Martin O’Malley
Corporate legal departments and law firms are weaving AI more intricately into their daily operations, all while contending with the ethical considerations, data privacy concerns, and the demand for evolving skillsets that follow closely behind. Legal professionals will require new ways of working that allow them to move at the same pace as their industry, with solutions that combine advanced technology with unparalleled insight.
Martin O’Malley
CEO, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory

Key findings

AI adoption

AI technologies have become deeply embedded in the legal sector, transforming how legal professionals approach their work

  • Over 90% of respondents report using at least one AI tool in their daily workflow
  • AI has become a baseline tool for legal professionals, with usage spanning law firms, corporate legal departments, and business consulting practices.
  • AI is most used for legal research and analysis, developing legal arguments, drafting contracts, and reviewing documents.
frl-2026-charts92% of legal professionals now use at least one AI tool
frl-2026-charts62% of respondents save 6–20% of their weekly time due to AI

Efficiency gains

AI integration delivers tangible efficiency improvements for legal professionals.

  • More than 60% of respondents report weekly time savings of 6% to 20% resulting from AI usage.
  • By automating routine tasks such as legal research, document review, and contract drafting, lawyers can dedicate more time to strategic, high-value work.
  • Successful adoption of AI requires ongoing investment in training, ethical frameworks, and seamless integration into daily workflows.

Revenue growth

AI is fundamentally reshaping the legal industry, driving a transformation in traditional business models

  • Approximately 50% of respondents reported that revenue has increased by 6%–20%
  • Legal organizations that embrace AI holistically are better positioned to deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes and build lasting client trust.
  • 62% of legal departments believe that AI-driven efficiencies will significantly reduce the prevalence of the billable hour, paving the way for alternative pricing models and greater cost transparency.
frl-2026-charts52% of respondents reported revenue increases after adopting AI
frl-2026-chartsTop barriers to AI adoption in the legal profession

Barriers to adoption 

As AI becomes more embedded in legal workflows, strong information security and compliance programs are increasingly critical. 

  • The top challenges to further AI implementation are ethical concerns related to AI and data privacy (39%), inadequate training (39%), and resistance to change (35%). 
  • 35% of respondents cite cybersecurity as a significant concern, however few organizations feel very prepared to address those challenges
  • Effectively leveraging AI while managing risks will be key for future-ready legal teams.

Demand for specialized expertise

The complexities of global business and geopolitical risks continue to reshape regulatory compliance challenges, driving increased demand for specialized legal expertise.

  • 44% of survey participants report increased demand for expertise in sanctions, export controls, international arbitration, and cross-border transactions.
  • Cybersecurity concerns (35%) and regulatory scrutiny and compliance requirements (33%) continue to intensify.
  • Effective use of AI will be critical for managing these expanding demands.
frl-2026-chartsGrowing demand for specialized legal expertise

Country facts

Countries where respondents view ethical concerns related to AI and data privacy as a top concern

FRL 2026 FlagUSA
FRL 2026 FlagPoland
FRL 2026 FlagChina
Countries where respondents view compliance with data privacy regulations as a top information security challenge
FRL 2026 FlagChina
FRL 2026 FlagUnited Kingdom
FRL 2026 FlagThe Netherlands
FRL 2026 FlagPoland

Download the 2026 Future Ready Lawyer Report

Discover the latest legal trends and challenges affecting the future of law, and gain a competitive edge with the 2026 Future Ready Lawyer Report - Building confidence in an AI era
Download Report
Download Report

Expert Commentary

Legal industry insights: A webinar series on AI, new business models, culture, and security
FRL 2026
Future Ready Lawyer Webinar Series
This year, the release of the Report is accompanied by a series of expert webinars. Legal thought leaders – from around the world – will share insights on AI, new business models, culture, and security, revealing how these forces are transforming the industry’s future direction and resilience.
Read more

