Today (24 September) LexisNexis has released a new report – Need for Speedier Legal Services sees AI Adoption Accelerate – which reveals a sharp increase in the number of lawyers using generative AI for legal work.
The survey of 800+ UK legal professionals at firms and in-house teams found 41% are currently using AI for work, up from 11% in July 2023. Lawyers with plans to use AI for legal work in the near future also jumped from 28% to 41%, while those with no plans to adopt AI dropped from 61% to 15%. The survey found that 39% of private practice lawyers now expect to adjust their billing practices due to AI, up from 18% in January 2024.
Fifty three percent of respondents were from law firms broken down as follows:
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- Small firms and solo practitioners: 37.6%
- Medium-sized firms: 22.7%
- Large firms: 39.7%
The remaining 47% come from corporate in-house, academic faculty and in-house, the bar, and in-house public sector.
The report highlights that the main reason for AI adoption is the ability to deliver work more quickly: 71% of lawyers cited faster delivery as a key benefit of AI, followed by improved client service (54%) and gaining a competitive advantage (53%). When asked to select the single greatest benefit, 52% identified delivering work faster as the primary advantage.
This shift towards AI-driven efficiency is expected to bring changes to pricing structures. But while over a third of private practice lawyers now expect to adjust their billing practices due to AI, only 17% of those in private practice think that AI will end the billable hour model, while 40% believe it will remain and 42% are uncertain about its impact.
The survey also revealed 60% of firms or legal departments had made internal changes reflecting the growth of AI adoption. The most common change was offering an AI-powered product to staff, which rose from 15% in January 2024 to 36% by September 2024. There was also significant growth in developing policies on the use of generative AI (11% to 24%) and providing AI-related training for staff (11% to 18%). As expected, large law firms and corporate in-house legal teams were the most likely to have made changes, at 78% and 74% respectively.
Despite adoption rates, 76% of UK legal professionals are concerned about inaccurate or fabricated information from public-access generative AI platforms. However, 72% said they would feel more confident using a generative AI tool grounded in legal content sources with linked citations to verifiable authorities, up from 65% in January 2024.
Stuart Greenhill, senior director of segments at LexisNexis UK, commented: “The possibility of delivering work faster has seen widespread adoption, internal integration, and regular use of generative AI across the legal sector. There’s also a strong demand for AI tools that are grounded on reliable legal sources.
Yet the impact of this efficiency on the billable hour is becoming a topic of debate. As a result, the number of firms reconsidering pricing models has doubled throughout the course of 2024.”