Law360 Pulse surveyed nearly 400 lawyers from November 2024 through early January 2025 about their thoughts on generative AI, which is capable of creating original content. Among respondents who currently use AI for some work purpose, 49% are power users, relying on these tools three or more times per week. Forty-six percent are more "infrequent users" who only turn to these tools less than once or only one to two times per week.
For all attorneys who completed the survey, nearly 50% do not use or report never using generative AI, while 27% are considered frequent users of AI tools three or more times per week.
However, AI power users at law firms told Law360 Pulse that the popularity of the technology has surged since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November 2022.
Bobby Malhotra, a partner at Winston & Strawn LLP and daily AI user, said that generative AI tools such as ChatGPT enable lawyers to input prompts in plain English and analyze data — tasks that previously required a tech specialist as an intermediary.
"This is a game-changing technology because for the first time lawyers can have a relatively simple tool where they can input questions into it and interact with their data," Malhotra told Law360 Pulse.
Malhotra said that generative AI is another option in the legal AI "tool belt," giving professionals a good starting point for creating content at an early stage. The technology helps lawyers with routine and mundane tasks, such as drafting a legal outline, so that they can focus on more higher-level tasks such as developing complex arguments and positions for clients.
Lisa Worcman, a partner at Mattos Filho who uses AI nearly every day at the firm, said that attorneys who actively use AI believe that the technology makes them more efficient and helps them provide a better service to clients.
"I think the efficiency that these tools are bringing to the legal market is definitely a game changer," Worcman told Law360 Pulse.
What Makes an AI Power User
Some of today's AI power users come from technology backgrounds.
Malhotra, previously a technologist, worked in network engineering and computer programming. He transitioned to law with a focus on e-discovery litigation, which dealt with vast amounts of data across various jurisdictions.
While working in e-discovery law years ago, Malhotra turned to AI by using statistical models and predictive analytics to determine relevant documents for a case.
Before the recent arrival of ChapGPT and generative AI, Malhotra said that only certain practice areas were interested in AI, such as e-discovery, technology and data privacy.
Since the emergence of ChatGPT, Malhotra noted a growing excitement among lawyers across various practices, as many now see AI as a tool for improving efficiency.
More than three-quarters of lawyers who use generative AI for some purpose say that the technology has made their work easier, according to the Law360 Pulse survey. Ninety-four percent of frequent AI users feel the same way, showing a correlation between high AI usage and satisfaction.
Frequent users are also more bullish on AI, with 73% having a positive outlook on the technology. Only 35% of all lawyers, including nonusers, have a positive view on AI.
Some of today's AI power users are also investing time in learning the new technology.
Caroline McCaffery, a partner at the corporate legal services firm Outside GC who has a background working with tech companies, told Law360 Pulse that some AI power users are enhancing their generative AI-prompting skills through online courses offered by the firm and through platforms such as LinkedIn.
While AI power users can be found across multiple practice areas today, McCaffery notes that transactional lawyers are more likely to use AI tools because of the emergence of AI products that help with contract negotiations and editing.
Senior lawyers also seem to be taking a more active role in testing AI tools in law firms today, according to Mattos Filho's Worcman.
Lawyers who frequently use AI are more likely to belong to firms that actively advocate for these tools. Half of frequent AI users who took the Law360 Pulse survey belonged to firms that encourage using generative AI and 40% said their firms offer AI training.
Worcman, a tax lawyer serving technology companies, heads the AI innovation initiative at Mattos Filho, called attix.
"For me, it was very natural to be interested in these types of solutions and innovation," Worcman said.
Launched in October 2022, attix provides product mentoring to about two dozen AI legal startups such as Harvey, Inspira, netLex, Lexter and Jusbrasil. The product mentoring allows the firm's attorneys to test the tools and provide feedback to the vendors.
Attorneys at Mattos Filho also get to test the platforms participating in the program. This allows the firm to see which tools can improve efficiency.
Worcman said all of the AI startups that participate in the program are thoroughly tested to ensure data privacy standards are met.
A Look at Legal AI's Uses
Over half of survey respondents currently use generative AI for at least one purpose.
Legal research is the most common area of application today, with 40% of respondents using generative AI for that purpose. More than a quarter of attorneys are currently using it for document summary, correspondence and document creation.
About one in five respondents are currently using AI for e-discovery, contract review and analysis, marketing and translations.
"It helps me find good evidence of my client's [trademark] use, it helps me find infringers and their use, and it helps me find interesting current events in IP law to write about on LinkedIn," Pearson said.
McCaffery, who also uses AI for research and drafting, developed a custom AI tool that serves as a knowledge source of state privacy laws. She expects AI use cases to expand as the models powering these platforms become more trained in legal practices.
Generative AI platforms run on large language models, or LLMs, that are trained on a dataset.
"I think we'll move from what I would say 1.0 to 2.0," McCaffery said. "I think we'll see large language models that are tailored just for the legal space."
Malhotra of Winston & Strawn said that attorneys at all levels can learn generative AI because prompting is not overly technical. He also expects that AI will become more commonplace at law firms and is encouraging other lawyers at his firm to use the latest AI tools.
"If we don't have our finger on the pulse, it's an area where you can get left behind really quickly when it comes to your competition," Malhotra said.
--Editing by Sarah Golin, Orlando Lorenzo and Pamela Wilkinson. Graphics by Jason Mallory.
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