The impact of generative AI on corporate legal teams

Ready or not, AI has arrived. Here’s how corporate legal teams can ensure it’s a call to action, not a cause for concern. 

A study by Wolters Kluwer revealed that 76 percent of corporate legal teams are using generative AI at least once a week. Another recent survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel found that more than a third of in-house teams are using AI solutions designed for legal professionals. This underlines that both general-purpose and industry-specific generative AI solutions have found their way into the workflows of corporate legal departments. 

Corporate legal teams know that these new tools are more than a passing trend. A Deloitte survey of in-house legal teams found that 79 percent of respondents believe that “generative AI will have a moderate to significant long-term impact on how legal work is performed.”

It's easy to understand why. Generative AI has proven to be a powerful tool for simplifying workflows and minimizing manual tasks, freeing up time for more valuable activities. This can also mean outsourcing fewer tasks to outside firms.

AI technology is already changing the way corporate legal teams work but there’s a big difference between moving, and moving with confidence. 

Below, we explore how the corporate legal teams are embracing AI and the concerns they are facing on the way.

How should corporate legal teams use generative AI?

In a recent study iManage conducted with Above the Law, we found that corporate legal departments are focusing on three specific use cases for AI right now:

• Contract analysis

• Document comparison and review

• Legal search and research

Outside of these use cases, different stakeholders in the legal department are also benefitting from implementation of AI — or believe they soon will. For example, according to the Deloitte survey, 73 percent of respondents see “Contracts and Commercial” as likely to experience a “significant impact” from generative AI.

How quickly are corporate legal teams embracing generative AI?

AI is high on the agenda for corporate legal teams. Wolters Kluwer found that 76 percent of corporate teams are using gen AI at least once a week. But look beyond adoption rates, and the picture is a little more complex. For example, a survey by Ari Kaplan Advisors found that many legal operations professionals still have low confidence with AI. In fact, half of participants rated familiarity with AI tools and best practices at a meagre one or two on a five point scale.

Added to this is the anxiety around gen AI. Our survey with Above the Law revealed that an incredible 86 percent of survey respondents were concerned about the potential security risks associated with generative AI.

This highlights the need for a human-centric approach to AI that tackles fears around sensitive information or intellectual property head-on.

How can corporate legal teams use AI securely?

Security needs to be a top priority. Many corporate legal departments approaching AI see the new challenge it poses for sensitive or confidential information.

To overcome this challenge, there are two foundational steps that legal departments must undertake: 

1. Develop a well-defined company AI policy: Clear guidelines and use cases for how, when, and why AI is used can go a long way toward avoiding security risks.

2. Use AI technologies that prioritize security: Matching your AI usage policy with solutions that are proven for secure legal use will help you realize the benefits without increasing risk. 

At iManage, we firmly believe that the key to secure and impactful use of AI is a solid data foundation.

It’s vital to ensure all work-related materials are contained in a secure, central repository with advanced protections, wherever they are accessed from and on whatever device. This is especially important when corporate teams work remotely.

Want to find out more about how iManage helps teams overcome security challenges? Jump to our page on iManage AI.

A member of your team

“[Due to the benefits of AI] in-house lawyers will finally be empowered to focus on more strategic and interesting work, to provide greater data-driven insight, and drive business growth through accelerated and more agile support.”

The future of legal work? The use of Generative AI by legal departments, Deloitte

Shifting business models: a wake-up call

Generative AI, when implemented with a trusted vendor and grounded in reliable data, has numerous benefits for corporate legal teams. Its value goes beyond just being a useful tool — AI can be a teammate unto itself.

In fact, a report by Asana found that knowledge workers who see AI as a teammate are 33 percent more likely to experience significant productivity boosts than those who see AI as merely a tool.

If you’re looking to improve your AI Confidence™, iManage can help.

Our AI applications are built natively into the iManage knowledge work platform. This empowers you to quickly and securely automate content workflows and reduce manual tasks, giving corporate legal teams more time to focus on being a strategic partner to the business.

Learn more about how to add iManage to your team.