BusinessJul 13, 2026, 1:39 PM

Legal teams unclear on whether AI is delivering value, new report says - ABA Journal

30-second summary

A new ABA Journal report finds corporate legal teams are uncertain about AI's tangible benefits despite widespread adoption.

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Key takeaways
  • Only a minority of legal teams have clear metrics to measure AI's impact on efficiency or cost savings.
  • Rapid AI tool development is outpacing legal departments' ability to evaluate and integrate these technologies.
  • The ABA Journal report highlights a disconnect between AI adoption and measurable value in corporate legal settings.
  • Experts call for standardized frameworks to assess AI's ROI in legal workflows.
Full story

A report from the American Bar Association (ABA) Journal reveals that legal teams are increasingly adopting AI tools but remain unclear about their actual value. The survey highlights a gap between adoption rates and measurable outcomes, with many in-house counsel struggling to assess whether AI investments are delivering measurable efficiency gains or cost reductions. The findings suggest that while AI adoption in legal departments is growing, the lack of standardized metrics is hindering organizations from fully realizing its potential benefits.

The report, based on responses from legal professionals, indicates that only a minority of teams have established clear benchmarks to evaluate AI's impact. This uncertainty is compounded by the rapid pace of AI tool development, which often outpaces the ability of legal departments to integrate and assess these technologies effectively. Experts quoted in the report emphasize the need for better frameworks to measure AI's return on investment in legal workflows, particularly in areas like contract review, e-discovery, and predictive analytics.

Why this matters
Businesses

Legal departments investing in AI need clearer ways to measure ROI to justify expenditures.

Students

Illustrates real-world challenges in applying AI within traditional industries like law.

Glossary
e-discovery
The process of identifying and retrieving electronically stored information for legal cases.
ROI
Return on investment, a measure of the profitability of an expenditure.
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