Legal luminaries’ insights

Licia Garotti
Over the next five years, AI is likely to significantly transform the provision of legal services and the measurement of value. This should not necessarily be seen as 'irreparable damage' to the profession, but rather as a lever for creating exciting opportunities. Instead of replacing lawyers, AI tools that demonstrate a significant increase in productivity (think document review) allow lawyers to move from routine work to high-value strategic advice: the '80/20 reversal,' where lawyers spend 80% of their time analyzing rather than gathering information; provided that, with no exception, human supervision is always in place.
Licia Garotti
Partner at PedersoliGattai Law Firm, heading the Technology Law and Intellectual
I think with such a widespread general purpose technology like GenAI, fostering AI literacy has to start in a personal way. What I mean by that is someone won’t grasp it professionally until they start to familiarize themselves with it in a low-stakes, casual environment with topics familiar to them — cooking, travel, home repair, whatever the case may be.
Dyane O’Leary
Professor of legal writing and directs Suffolk Law’s Legal Innovation & Technology (LIT) Center and LIT Concentration
Dyane O'Leary
Joy Heath Rush
I attended a conference recently where there was a panel of GCs discussing the impact of AI on their outside counsel work. Some certainly want their bills lowered. However, others are happy to pay the same — or more — for faster results and better outcomes. Although it is not unusual for clients to pay “performance premiums” for certain work, that may become more common if AI can help clients obtain answers more quickly, giving them greater time to plan, pivot, etc.
Joy Heath Rush
Chief Executive Officer of The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA)
As AI takes over simpler legal tasks, reducing junior roles, firms must ensure traditional legal skills are not lost. Human oversight remains essential: AI outputs must be reviewed through sound legal reasoning and ethical judgment by a human in — or at least on — the loop. To maintain this balance, organizations should integrate AI literacy into early legal training while preserving pathways for developing core analytical and interpretive skills needed for legal work. Replacing all junior lawyers with AI risks eroding the future pool of (senior-) experts needed for humanin/ on-the-loop oversight and could potentially undermine both professional standards and trust in AI-assisted legal work.
Frauke Rostalski
German legal scholar, legal philosopher, and author
Frauke Meta Rostalski
WEI Xin
The most valuable talent today are those who possess both legal experience and technological expertise, and we need targeted reforms in both recruitment and talent development. Organizations may establish legal‑technology clubs or study groups internally, appointing the most passionate young professionals as leaders, and providing them with institutional support such as funding, training opportunities, and access to external technical experts for guidance. This will help identify and cultivate compound talents within the organization who combine legal knowledge with technological capability.
WEI Xin
Founder and Managing Partner of RICC & Co.
Law firms should realize that there is practically no lawyer left who does not use AI. If they do not get secure tools, they will have “shadow AI” and situations that are dangerous in terms of ethics and reputation. The only effective solution is a proactive approach: providing lawyers with secure, approved AI tools that meet their needs. Bans and restrictions do not work — lawyers will find a way to use AI anyway, but they will do so in an uncontrolled and potentially dangerous manner.
Tomasz Zalewski
An attorney-at-law specializing in public procurement law, new technologies, and intellectual property law.
Tomasz Zalewski
Greg Lambert
Training works best when it focuses on prompt strategy, outcome review, and risk spotting within real tasks. Ethical guidance lands when it is embedded in examples that match the rhythm of daily work. People learn faster when the training feels immediate and connected to their own judgment.
Greg Lambert
Chief Innovation Officer at Jackson Walker and co-host of The Geek in Review podcast
I do not see ethical issues and data protection as obstacles, but as an absolutely necessary condition for success. By incorporating these aspects early in the design, trust increases. This includes being transparent about which parties (inside or outside the EU) use the data and in what way.
Marie José Bonthuis
Founder and owner of Privacy1
Marie Jose Bonthuis

