AI to free up 240 hours per year for lawyers, report says

Now in its third year, the report draws on insights from a global online survey of 2,275 professionals, exploring key themes such as the uneven pace of AI adoption and the challenge of bridging the gap between technology and business.

When asked what forces are impacting the profession over the next five years, 80 per cent of respondents said the rise of AI and GenAI would have a transformational or high impact – with the percentage of professionals citing AI’s impact as a transformational being twice the percentage of any other category.

However, only 38 per cent said they expect that change to happen this year. Moreover, while 53 per cent said their firm is already “experiencing at least one benefit” from AI, 30 per cent were concerned their firms were moving too slowly in AI adoption.

“The survey shows that more than half (53 per cent) of professionals said their organisations are already seeing ROI directly or indirectly tied to their AI investment. This ROI is showing itself in many different forms, most often as improved efficiency and productivity, as well as improved response times and a reduction in errors,” the report said.

In terms of how to achieve this ROI, strategy was the most important thing to focus on, above leading by example, making operational changes and companies having individual users.

According to the report, organisations that craft a strategic plan for AI adoption and implementation were 3.5 times more likely to experience critical AI benefits compared to those that do not. Further, those with a strategic AI plan were almost twice as likely to already be experiencing revenue growth as a result of their AI investment compared to those adopting AI informally.

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Despite this, only 22 per cent said their organisation has a visible, defined AI strategy. Without a clear plan that aligns AI with business priorities, these organisations risk falling behind, according to Thomson Reuters president and CEO Steve Hasker.

“This year’s report highlights a new divide among organisations: those that adopt an AI strategy and those that do not. Generative AI will transform the legal, risk, compliance, tax, accounting, and audit professions, along with global trade over the next three years,” he said.

“Already, professionals report increased efficiency, productivity, and cost savings as the most significant benefits, making AI a crucial tool for organisations navigating a rapidly evolving set of business challenges.”

As part of a recent conversation with Lawyers Weekly, Raghu Ramanathan, president of legal professionals at Thomson Reuters, said there’s going to be “three waves of AI-based transformation in the legal sector”, including optimisation, re-engineering workflows, and real business model change.

“Optimisation is now very much in the focus because we have a lot of data, and we’re seeing lots of improvements because of AI and the day-to-day work of lawyers. Things can be done, depending on a particular task, 50, 60, 70 per cent faster and also more accurately,” he said.

“More accurate than the humans. That’s why people are very focused on optimisation, because it’s here and now, and they can see it. Wave two and wave three will be more interesting.”

In the three-year history of the report, legal professionals have “made tremendous gains in evaluating and improving their own critical AI skills”, with 96 per cent now having a basic awareness of AI capabilities, despite the majority still not considering themselves to have a good understanding of how to apply AI in their daily work.

Eighty-seven per cent of respondents had learnt about the latest forms of AI through reading written materials, with 77 per cent learning through experimentation and 76 per cent through informal learning from their peers or team – the majority of which was voluntary, rather than mandated.

“In our research, we measure the overall pace of AI adoption on two dimensions: organisational and individual. Forty-six per cent of professionals reported that their organisation has invested in new AI-powered technologies in the past 12 months. At an individual level, 30 per cent say they are now regularly using AI-powered tools to provide a starting point on tasks and/or to edit text they have drafted,” the report said.

In terms of barriers to increased, more “robust” AI adoption, the concerns of AI replacing lawyers only remained for 9 per cent of respondents, with almost one-quarter concerned that the successful use of AI itself could lead to “an overreliance on the technology that would crimp professional development”, according to the report. On the investment side of things, 50 per cent said that the accuracy of AI-powered tech was a concern and 45 per cent had budgetary constraints.

“While organisations must evolve and adapt, the responsibility doesn’t stop there. Those professionals who fail to develop their individual AI proficiency risk falling behind in critical skills, creating a competitive gap that could limit their career growth,” Hasker added in the report.

“As I have said previously, AI will not replace professionals, but AI-powered professionals will. AI-enabled professionals will gain a competitive edge, boosting both their personal impact and their organisation’s long-term value.”