AI in Legal Operations: What’s Delivering Results in the U.S. in 2025
By Legal Technology Correspondent
Published August 15, 2025
Washington, D.C. – As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the legal landscape, U.S. law firms and corporate legal departments are moving beyond hype to practical, high-impact applications. From automating routine tasks to enhancing strategic decision-making, AI is proving its value in legal operations, but not without challenges. Recent reports and industry insights reveal what’s working, what’s not, and how legal professionals are navigating this transformative technology in 2025.
Proven AI Applications in Legal Operations
The adoption of AI in U.S. legal operations has surged, with 79% of legal professionals using AI tools, up from 19% in 2023, according to Clio’s 2025 Legal Trends Report. Here are the key areas where AI is delivering measurable results:
- Contract Management and Review
AI-powered contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools are streamlining high-volume, repetitive tasks like drafting and reviewing non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and master service agreements (MSAs). Platforms like Checkbox and Spellbook can identify key clauses, flag deviations from standard language, and suggest redlines, reducing review times by up to 115%, per a University of Minnesota study. For example, Dentons’ FleetAI and A&O Shearman’s Harvey AI assistant have cut first-draft times for contracts, enabling attorneys to focus on complex negotiations. In-house legal teams report 64% of AI use cases center on contract-related tasks, with 97% of users finding these tools effective. - Legal Research
AI is revolutionizing legal research by querying authoritative databases like Westlaw and synthesizing relevant cases with citations. Tools like Casetext’s CoCounsel, used by firms like DLA Piper and Orrick, have reduced research time from hours to minutes, with 49% of in-house teams leveraging AI for this purpose. A 2025 study from the University of Minnesota found that AI tools like Vincent AI, which uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), improve research clarity and professionalism while minimizing errors compared to traditional methods. - Workflow Automation and Intake
AI-driven workflow automation is optimizing legal operations by triaging incoming requests and routing them to the right teams. Checkbox’s platform, for instance, automates intake, categorizes requests, and triggers workflows based on predefined rules, cutting cycle times for NDAs and compliance checks. Thomson Reuters’ CoCounsel Legal supports agentic workflows that plan, execute, and adapt multi-step processes, saving professionals an estimated 240 hours annually, equivalent to $19,000 per attorney. - Compliance and Risk Management
AI is embedding compliance into daily operations, ensuring consistent adherence to policies. Tools like Checkbox prompt required actions and flag issues for review, reducing manual oversight. KPMG Law, leveraging its hybrid structure, uses AI for high-volume contract management and M&A harmonization, ensuring regulatory alignment. The 2025 Secretariat and ACEDS AI Report notes that 80% of legal professionals are confident in AI’s role in compliance, with 74% expecting to use it within the next year. - Predictive Analytics and Data Insights
Predictive analytics is transforming litigation strategy by analyzing past cases, judge rulings, and opposing counsel behaviors. Akerman LLP reports that AI systems provide empirical evidence to tailor motions and forecast outcomes, enhancing lawyer judgment without replacing it. Similarly, centralized AI-driven reporting, as highlighted by Checkbox, improves matter volume tracking and cycle time analysis, with only 12% of legal teams confident in their pre-AI reporting accuracy.
Challenges and Limitations
Despite its promise, AI in legal operations faces hurdles that limit its effectiveness in certain areas:
- Generative AI Hallucinations: Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, used by 74% of AI-adopting legal departments, can produce factually incorrect outputs, known as hallucinations. A 2025 Forbes study notes that while tools like OpenAI’s o1-preview improve quality by 10-28%, they still struggle with accuracy in legal research, requiring human oversight. Checkbox’s rules-based AI avoids this by using pre-approved templates and logic.
- Lack of Legal Context: Off-the-shelf AI tools often lack the nuanced understanding of legal workflows, misclassifying requests or missing jurisdiction-specific rules. Purpose-built platforms like CoCounsel Legal and Checkbox address this by training on organization-specific data, ensuring relevance and accuracy.
- Data Privacy Concerns: Public AI tools raise confidentiality risks, as queries may expose sensitive information. The American Bar Association’s 2025 Legal Industry Report highlights that 57% of legal professionals cite data privacy as a top barrier, prompting firms like Dentons to use secure, in-house solutions like FleetAI, which deletes data after 30 days.
- Implementation Gaps: Many AI projects fail due to poor process design or unprepared data infrastructure. Akerman’s Melissa Koch notes that successful adoption requires rethinking workflows and ensuring clean, structured data, yet many firms layer AI onto outdated systems, limiting impact.
What Works: Best Practices for 2025
To maximize AI’s value, U.S. legal teams are adopting strategic approaches:
- Start Small with High-Volume Tasks: Firms like Holland & Knight begin with low-risk tasks like NDA generation or document review, achieving quick wins in efficiency and consistency.
- Invest in Training: The 2025 Counselwell and Spellbook survey found that only 24% of legal professionals feel confident in AI fundamentals, underscoring the need for training to improve prompting and output validation.
- Prioritize Governance: Leading firms, including Macfarlanes, implement clear AI policies, ensuring human supervision, client transparency, and compliance with ethical standards. This includes auditing AI outputs and safeguarding client data.
- Focus on Augmentation: The most effective implementations, as seen at Wilson Sonsini with its Dioptra partnership, enhance human capabilities rather than replacing them, with 66% of in-house lawyers favoring AI as a supportive tool.
Looking Ahead
The 2025 Legal Industry Report from the American Bar Association reveals that 54% of legal professionals use AI for drafting correspondence, 47% are interested in financial insights tools, and 14% leverage AI for firm data analysis. However, firm-wide adoption lags due to ethical concerns and integration challenges, with only 21% of firms fully implementing AI compared to 31% of individual users. The National Law Review notes that firms like Adams & Reese and Cooley are leading with proprietary tools like Everlaw’s AI Assistant and Vanilla, respectively, achieving significant time savings in document review and compliance.
As AI adoption accelerates—80% of Am Law 100 firms now use AI, per Thomson Reuters—legal operations teams must balance innovation with caution. The next generation of “agentic AI,” which autonomously plans and executes tasks, is gaining traction, with tools like CoCounsel Legal setting a new standard. Legal professionals who master AI fluency, validate outputs, and embed ethical frameworks will lead the industry, while those who lag risk falling behind in a competitive market.
For legal teams ready to embrace AI, the message is clear: focus on practical, high-impact applications, invest in training, and build robust governance to unlock efficiency and strategic value. As the legal profession evolves, AI is not replacing lawyers but empowering them to work smarter and deliver greater client value.
Sources: American Bar Association, National Law Review, Lawnext, Checkbox, KPMG, Forbes, Secretariat and ACEDS, Akerman LLP, Thomson Reuters, Clio