This article covers:

• How AI supports legal teams by automating routine tasks and improving decision-making
• Why lawyers remain essential for judgement, negotiation, and risk management
• The hybrid model where AI handles execution while lawyers focus on strategy

Legal AI is reshaping the profession faster than many expected. A niche tool just a few years ago, it is now a boardroom priority.  

The appeal is clear. AI analyses contracts in seconds, drafts documents at scale, and flags compliance risks with precision. It removes bottlenecks, reduces reliance on external counsel, and offers efficiency gains that no human team can match. Agristo, a food manufacturer, has reduced contract processing from two hours to 15 minutes with LEGALFLY, for example. 

However, as AI takes on more responsibilities, it raises important questions:

• If AI can review NDAs, negotiate routine agreements, and even predict case outcomes, what happens to the lawyers who once performed these tasks?
• Does AI’s growing role mean the end of traditional in-house legal teams?
• How do legal professionals ensure AI remains a trusted partner rather than a liability?

Technology has always changed legal work. Word processors replaced dictation, online databases killed the law library. 

Law is built on logic, structured reasoning, and precedent - qualities that make it particularly well-suited for AI applications. AI thrives on clear rules, pattern recognition, and data-driven insights, making legal work an ideal domain for automation. From case law analysis to contract review, AI can process vast amounts of legal information far faster and more accurately than humans.

But despite this logical foundation, law is not purely a mechanical process. It involves interpretation, persuasion, and strategic decision-making. The ability to assess intent, understand business implications, and navigate ethical dilemmas remains beyond AI’s reach. No company wants to hear, “The algorithm recommends settling.” They want analysis, negotiation, and a human understanding of consequences.

As a result, lawyers’ responsibilities are changing. Instead of being consumed by contract reviews, compliance monitoring, and risk flagging, legal professionals will move into oversight roles. AI will handle execution, while lawyers focus on high-level decision-making, governance, and risk strategy.

Read more: Legal AI is moving from curiosity in 2024 to necessity in 2025

How legal teams use AI

AI for legal teams refers to machine learning and automation tools that assist with compliance, contract management, and risk assessment. It streamlines workflows, reduces manual workload, and enhances decision-making.

Industries with strict compliance requirements are finding AI is particularly useful. With rising regulatory pressures and cost constraints, efficiency and risk management are key issues.

Applications of AI in corporate legal work

Contract review and negotiation: AI reduces review times from hours to minutes, identifying risks and suggesting revisions.

Compliance and regulatory tracking: AI automates regulatory updates, ensuring policies align with changing laws.

Legal research and document automation: AI accelerates case law analysis and routine legal documentation.

Risk and litigation prediction: AI helps legal teams assess potential legal risks before issues escalate.

AI-driven workflow automation: AI agents handle entire legal processes autonomously, from intake to final approval.

AI is already reshaping the skills required for in-house legal teams. Capabilities like memorising laws and precedents, are becoming less important. AI can retrieve case law, flag risks, and even suggest contractual language far more efficiently than a human lawyer ever could.

Even contract negotiation, a core function of many in-house legal teams, may change as AI models analyse past agreements, predict counterparties’ positions, and automate much of the back-and-forth. Human input will remain essential for high-stakes deals, but AI will handle an increasing share of routine negotiations.

Read more: AI for law firms: The top use cases

However, other skills are becoming more valuable. Judgement, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence, all qualities AI struggles to replicate, will define the best in-house lawyers. A significant part of the role may be acting as a sounding board for colleagues, helping them navigate complex decisions that may not be strictly legal in nature but require a nuanced understanding of risk, business strategy, and human dynamics. AI can provide data, but it can’t replace the trust and insight that an experienced in-house lawyer brings to the table.

How AI enhances legal productivity

AI eliminates delays by automating contract review, compliance checks, and risk assessments, allowing legal teams to focus on negotiations, advisory work, and strategic planning. By reducing manual workload, AI minimises errors caused by fatigue and ensures accuracy, transforming legal teams from blockers to business enablers.

This shift also improves work-life balance, lightening the burden of repetitive tasks so legal professionals can prioritise higher-value strategy and risk management.

Benefits of legal AI  

Efficiency and productivity: AI automates routine tasks, freeing legal teams to focus on high-value work.

Cost savings: AI reduces dependence on external law firms, lowering legal spend.

Improved compliance: AI tracks regulatory changes, flagging risks before they become issues.

