Legal AI Adoption Doubles: 21% of Firms Now Use Generative AI, Thomson Reuters Survey Finds

Thomson Reuters' 2025 Legal Industry Report reveals significant acceleration in generative AI adoption among legal organizations, with active integration more than doubling year-over-year. Key adoption metrics: - **Active GenAI integration**: Rose from 14% (2024) to 26% (2025) - **Plan to adopt within one year**: 45% of law firms - **Current active use (separate measure)**: 21% of law firms already use generative AI - **Planning to adopt by year-end**: Nearly a third more Leading use cases: 1. Document review and analysis 2. Contract review and extraction 3. Legal research 4. Document drafting 5. Due diligence UK-specific findings: - 87% of British lawyers expect AI to reshape the profession within five years - 96% of UK firms already use AI for document drafting and contract review - AI could free approximately 150 hours per lawyer each year Regional variations: - Fortune 1000 legal departments lead on GenAI adoption (50% using per LexisNexis survey) - Am Law 100 firms: 42% Harvey penetration reported - Mid-tier firms lag significantly behind enterprise adopters Barriers to adoption: - Security and confidentiality concerns - Lack of clear ROI metrics - Integration with existing workflows - Training and change management requirements - Regulatory uncertainty Confidence trends: According to LexisNexis sentiment surveys: - Confidence in AI: 75% (2023) → 90% (2025) - Monthly GenAI users among lawyers: More than doubled in past six months - Over 69% of legal professionals using or planning to use GenAI Investment implications: 70% of law firm leaders agree that GenAI will enable new value-added work products for clients. This suggests firms are viewing AI not just as efficiency tool but as enabler of new service offerings. The data indicates 2025 as the inflection point for mainstream legal AI adoption, with laggards facing increasing competitive pressure.