FAQ

  • What is the “2026 Future Ready Lawyer Survey” report and what is its purpose?
    The “2026 Future Ready Lawyer Survey” report analyzes how lawyers in law firms and legal departments around the world are adapting to AI, complex regulations, and changing client expectations, as well as how they assess their readiness for future challenges. It is based on research involving 810 legal professionals from the USA, China, and eight European countries.
  • How common is the use of AI in the legal industry according to the 2026 report?
    More than 90% of surveyed lawyers already use at least one AI tool in their daily work, most often for legal research, document analysis, contract drafting, and process automation. AI has become a foundational tool in law firms, legal departments, and consulting companies.
  • What business and efficiency benefits does implementing AI bring to legal work?
    62% of respondents report weekly time savings of 6–20%, averaging nearly 10% of the workweek, enabling a shift from routine tasks to strategic work. Additionally, 52% of organizations report revenue growth after implementing AI, with some seeing increases of 11–20%.
  • What are the main barriers to adopting AI in law firms and legal departments?
    The most frequently mentioned obstacles include ethical and data privacy concerns (39%), lack of adequate training and resources (39%), difficulties integrating AI into existing processes, and resistance to change. Many lawyers also highlight high sensitivity around cybersecurity issues.
  • How does AI affect business models and billing, including the billable hour?
    62% of legal department respondents expect AI driven efficiency to reduce the importance of the traditional billable hour, favoring fixed fee and alternative billing models. AI also enables better work and budget estimation, increasing trust in flat fee and value based arrangements.
  • What role do alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) play in the AI ecosystem?
    More than half of respondents predict that tasks such as legal research, document automation, and contract drafting will increasingly be outsourced to ALSPs, pushing traditional law firms to evolve and focus on high value work. This encourages new collaboration models and service diversification.
  • How are competency requirements and HR strategies changing in legal organizations?
    Technological skills are becoming essential—70% of lawyers consider them important or very important, and 75% of legal departments place even stronger emphasis on them. Organizations are investing in professional development, digital skills training programs, and combining legal expertise with AI knowledge.
  • What challenges related to information security and regulatory compliance does the report identify?
    46% of respondents point to compliance with data protection regulations and safeguarding sensitive information against cyberattacks as key challenges, while 43% highlight ensuring client confidentiality. Only about one third of organizations feel “very prepared” to manage these risks, despite the increasing importance of remote work, cloud technologies, and AI.
  • What practical cybersecurity actions are most commonly used by legal organizations?
    The most common practices include multi factor authentication (55%), encrypted communication tools (50%), regular security audits (49%), and cooperation with external IT and cybersecurity experts (55%). Regular staff training and restricting access to unauthorized cloud tools are also essential.
  • What conclusions and recommendations for “future ready” legal organizations emerge from the report?
    The report shows that truly “future ready” organizations combine AI investments with ethics, cybersecurity, talent development, and a culture of continuous learning. Success is achieved by firms and legal departments that are resilient, adaptive, and able to leverage technology while strengthening client trust and regulatory compliance.
  • How was the “2026 Future Ready Lawyer Survey” conducted and what was its methodology?
    The study was conducted using an online survey administered to a group of 810 lawyers from law firms and corporate legal departments in the U.S., China, and eight European countries. Respondents assessed trends in digital transformation, AI implementation, changes in business models, and regulatory challenges. The report represents the seventh edition of the Future Ready Lawyer research and additionally includes commentary from industry experts.

More insights from the Future Ready Lawyer Report

FRL 2026
Legal AI adoption: How law firms and legal departments achieve time savings and revenue growth
Read More
FRL 2026
Legal industry 2026: A culture of continuous learning
Read More
FRL 2026
Reshaping the legal industry – document automation & ALSPs in an era of AI
Read More
FRL 2026
Information security – a new ever-present risk in the legal industry
Read More

Download the 2026 Future Ready Lawyer Report

Discover the latest legal trends and challenges affecting the future of law, and gain a competitive edge with the 2026 Future Ready Lawyer Report - Building confidence in an AI era
Download Report
Download Report

About the Survey and Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory

The 2026 Future Ready Lawyer Survey from Wolters Kluwer’s Legal & Regulatory division included quantitative interviews with 810 lawyers in law firms and corporate legal departments across the U.S., China, and eight European countries — Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and Hungary — to examine how client expectations, technology, and market trends are affecting the future of the legal profession and how legal organizations are prepared to address these.

The survey was conducted online for Wolters Kluwer by a leading international research organization from August 8 to August 25, 2025. 

Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory — a division of Wolters Kluwer — is a leading provider of legal and compliance solutions that enable professionals to improve productivity and performance, mitigate risk, and achieve better outcomes.

Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in information, software, and services for professionals in healthcare, tax and accounting, financial and corporate compliance, legal and regulatory, and corporate performance and ESG. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer reported 2025 annual revenues of €6.1 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 21,100 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands.

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