The rapid growth of generative AI across all sectors of the corporate world continues, as a new survey finds that a large majority of lawyers say they’ll probably need to integrate GenAI into their legal work in the next year.
Wolters Kluwer, a global information, software and service provider, surveyed 700 lawyers in law firms, corporate legal departments and business services firms in the U.S. and Europe, for its fifth “Future Ready Lawyer” report.
Top trends cited in the report include:
- AI: 73% of those surveyed said they expect to integrate GenAI into their legal work in the coming year.
- Workforce: 81% say the ability to recruit and retain talent will have an impact on firms and legal departments over the next few years.
- ESG: 69% of law firms and 61% of corporate legal departments say they are not yet very prepared to deliver against client expectations of ESG
- DEI: 82% say they work for organizations that claim to have successfully created a diverse and inclusive environment, but 43% of organizations have no formal DEI policies in place.
While most lawyers in the survey agreed generative AI will play a role in their work going forward, there’s little consensus on whether the technology will be good or bad: 43% see it as an opportunity, while 25% see it as a threat — and 26% see it as both an opportunity and a threat.
As for ESG, despite the continued proliferation of government regulation of climate disclosures in both the U.S. and Europe, about two-thirds of legal departments and law firms rate their readiness as subpar, though 68% of firms have established dedicated ESG practices within the past few years.
