Extract from Petra Pasternak’s article “In-House Teams Turn to GenAI for Efficiency, Raising New Expectations for Law Firms”
As GenAI tools grow in sophistication, corporate legal departments are no longer debating whether to use them, but where they’ll deliver the greatest impact.Â
Findings from the latest survey by Everlaw and the ACC show that GenAI adoption among U.S. in-house teams has more than doubled in the last year. So has optimism about the technology as transformational for legal work.
Respondents report that GenAI helps them work faster, communicate more effectively, and deliver better client service. A growing share — one third this year, up from one quarter last year — are already seeing measurable cost savings.
As these efficiencies compound, the effects are rippling across practice areas and influencing how much work legal teams can manage internally and what they choose to outsource. Many in-house professionals now believe the next frontier lies in recalibrating how outside counsel deploy GenAI, and how legal services are ultimately priced.
