Acceptance of GenAI by Law Departments Accelerates

Although generative AI (GenAI) use is not yet widely used in corporate legal departments, that is expected to change, according to a recent survey of 60 general counsel and chief legal officers, as reported in an article by Bloomberg Law.

The survey was conducted last July and August, at which time less than a third of general counsel surveyed said they were using GenAI. Since then there has been a boom in the legal technology market, and now two-thirds say they expect the use of GenAI to increase.

While the technology offers the promise of time savings in such areas as contract management and e-discovery, there are concerns about security, confidentiality, and accuracy. Lawyers, slow to accept new technology, are moving cautiously with regard to GenAI.

Twenty-five percent of the lawyers surveyed responded that their team was planning to purchase contract lifecycle management tools next year. Even though 80 percent of those surveyed said they were comfortable with AI in e-discovery, only seven percent indicated that they might buy e-discovery tools in the upcoming year. 

Fifteen percent were generally interested in GenAI, and more than two-thirds said they were comfortable using it in compliance monitoring. Legal Ops professionals will be helping to provide technical savvy and strategic advice as their legal departments embrace GenAI and integrate it into their tech stack.