# AI for law firms: which tasks to automate first Updated October 2026 Across the 1.2 million US jobs in legal services, the work scores 53 of 100 for AI exposure, weighted by how many people do each job. AI can take on about 898 hours a year per full-time person, 45% of a working year. The task that frees the most hours across the industry is to prepare, edit, or review legal documents, about 183 hours a year for each person who does it. AI exposure, weighted by employment 53 out of 100 High exposure Hours AI can take on 898 hours a year per full-time person Task time AI can do today 29% AI speeds up another 52% ## Tasks to automate first The 15 tasks where AI can take on the most hours across legal services: how exposed each task is, how much of the job it takes and how many people do that job. Hours are per person in the role that does the task. [How we score each task](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). | Task and who does it | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Prepare, edit, or review legal documents, including legislation, briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements. Drafting and reviewing contracts and briefs is core language work. Done by paralegals. | 72% AI can do it 183 hours a year for each person in the role | | Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system. Drafting affidavits and letters is routine text AI handles well. Done by paralegals. | 70% AI can do it 181 hours a year for each person in the role | | Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents. AI gathers and summarizes statutes and cases well, with verification. Done by paralegals. | 68% AI can do it 156 hours a year for each person in the role | | Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records and internet sources, to determine causes of action and to prepare cases. Research suits AI, though some records need physical retrieval. Done by paralegals. | 60% AI helps 144 hours a year for each person in the role | | Prepare, draft, and review legal documents, such as wills, deeds, patent applications, mortgages, leases, and contracts. Contracts, leases and wills are template heavy drafting AI does well. Done by lawyers. | 78% AI can do it 86 hours a year for each person in the role | ## What stays with people 19% of the task time across these roles needs a person, and the output of the rest still needs someone to check it. The tasks below take the most of that time. - **29%** AI can do it - **52%** AI helps - **19%** Needs a person - Meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of cases. Paralegals, 15% exposed - Represent clients in court or before government agencies. Lawyers, 8% exposed - Supervise legal assistants. Lawyers, 15% exposed - Present and summarize cases to judges and juries. Lawyers, 12% exposed - Select jurors, argue motions, meet with judges, and question witnesses during the course of a trial. Lawyers, 6% exposed ## Adoption path Start with the tasks where AI helps a person, then automate the routine ones, then give whole workflows to agents with a person approving the output. 1. ### Quick wins Fee earners get document summaries, research notes and first drafts from a private AI setup that keeps privileged material in your control. Example: Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources. AI helps with 60% of the time. [AI governance](https://www.aigentcy.com/services/ai-governance/) 2. ### Workflow automation Matter intake, conflict checks, time capture and billing run as automations. Example: Prepare, edit, or review legal documents. AI can do 72% of it. [Process automation](https://www.aigentcy.com/services/process-automation/) 3. ### Agents An agent reviews contracts against your playbook and marks each clause for a lawyer to accept or change. 7 of the 15 tasks on this page are ones AI can do end to end, the work an agent takes on. [Private AI](https://www.aigentcy.com/services/private-ai/) ## Teams in this industry The business functions in legal services, by share of the workforce, with each one's exposure. 1. [Legal and compliance, 75.2% of the workforce, score **51**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/legal-and-compliance/) 2. [Operations and admin, 10.4% of the workforce, score **56**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/operations/) 3. [Finance and accounting, 5.2% of the workforce, score **62**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/finance/) 4. [Customer service, 2.9% of the workforce, score **64**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/customer-service/) 5. [IT and software, 1.9% of the workforce, score **58**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/it/) 6. [Marketing and content, 1.3% of the workforce, score **60**](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/marketing/) ## Roles in legal services The 20 largest roles, each linked to its task-by-task score. Shares come from the BLS industry staffing estimates, May 2025. Of the roles with at least 2% of the jobs, secretaries score highest at 66, lawyers lowest at 48. 1. [Lawyers, 37.2% of the workforce, score **48** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/lawyers/) 2. [Paralegals, 25.3% of the workforce, score **52** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/paralegals/) 3. [Legal secretaries, 10.5% of the workforce, score **56** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/legal-secretaries/) 4. [Office clerks, 2.5% of the workforce, score **60** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/office-clerks/) 5. [Receptionists, 2.1% of the workforce, score **62** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/receptionists/) 6. [Secretaries, 2% of the workforce, score **66** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/secretaries/) 7. [Bookkeepers, 1.7% of the workforce, score **67** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/bookkeepers/) 8. [Administrative supervisors, 1.7% of the workforce, score **55** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/administrative-supervisors/) 9. [Title examiners, 1.6% of the workforce, score **55** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/title-examiners/) 10. [General managers, 1.6% of the workforce, score **44** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/general-managers/) 11. [Accountants, 1% of the workforce, score **60** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/accountants/) 12. [Billing clerks, 0.9% of the workforce, score **59** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/billing-clerks/) 13. [File clerks, 0.7% of the workforce, score **59** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/file-clerks/) 14. [Digital marketers, 0.7% of the workforce, score **62** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/digital-marketers/) 15. [Customer service representatives, 0.6% of the workforce, score **74** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/customer-service-representatives/) 16. [Recruiters, 0.6% of the workforce, score **62** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/recruiters/) 17. [IT support specialists, 0.6% of the workforce, score **59** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/it-support-specialists/) 18. [Executive assistants, 0.5% of the workforce, score **65** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/executive-assistants/) 19. [Loan clerks, 0.4% of the workforce, score **64** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/loan-clerks/) 20. [Administrative services managers, 0.4% of the workforce, score **38** out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/administrative-services-managers/) ## Questions about AI for law firms Which tasks should a law firm automate first? The first task to automate is to prepare, edit, or review legal documents (72% exposed). Next come the tasks to prepare affidavits or other documents (70%) and to gather and analyze research data (68%). Together they free the most hours across the industry. How many hours can AI save a law firm? About 898 hours a year per full-time person, 45% of a 2,000-hour working year. For a team of 10 that is about 8,980 hours, the time of 4.5 full-time people. The figure is the share of task time AI can remove today, weighted by how many people do each job. Which roles in a law firm are most exposed to AI? Of the roles with at least 2% of the jobs, secretaries score highest, at 66 of 100, and lawyers lowest, at 48. Each role's page lists its tasks one by one. Will AI replace jobs in legal services? AI can do 29% of the task time across these roles today. Another 52% gets faster with AI while a person stays in charge. 19% needs a person. One task that stays with people is to meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of cases. Where should a law firm start with AI? With the quick wins: approved assistants for the tasks AI helps with, under a written AI policy. Then automate the 7 tasks on this page AI can do end to end. An AI audit maps the tasks in your team and ranks them the same way this page does. ## Next steps - [AI for law firms: a governed path from pilot to daily use](https://www.aigentcy.com/blog/ai-for-law-firms/) ### Find the tasks to automate first in your team We map the tasks in your business, score each one the way this page does and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.