The AI Takeover of Corporate Legal
Corporate legal departments are beginning to embrace artificial intelligence as a practical solution to inefficiencies in legal operations. Once cautious about automation, in-house teams are now finding major value in using AI to handle repetitive work and decrease dependence on outside counsel.
According to Thomson Reuters, many corporate legal departments are allowing AI to automate document review and assist with research. These systems not only reduce costs, but they also enable attorneys to focus on actual advisory and compliance work.
The report notes that while reluctance to AI implementation in this department remains challenging, legal leaders increasingly see AI as essential to scaling their departments’ capabilities. According to the American Bar Association 2024 AI TechReport, 30.2% of attorneys indicated their firms are using AI-based tools. Adoption was higher in larger firms (47.8%) and lower among smaller firms (24.1%).
Similarly, LexisNexis notes that in-house legal teams are cutting external legal spend by using AI for contract review, case management, and invoice analysis. By automating these routine processes, legal teams can handle a greater volume of consistent internal work. This allows them to operate with a more efficient model that combines legal expertise with data-driven insights, reducing costs without compromising quality or compliance.
In addition, according to a study by LexisNexis, in-house corporate legal departments showed up to a 13% reduction in work routed to outside counsel, generating an average of more than $600,000 in cost savings over three years for the composite organization modeled.
If you are not an attorney, you may not know this, but in-house teams have depended on outside counsel for complex or high-volume tasks for support. While this offers access to specialized expertise, it also drives up costs and slows decision-making, as every new project often requires external assistance. With the rise of AI, legal teams can now handle much of this work internally, reducing their reliance on expensive outside firms.
The same study noted a 25% reduction in attorney hours needed to address legal inquiries and a 50% annual time savings for paralegals on administrative tasks. With AI taking over much of the routine document review and administrative work, the traditional need for large teams of paralegals is starting to fade as legal departments rely more on technology to handle those repetitive tasks.
This change did not just save money; it gave in-house teams more time to focus on the bigger things like managing risk and planning ahead, something their clients are sure to appreciate.
As AI continues to grow, legal departments that embrace these tools early will not only save money but also redefine their role within the business. The future of legal work will belong to teams that use technology to work smarter and faster.
-Taylor Howard
Chief Marketing Officer, Blue Sky Compute
Taking organizations from AI to ROI.
American Bar Association (2024) 2024 Artificial Intelligence TechReport. Available at: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_practice/resources/tech-report/2024/2024-artificial-intelligence-techreport/
LexisNexis (2025) Forrester Study Documents How In-House Legal Teams Achieved 284% ROI by Adoption of Lexis AI Platform. Available at: https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/insights/legal/b/thought-leadership/posts/forrester-study-documents-how-in-house-legal-teams-achieved-284-roi-by-adoption-of-lexis-ai-platform
LexisNexis CounselLink (2024) How Can AI Reduce Law Department Legal Spend? Available at: https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/insights/legal/counsellink/b/counsellink/posts/how-can-ai-reduce-law-department-legal-spend
Thomson Reuters (2024) Artificial Intelligence and Corporate Legal Departments. Available at: https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/en/insights/articles/artificial-intelligence-ai-report
