Legal AI Gains Momentum

By Madison Johnson, Esq. | Manager, Large Markets 

Big Law is coming off a highly profitable year in 2024, and one implication of this financial success is the generation of cash flow that can be invested in technology innovations to improve performance and efficiency. Legal experts predict that a leading target for these investments will be generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) solutions.

“Managing rapid Gen AI advancements will remain a strong focus for law firms,” according to the 2025 Citi Hildebrandt Client Advisory. “So far, firms have actually spent very little,” reads the report, but “we expect that will change over the next two years.”

Carlos Pauling, executive director with Major, Lindsey & Africa, told The American Lawyer that firms that don’t make these investments — taking instead a wait-and-see approach with AI in 2025 — will likely be left behind while firms incorporating AI into their respective practices gain a competitive advantage.

The question that some industry observers are asking is whether there will be sufficient Legal AI innovation underway this year to make these law firm investments pay off.

General AI Embracing Incremental Progress

Law360 Pulse reported in early-January that “there is a concern about generative AI developers slowing down their innovation.”

James Ding, CEO of DraftWise, told Law360’s Sarah Martinson that the Gen AI models released by commercial developers such as OpenAI were faster and cheaper — but not smarter. He compared Gen AI developments in recent months to the iterative tweaks Apple has made to the iPhone, rather than transformative tech innovations.

“The leading labs have produced miracles basically every year or every funding cycle, and for the first time, the majority of their innovation isn’t miracles, it’s just kind of fundamental software building,” he said.

Technology analysts point out that the pace of groundbreaking discoveries in Gen AI might be slowing because the focus is shifting toward a few areas this year:

• More efficient and specialized models — Instead of just bigger and more complex AI models, some developers are working on creating smaller, more efficient models that can be deployed for specific tasks.
• Improved interoperability and explainability — Making AI models more transparent and understandable is crucial for building trust and ensuring responsible use.
• Integration and deployment — There is a concerted effort by some to shift from developing new models to effectively integrating them into existing business workflows and systems.

Legal AI Hitting Its Stride

But while this innovation slowdown in the general-purpose AI space is possible in the year ahead, there is real AI innovation that is likely to flow from domain-specific legal tech providers.

Blake Rooney, chief information officer for Husch Blackwell LLP, told Law360’s Steven Lerner that he expects AI-based tools to boost attorney productivity and reshape the legal tech market in 2025.

“As this transformation unfolds, we’ll see consolidation in the legal tech market, with only the producers improving the fastest thriving,” said Rooney. “Success will hinge on AI systems that grasp the natural flow of legal work, not just isolated tasks.”

To survive in 2025, concluded a Law360 Pulse report from January 2, Legal AI vendors “must build tools tailored for lawyers and their use cases.”

One exciting area of AI-powered legal tech innovation this year is the introduction of new Legal AI assistants. A Legal AI assistant is a software tool that uses AI to help legal professionals with various tasks, ultimately aiming to increase efficiency, accuracy and access to legal information. For example, these tools can support tasks such as:

• Legal research
• Document review and analysis
• Document generation
• Client communications
• Knowledge management

Legal AI assistants are evolving right now and their capabilities are expanding rapidly, so look for them to become an increasingly important tool for legal professionals in 2025.

Meet Your Trusted Legal AI Assistant

LexisNexis will blaze a new trail in Legal AI innovation this year with the first-quarter rollout of LexisNexis Protégé, the legal professional’s gateway to a world of new possibilities in which AI technology becomes an extension of their expertise.

Protégé is a private, trusted Legal AI assistant that blazes a new trail in personalized legal research and drafting solutions by connecting a law firm’s Legal AI tool with its DMS platform. It is a versatile Legal AI assistant for all of a firm’s legal needs across the applications that are used most often — from Microsoft 365 to LexisNexis — that streamlines your tasks, anticipates your intent, and delivers uniquely tailored work product to you, wherever you are. This all happens with you in control and in a private, secure online environment.

Join our exclusive AI Insider program and be the first to discover LexisNexis Protégé or register for a free trial of the Lexis+ AI legal research platform.