uses or sends generated text, they should check its facts, legal claims, tone, completeness, and consistency with the client’s instructions. They should also ensure that confidential information was handled in accordance with client obligations and firm policy. ABA guidance on Formal Opinion 512 emphasizes lawyers’ duties when using generative AI, including competence and review of the work product.
4. Firm operations and data analysis
AI is also being explored for work behind the scenes: analyzing firm or matter data, supporting scheduling and billing processes, and surfacing financial insights. In the ABA/MyCase 2025 report, 14% of respondents said they used AI to analyze firm data and matters, while 47% expressed interest in AI tools that could provide insights into firm financial data.
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Those numbers show reported use and interest, not independently measured productivity or financial results. Any operational output still needs appropriate human review, particularly when it informs billing, staffing, client communications, or decisions about a matter.
5. Integrating AI into legal workflows
A fifth change is not a proven standalone productivity gain; it is a developing adoption pattern. Firms are evaluating whether AI fits their existing legal work, software, and safeguards—not simply whether it can generate text. In the ABA/MyCase 2025 report, 43% prioritized integration with trusted software, 33% valued a provider’s understanding of firm workflows, 29% reported greater trust in legal-specific tools than consumer tools, and 26% cited ethical alignment. These are reported selection priorities, not independent evaluations showing that one vendor or category is superior.
For a firm assessing a tool, useful questions include:
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- Task and practice-area fit: Does it address a real workflow, and is it suitable for the relevant type of legal work?
- Integration: Does it fit with software the firm already trusts, without creating an unmanaged data path?
- Reliability and traceability: Can lawyers check how an answer was reached and verify its sources?
- Confidentiality and data handling: Does the proposed use comply with firm policy and client obligations?
- Review and audit: Is there a clear way to review outputs and maintain appropriate oversight?
- Training and fees: What training is needed, and how will tool-related work be treated when billing clients?
The survey results do not establish current vendor terms, security controls, or product capabilities. Firms need to assess those details for the specific tool and intended use.
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In its July 29, 2024 coverage of Formal Opinion 512, the ABA highlighted competence, confidentiality, client communication, and reasonable fees as relevant duties when lawyers use generative AI. The opinion calls on lawyers to “fully consider their applicable ethical obligations.” ABA Model Rule 1.1’s competence duty includes keeping abreast of relevant technology’s benefits and risks; Rule 1.6 concerns confidentiality, Rule 1.4 communication, and Rule 1.5 reasonable fees. Model rules and their interpretations are not binding in the same way in every jurisdiction, so lawyers should check the rules and guidance applicable where they practice.
The ABA’s 2024 AI TechReport helps explain why verification and data handling are practical concerns: respondents identified accuracy (74.7%), reliability (56.3%), and data privacy or security (47.2%) among their concerns. These survey responses reflect perceptions, not measured failure rates for particular tools. A sound workflow should include checking authorities, quotations, citations, and factual assertions, and confirming that information entered into a tool is appropriate under client obligations and firm policy.
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Fee treatment also matters. The ABA’s summary of Formal Opinion 512 says lawyers generally cannot charge clients for learning to use a generative AI tool, while reasonable time spent entering information and reviewing generated work may be billable. Whether time is reasonable and how it should be billed depends on the work and applicable rules; the summary is not a substitute for jurisdiction-specific guidance.
Training is one way lawyers build the competence needed to evaluate technology. In the ABA’s 2024 Technology and Training TechReport, 60.9% of participants cited CLE seminars or webinars as a source for learning about technology such as AI. That report also said 71% of respondents recognized a technology-competence requirement in their jurisdiction, and that 40 states had adopted some form of the technology-related comment to Model Rule 1.1 at the report’s publication. These are report-era survey and adoption figures, not current state-by-state legal advice.
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