Reliable legal insights: LEGALFLY partners with leading law firms, ensuring AI outputs are based on validated case law and regulatory data.

Faster deal flow and compliance

AI speeds up contract approvals by identifying key risks in minutes rather than days, enabling businesses to move faster without increasing legal exposure. It also strengthens compliance by continuously tracking regulatory changes and flagging risks before they become issues, reducing regulatory exposure and improving corporate governance.

Read more: Best AI tools for legal writing in 2025

Proactive risk management

Legal teams have traditionally operated reactively, addressing disputes and compliance breaches after they arise. AI changes this by analysing trends across contracts and identifying risks early, helping legal teams prevent costly legal issues before they escalate.

Efficiency, cost reduction, and AI-led workflows

AI processes high volumes of contracts and compliance documents, reducing reliance on manual review and lowering legal spend by minimising dependence on external counsel. With 24/7 availability, AI provides instant contract analysis, compliance insights, and legal recommendations, improving response times.

Beyond review and research, AI is now managing entire legal workflows, processing contracts, performing risk assessments, and drafting documents. Complex issues can then be escalated to human lawyers.  

The legal skills that will become more important

 As AI’s role expands, the value of in-house lawyers will shift towards oversight, risk management, and strategic advisory.

Strategic decision-making

Legal work is rarely just about applying rules. It involves balancing legal risk with business objectives. AI can analyse precedents and highlight potential risks, but it cannot weigh competing commercial priorities or assess the broader implications of legal decisions. Lawyers will take on a greater role in ensuring legal strategy aligns with long-term business goals.

Business and risk advisory

In-house lawyers will increasingly act as business advisors rather than just legal specialists. AI can flag compliance risks, but only humans can interpret them in the context of commercial strategy, reputational impact, and corporate values. Legal teams will be expected to guide organisations through complex decisions, ensuring AI-driven outputs align with real-world business needs.

Relationship-building and internal trust

Legal professionals don’t just apply laws. They provide reassurance, judgement, and accountability. From advising executives on high-stakes deals or helping teams navigate workplace challenges, in-house lawyers serve as trusted advisors. AI can generate information, but it cannot build confidence, manage sensitive conversations, or provide the human insight necessary for ethical decision-making.

Complex negotiations and advocacy

Routine contract negotiation is already shifting to AI, but high-value, strategic negotiations still need human judgement. Persuasion, compromise, and reading between the lines remain essential skills. Employment disputes, regulatory investigations, and litigation demand human-led advocacy, negotiation skills, and discretion.

Ethical oversight and legal accountability

Legal teams will need to assess fairness, reputational risks, and ethical considerations. AI cannot make moral judgements or interpret ambiguous laws in context. Lawyers will play a crucial role in ensuring AI-driven legal processes remain transparent, accountable, and aligned with corporate and regulatory responsibilities.

Read more: Goodbye to the grind. How legal AI is streamlining repetitive work

Limitations of AI in corporate legal work

Some limitations are dictated by the tools lawyers use. Generic AI tools are of limited value in legal work. They also process information externally, raising the risk of exposing confidential corporate data.  

The most effective legal AI is designed for legal work. Some of these tools, like LEGALFLY, offer bespoke AI agents trained on internal datasets, ensuring outputs align with corporate priorities. 

However, even AI design for legal work has limitations, for now. AI can not yet make high-stakes legal decisions. It lacks the ability to negotiate complex agreements, interpret intent, or navigate disputes that require human judgement and experience. While AI can help with contract analysis and risk assessment, final decisions still require a lawyer’s expertise.

It’as also important to recognise that AI-generated legal work is only as reliable as the data it is trained on. Without rigorous oversight, AI can produce misleading outputs, as seen in the infamous New York ChatGPT case, where lawyers presented fabricated case law.  

How to adapt to legal AI

The key takeaway is that AI is transforming legal work, but it does not mean the end of lawyers or legal teams. Rather, it means a change in their role. Tasks like reviewing NDAs, negotiating routine agreements, and predicting case outcomes will be increasingly handled by AI, freeing legal professionals to focus on higher-value work such as strategy, risk management, and business advisory. 

The shift is not about replacing lawyers but elevating them from task execution to workforce management, where they oversee AI-driven processes and ensure legal alignment with business objectives. 

To ensure AI remains a trusted partner rather than a liability, select AI tools built for legal work, and maintain human oversight over important decisions. AI is a tool that enhances legal work. It does not replace the strategic, judgement-driven role of legal professionals.

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