AI adoption surges in legal teams

AI adoption among Europe’s in-house legal teams has reached a crucial milestone, yet new research unveils that governance, measurement, and workforce strategies are not keeping pace with this rapid technological advancement. According to recent data from the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), which represents over 48,000 in-house lawyers globally, a staggering 83% of European respondents are currently using AI in their legal work, mirroring the global figure of 85%. Legal teams are shifting their expectations; 89% anticipate that AI will streamline processes such as document review, while 64% foresee a reduction in costs from outside providers.

Despite these promising adoption rates, the findings spotlight a pronounced gap between AI usage and AI maturity in legal departments. Only 11% of European legal teams actively track hard business metrics to measure the return on investment (ROI) from AI efforts, with 28% not measuring ROI at all. Additionally, while 70% employ a cross-functional committee for AI governance, 38% acknowledge that ultimate ownership remains fragmented within their teams. Alarmingly, just 39% have performed an internal “shadow AI” audit to identify unapproved tools in use, and 30% have no intentions of conducting such audits.

Furthermore, the implementation of AI is beginning to reshape legal careers. A notable 31% of European departments are repositioning junior lawyers towards higher-value strategic tasks, a significant contrast to the global average of 16%. However, 44% of legal teams have made no modifications to their professional development or hiring strategies to accommodate this shift.

The ACC's conclusions indicate that the next phase for legal departments will focus less on the decision to adopt AI and more on governance, value demonstration, and reimagining the role of lawyers within this new framework. With AI adoption predominantly evident in structured, high-volume workflows, the report stresses the necessity for enhanced governance and evolving talent practices to support this transition.

Michael Bond, Editor of the International In-house Counsel Journal, commented on this trend, stating “It's not surprising that in-house legal teams have embraced AI so readily. There is perhaps a cultural difference at play here, with commercial organisations generally more accustomed to embracing innovation and new technology at pace than traditional law firms.”