How AI is Transforming In-House Legal Teams: A Force Multiplier for Efficiency and Strategy

By Matt Lung | Head of Legal for Global Technologies and Operations, LexisNexis

The adoption of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tools in corporate legal departments increased sharply in 2024, with 44% of in-house legal leaders reporting they are now using Gen AI (up from 28% a year ago), according to a March 2025 survey by FTI Consulting.

“Most general counsel have indicated openness to using AI in nearly every major legal application,” reported Law360®. “One reason behind the increase in comfort with AI might be that general counsel are better prepared for AI risks.”

Another key driver in this rapid adoption of Gen AI tools in particular is that a growing number of in-house counsel are seeing for themselves that it is a true “force multiplier”—a technological ally that enables legal teams to dramatically expand their capabilities while maintaining their existing workload.

5 Ways That AI is a Force Multiplier

I had the opportunity recently to sit down with the editors of Corporate Counsel Business Journal for an interview regarding the use of AI in legal operations. I shared five ways that I believe in-house counsel can leverage the power of AI to help alleviate the challenge of delivering more with fewer resources by increasing their operational efficiency.

1. Transforming fundamental legal tasks

Gen AI excels at tasks that previously consumed significant attorney time, such as summarizing voluminous documents, analyzing large datasets, making comparisons across text-heavy resources, drafting initial documents and categorizing information. The technology’s greatest strength lies in its ability to transform fundamental legal tasks by condensing massive amounts of information into concise, actionable legal insights.

2. Enhancing the drafting process

Perhaps one of the most stunning applications of Gen AI is in document drafting and review. For example, many corporate legal department templates become unwieldy cut-and-paste mishmashes over time, with language that may no longer be accurate or even make sense. AI can review those documents, suggest revisions for clarity and compliance with current laws, and identify inconsistencies. In-house teams can also improve the quality of their draft contracts by using Gen AI tools to create a clearer version that addresses common concerns pro-actively.

3. Risk identification and mitigation

Many companies maintain vast repositories of executed contracts that have been renewed for years without thorough review. Gen AI tools make it possible for in-house counsel to conduct targeted reviews of thousands of contracts to identify specific risk factors. For example, a legal AI platform can scan an entire contract database to flag documents with unlimited liability clauses, problematic jurisdictional issues or other potentially concerning provisions. This allows the corporate legal team to pro-actively address legal vulnerabilities before they become problems.

4. Help GC become strategic business partner

Another crucial impact of the “force multiplier” effect created by Gen AI is its ability to help transform the role of in-house counsel within the organization itself. By automating routine but necessary tasks—such as the ones identified above—AI frees corporate attorneys to focus on higher-value activities. This shift enables in-house counsel to become true strategic partners to the business, investing their time in creative thinking and problem-solving, rather than being confined to a legal silo.

5. Reshape relationships with outside counsel

Some of the initial chatter around Gen AI was about how it would displace outside counsel, but to the contrary the technology is likely to enhance the relationship between in-house teams and law firms. This is because AI-powered solutions improve legal decision-making by both the buyers and sellers of legal services. For example, as routine work becomes more efficiently handled in-house with the aid of Gen AI tools, companies can invest their resources in outside counsel to handle sophisticated legal challenges—and law firms using Gen AI tools will move up the value chain, offering increasingly strategic services to their corporate clients. Gen AI isn’t replacing legal expertise; it is amplifying it, allowing both in-house counsel and their external law firm partners to focus their talents where they deliver the greatest value.

AI-Powered Legal Tools for In-House Teams

LexisNexis® offers AI-powered legal tools for corporate legal teams, including legal research, drafting and summarization tools that delivers on the potential of Gen AI technology. The platform delivers answers to your in-house legal team that are grounded in the world’s largest repository of accurate and exclusive legal content from LexisNexis, with industry-leading data security and attention to privacy.

All of these resources are accessible to in-house legal teams from Lexis®+ General Counsel Suite. Lexis+ GC Suite is an all-in-one information resource designed for the modern GC that provides in-house counsel with a vast collection of legal resources, breaking business and legal news, and practical guidance content.

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