Extract from Nathan Jenks’ article, “AI Reaches Near Universal Adoption in the Legal Industry Finds 2026 Secretariat and ACEDS Artificial Intelligence Report.”
Secretariat and ACEDS’ 2026 AI Report reveals how AI is transforming the legal industry, from adoption and workflows to governance, risks, and opportunities.
The 2026 Artificial Intelligence Report, conducted by Secretariat in collaboration with ACEDS, reveals AI has reached near universal adoption across the legal industry. No longer is the question whether AI is being used, but rather which AI technologies are being used, how they are being integrated into everyday legal workflows, and what risks must be addressed to ensure use is accurate, defensible, and aligned with professional and ethical responsibilities.
Now in Secretariat’s second year conducting the study alongside ACEDS, the survey highlights an industry moving rapidly from experimentation to operational adoption. Generative AI has become an increasingly common part of legal practice, with respondents reporting growing use across document drafting, legal research, web search, document review, document summarization, eDiscovery, and other core legal activities.
