LexisNexis has published a new report in relation to generative AI in the legal sector. The report is the result of a survey conducted of more than 1,200 legal professionals in the UK in January 2024. 

Key findings include:

  • Rate of adoption of GenAI continues to increase with more than a quarter of UK legal professionals using GenAI tools at least once a month, and with more planning to use them in the future.
  • More than a third reported their organisation had made a change to their day-to-day operations as a result of GenAI. Common changes included training for staff, developing policies for use and launching an internal GenAI tool.
  • In terms of plans to use GenAI, 91% of participants were interested in using it for drafting documents, 90% for researching legal matters, and 73% for using it to assist with drafting emails or similar communications. There was also interest in using it in contract analytics, case management, and jurisdictional comparisons. 
  • Only 10% of respondents said they had no concerns using GenAI, with the majority (59%) admitting they have some concerns, 26% had significant concerns and 6% had fundamental concerns.
  • As for hurdles to adoption, the survey found the main issues were around hallucinations (57%), security (55%), and trustworthiness (55%).  Emphasising the importance of checking outputs, and also using “technical ways to reduce the tendency of hallucinations” and “relying on known and trusted datasets”. 
  • Expectations from in-house teams that their external counsel use GenAI appear to have reduced from 70% to 57% compared to a Lexis’ previous survey in June 2023.
  • The report comments on the potential for new pricing models and that “firms need to consider everything from pricing and resourcing models, to the investment costs for acquiring, developing or training generative AI solutions, to employee concerns…”.

Overall the report highlights the increasing interest in GenAI in the legal sector, against the backdrop of the continued need to address concerns and hurdles to adoption. 

You can read the full report here. 

This article was written by Henry Dalton and Emma Sorrell