In an era of accelerating technological change, generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping the legal landscape with unprecedented speed. This report, based on a survey of 657 in-house legal professionals across 30 countries, provides a comprehensive look at the current state of GenAI adoption within corporate legal departments. Our findings reveal a decisive shift from passive planning to active implementation, with the in-house legal community moving swiftly to integrate this technology into their daily work.
The past year has been a pivotal one for adoption, showing a dramatic acceleration in GenAI usage. Additionally, GenAI is also fundamentally altering the relationship between in-house teams and their outside counsel. While legal departments are embracing AI to become more self-sufficient—anticipating they can bring more high-value work in-house—a majority of in-house professionals remain unaware of whether their law firms are using the technology on their legal matters.
Key Findings
- Generative AI adoption more than doubles in a single year
- 91% of legal professionals report efficiency as generative AI’s top benefit
- With generative AI, legal teams aim to bring work in-house for cost savings
- Legal teams are not yet seeing cost savings from outside counsel
- 24% of legal professionals will “very likely” push for a change to the billable hour because of generative AI
This survey report unpacks these dynamics, offering valuable insights into how in-house counsel perceive GenAI’s transformative potential and its immediate impact on legal workflows, vendor relationships, and the future of legal services.
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