47% of Legal Pros Use AI, Set to Hit 60% by 2025

Litify, the all-in-one platform powering top performers, released its second annual 2024 State of AI in Legal Report. The comprehensive report results from a nationwide survey conducted by an independent market research firm to identify artificial intelligence's continued use and impact across the legal sector.

The second annual report includes insights from a random sample of verified legal professionals and near-equal representation from plaintiff firms, full-service firms, and in-house legal departments. The research shows that the legal industry’s use of AI has doubled in the past year, with more professionals feeling prepared to take advantage of the technology. Over the past year, it’s become clear that AI is currently best positioned to support legal professionals with their manual tasks so they can spend more time on impactful work.

Key takeaways from the report include:

• The industry’s use of AI doubled to 47% in the past year.
• Over half of respondents now feel the industry is ready for AI.
• Those not using AI continue to cite security, privacy, and trustworthiness concerns as their main barriers to adoption.
• 92% of those using AI are saving time on their legal work — with 33% now saving up to 10 hours per week.
• The top tasks for AI in legal work are around document management.
• The adoption of AI in legal is projected to increase to 60% of respondents by next year.

“It's remarkable to see that nearly half of the legal industry is now using AI to save time on rote, repetitive tasks. However, given the privileged nature of legal cases and documents, it's unsurprising that the industry continues to be cautious about how AI tools collect, store, and manage their data,” said Curtis Brewer, CEO at Litify. “We’re working closely with our clients and leading technology partners to address these concerns through our responsible approach to AI development.”

More about the study

Litify commissioned an independent market research firm to survey a random sample of verified legal professionals to gain new insights into the use of artificial intelligence in the industry.

• 21% of respondents were from plaintiff law firms, 35% were from full-service law firms, and 30% were from in-house legal departments. 14% said “Other” about their market segment.
• 12% of respondents were entry-level professionals, 48% were mid-level, 27% were senior-level, and 13% had the CXO or Managing Partner title.
• 42% of respondents were from organisations with 1-25 employees: 18% were from organisations with 26-70 employees: 11% from organisations with 71-100 employees: 11% with 101-250 employees: 11% with 251-1,000 employees: 7% with 1,000+ employees.

The margin of error for this study is +/- 7.4% at the 95% confidence level. Download and read the full 2024 Litify State of AI Report.

About Litify

Litify helps law firms and in-house teams achieve better business performance with an all-in-one platform that standardises, measures, and improves legal operations. The industry-leading platform combines secure cloud-based technology, configurable and automated workflows, and a robust business analytics engine to deliver a solution that evolves with each business. Capabilities include matter and intake management, document generation, timekeeping and billing, legal front door and corporate e-billing, real-time dashboards and analytics, mobile, and more.