WASHINGTON, D.C. – Findings from part two of The General Counsel Report, released earlier this month by FTI Consulting, Inc. (booth pictured at CSC 2025) and Relativity show generative artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in corporate legal departments has nearly doubled year over year. Eighty-seven percent of general counsel now report use within their teams, compared with 44% in 2025.
The report also found a range of changes in the ways legal departments are approaching AI and other technologies, and 39% now view AI as among their strategic priorities for supporting legal department efficiency and efficacy.
Legal departments that have a formalized technology roadmap in place also reached an all-time high of 53%, more than double from 25% the previous year. With this, approximately 70% plan to invest in new technologies in the next 12 months, underscoring the increasing impact of technology on legal department strategy and function.
When asked about their comfort with gen AI use for certain tasks, respondents expressed the most openness for legal research, e-discovery, document review, contract drafting and contract analysis. Respondents said the most common task for generative AI was summarization, with 83% either using or experimenting with it. This was followed by identifying contract clauses (63%), audio and video transcription (53%), analysis of foreign language materials (40%) and first-pass review (37%).
“Generative AI has become a fixture in the majority of legal departments, and of those not yet using it, most have plans to implement in the near term,” said Sophie Ross, global chief executive officer of FTI Technology. “As in-house teams grow more comfortable with a wide range of generative AI use cases, appropriate upskilling will be imperative. General counsel will need to provide their departments with structured training, education and expert support to use this technology effectively, and underpin those efforts with technology roadmaps that enable innovation alongside risk mitigation.”
“The 2026 edition of The General Counsel Report is significant because it provides compelling evidence indicating the era of the ‘Luddite Lawyer’ is over,” said David Horrigan, discovery counsel and legal education director at Relativity and adjunct professor at Duquesne University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law. “Throughout the seven annual editions of this report, chief legal officers’ use and acceptance of technology have been important focus areas, and the 2026 edition shows a meaningful shift in the role technology plays in the work of the general counsel.”
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