Today LexisNexis Legal & Professional, released results from a survey of senior leadership at top U.S. law firms and legal professionals at Fortune 1000 companies. The survey “What Every C Suite Leader Needs to Know about Legal AI” explores the business impact of generative AI technology on the legal industry.
I can’t recall any prior technology that has simultaneously trigged both of breathless enthusiasm and panicked resistance . While the technology shows game changing promise, there are significant ethical, client relations, security and intellectual property concerns which still need to be addressed. The C-Suite survey charts the issues of concern where are impeding adoption of GenAI.
Rapid Uptake and Generative AI investments
- 53% of Am Law 200 firms have purchased generative AI tools and 45% are using them for legal work
- Most of the executives surveyed expect their investment in generative AI technologies to increase over the next five years (90%).
- 70% of Am Law leaders believe Gen AI solutions will enable new value-added work product for clients
- Firms recognize the potential return on their investment, with 47% believing generative AI technology will decrease costs and 30% believing it will increase revenue.
Priorities for Using Generative AI
Reshaping the Law Firm Business Model
- More Fortune 1000 executives expect generative AI to produce value for their organizations, with threequarters (76%) expecting cost savings for their legal departments and 72% expecting the technology to increase the ability to complete more work in-house
The GAP in Ai Expectations
- I found the expectation gap most intriguing. Basically most law firms believe that their clients do not want them using Generative AI tools for in their client work (38%) and most in house counsel approve of law firms using Generative AI for their company’s work (68%).
Hiring Trends
- Both large law firm and corporate respondents believe generative AI technology will impact hiring, with 27% anticipating increased hiring of technologists in 2024, led by 38% of Am Law 200 leaders expecting to increase hiring of technologists, such as data scientists, to support generative AI initiatives at their firms this year
- While a majority of law firm respondents believe generative AI will impact the apprenticeship model of large law firms (58%), only a small number of legal leaders expect a reduction in legal roles over the next five years.
Methodology LexisNexis Legal & Professional conducted the survey across 266 managing partners and C-suite leaders at Am Law 500 firms, as well as legal professionals in Fortune 1000 companies between December 6, 2023 and January 9, 2024. Findings include responses from 114 executives across 68 Am Law 200 firms, 102 executives across 79 non-Am Law 200 firms with 50 or more attorneys, and 50 executives across 44 Fortune 1000 companies. Surveys were conducted in English via the Forsta survey platform.
For more information on leading legal AI tools from LexisNexis and to download a copy of the survey results, visit www.lexisnexis.com/genai.
