AI for law firms has been around for years now. So let’s take a look at how it’s evolving by looking at data we could pull from 2024, compared to data that’s coming in for this year.
Individual AI usage by firm size (Clio 2025)
Clio’s numbers are more generous because they count any professional using AI at work, including generic tools.
| Segment | % of legal professionals using AI | Source / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| All legal professionals | 79% | Clio Legal Trends Report, 2024–2025 (Clio) |
| Professionals in large firms | 87% | 2Civility summary of 2025 Clio report (2Civility) |
| Professionals in solo firms | 71% | 2Civility summary (2Civility) |
| Legal-specific AI tools | 40% use legal-specific AI (down from 58% in 2024) | 2Civility summary; suggests growing reliance on generic tools (2Civility) |
In 2025, roughly 4 out of 5 legal professionals say they use AI in their work, with 87% in large firms and over 70% of solos reporting some use of AI tools.
Comparing 2024’s Numbers
| Firm Size (by # of lawyers) | % of offices using AI-based tech tools* | Source / Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 500+ lawyers | 47.8% (≈48%) | ABA 2024 Legal Tech Survey – Online Research volume (American Bar Association) |
| 100+ lawyers (alt slice) | 46% using AI tools | MSBA summary of ABA 2024 generative-AI question (Maryland State Bar Association) |
| 10–49 lawyers | 29.5% (≈30%) | ABA 2024 Legal Tech Survey (American Bar Association) |
| 2–9 lawyers | 24.1% | ABA 2024 Legal Tech Survey (American Bar Association) |
| Solo | 17.7% (≈18%) | ABA 2024 Legal Tech Survey; echoed as 18% in LISI blog (American Bar Association) |
| Overall (all sizes) | 30.2% of attorneys said their offices use AI-based tools | ABA 2024 Legal Tech Survey (American Bar Association) |
*ABA here is asking: “Is your office currently using AI-based technology tools for online research?” – so this is formal, office-level adoption, not “have you personally ever used ChatGPT.”
Big Law vs boutiques – how they differ structurally
| Dimension | Big Law / Am Law 200 | Small / Boutique Firms | Supporting Data / Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget & tools | 53% of Am Law 200 firms have purchased legal AI; 45% already use it for legal work; 43% have a dedicated gen-AI budget line. | Lower budgets, less likely to have dedicated AI lines; often rely on cheaper generic tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.). | LexisNexis + Clio / 2Civility show heavy AI spend and policy work in large firms, while small firms skew to generic tools. |
| Governance / red tape | Building AI committees, hiring Chief AI Officers, writing policies; 60%+ of large orgs report official AI policies. | Fewer formal policies, more ad-hoc experimentation; many solos and small firms report no AI policy at all. (2Civility) | Large firms can scale but move slower; small firms can decide faster. |
| Where AI shows up | Heavy focus on research, document review, summarization, and e-discovery, often embedded into Westlaw, Lexis, TR tools, etc. (American Bar Association) | More visible in marketing, intake, basic drafting, general productivity (websites, email, content, CRM, chatbots). (LISI) | Different levers, similar underlying tech. |
| Adoption trajectory | Already high: 48%+ of large firms report office-level AI; 87% of professionals use AI; 90% expect budgets to grow. (Maryland State Bar Association) | Catching up rapidly: small/solo AI adoption jumped from 27% to 53% (Smokeball) and 71% of solos say they use AI. (LawSites) | The gap is narrowing year-over-year. |
| Experiment speed | Changes require approvals, risk reviews, and client communication; but once approved, rollouts can be large. | Managing partner can approve a pilot in a day; easier to try tools like Lexis+ AI or a LangChain bot on a small team. | Inferred from governance & budget data plus commentary about policy complexity in large firms. (Thomson Reuters Legal) |