DISCO Study Highlights Rapid Pace of Legal Generative AI Adoption, Key Barriers for Lawyers
Data shows 72 percent expect to incorporate GenAI tools in the next 12 months or sooner
Generative AI is rapidly reshaping the legal technology landscape – particularly in eDiscovery – and law firms and corporations are feeling increasing pressure to consider Gen AI solutions as workloads and litigation complexity increases. That's according to a new survey from DISCO (NYSE:LAW) and Ari Kaplan Advisors on the current technology trends in the legal profession.
"The legal profession is evolving rapidly and this research encapsulates a moment around the blistering pace of innovation that's taking place across the industry," said Ari Kaplan, principal of Ari Kaplan Advisors. "The report's blend of quantitative and qualitative insights from leaders points to a sense of urgency to keep up as legal teams of all sizes evaluate their activities and their planning efforts. As the roles of legal professionals evolve to support this transformation, we expect to see more dynamic performance and higher-quality work, even as the complexity and length of matters increases."
The survey and white paper "Legal AI: The Future of the Profession" analyze attitudes, pain points and growth avenues for law firms and in-house teams at a time when technology is driving both new opportunities and challenges. In partnership with Ari Kaplan Advisors, DISCO conducted a survey and deep dive interviews with legal professionals to assess how firms and corporations are responding to a fast-moving environment with considerable uncertainty.
"This study demonstrates how quickly the legal technology space is changing and the need for trusted, market-ready solutions to handle increasing data complexity in complex litigation matters," said Katie DeBord, vice president of Product Strategy at DISCO. "The insights from this study can help law firms and corporations navigate the challenges they face in planning for the future."
Download the full survey results and white paper.
Key findings include:
The pressure to adopt is real – and mounting -- Both firms and corporations feel growing pressure to consider AI solutions as tools, capabilities and competitive factors proliferate. Increasing internal and external calls for cost savings and efficiencies are a major factor, but most are yet to realize those benefits at scale.
- 43% of the law firm participants reported feeling pressure from their leadership to adopt AI, and within corporate legal departments, this number climbs to 64%.
- In-house respondents also cited reducing costs (61%) and staying current with technology (59%) as pressure points. "There is huge cost pressure on the legal department, and it is taking too much time to manage our contracts, so we are looking for ways to gain efficiencies, allowing us to do more with less," said one respondent.
The technology curve is unique for the industry, and rapid -- While Technology Assisted Review developed and gained industry-wide acceptance over a relatively long period of time, GenAI tools are developing at a much higher rate. This increases fears that those who stay on the sidelines risk being left behind.
- Most legal teams in law firms and corporations plan to incorporate generative AI into their routine legal processes within the next year.
- 35% have already done so, 13% expect to finish the integration in six months, and 24% believe it will happen within a year.
- "Finding suitable generative AI solutions is not difficult; rather, it is the sheer number of options that makes the process time-consuming and challenging," said one respondent. "It is important for us to understand which tool performs as promised," added another.
Exploding data volumes and complexity means more work and longer matters – There has been a dramatic increase of new data sources; it's becoming increasingly complicated to parse, and it's both extending the litigation lifecycle and making it more complex.
- More than half of participants (52%) said that as new and emerging data types extend the litigation lifecycle, they are implementing additional technology to support their efforts.
- "We need to find tools that can understand and interpret the new data, and they need to do so more quickly," said one respondent. "Utilizing advanced technology helps streamline the litigation process," added another.
There are obstacles to AI adoption, but the efficacy of the technology isn't one of them – While there is a rapidly growing comfort level with the capabilities and efficacy of AI and GenAI tools for eDiscovery, particularly with regard to speed, accuracy and volume, security concerns are the primary adoption blockers.
- Law firms and corporate legal teams agree that their main obstacle to adopting generative AI is data security and privacy, with 68% of in-house participants and 70% of law firm participants citing this as a key concern.
- Law firm comfort levels are increasing as the technology matures and efficiency benefits are seen. "Every time I have taken a finished piece of work and applied generative AI, it comes back with good ideas and vastly improves the quality of the work I provide to the client," said one respondent.
The human element remains essential - While there is increasing confidence in using GenAI tools for large-scale reviews, lawyers still see an ongoing need for human verification, prompt creation and oversight to get the most out of and responsibly manage the technology.
- "The combination of classic machine learning with humans will be much more accurate and powerful than generative AI and humans or generative AI alone," said one respondent.
DISCO's webinar – "Unfiltered Insights on the State of AI in Legal Practice in 2025" – breaks down the survey findings to reveal where generative AI is delivering tangible impact and where the technology is headed. Ari Kaplan joins DISCO and industry experts to discuss the surprising – and not-so-surprising – survey results. To download the webcast click here.
About the Legal AI: The Future of the Profession survey
In the late summer of 2025, DISCO and Ari Kaplan Advisors conducted an online survey, completed by 112 individuals, including deeper dive interviews with 32 leaders. The study was evenly divided between law firms and corporate legal departments, to gain a deeper understanding of their responses around emerging generative AI challenges and opportunities.
About DISCO
DISCO (NYSE:LAW) provides comprehensive, innovative solutions for modern litigation. We create and service an intuitive, cloud-native platform at the forefront of litigation technology, backed by the partnership of expert professional services and support. Leveraging the latest in AI to help law firms and corporations achieve smarter outcomes faster, our scalable products and tools allow customers to simplify everyday tasks and tackle complex matters at every stage of litigation. Learn more at www.csdisco.com.
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