AI for legal and compliance teams: which tasks to automate first
Updated
Across the 2.9 million US jobs in legal and compliance, 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 team 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
- 21% AI speeds up another 62%
Tasks to automate first
The 15 tasks where AI can take on the most hours across legal and compliance: 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.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses. Legal research and explanation AI drafts well, lawyer verifies advice. Done by lawyers. | 60% AI helps 72 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Study Constitution, statutes, decisions, regulations, and ordinances of quasi-judicial bodies to determine ramifications for cases. Reading statutes and decisions to assess impact is strong AI work. Done by lawyers. | 66% AI can do it 70 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Prepare reports of activities, evaluations, recommendations, or decisions. Drafting reports from case notes is a strong AI task. Done by compliance officers. | 70% AI can do it 117 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Evaluate applications, records, or documents to gather information about eligibility or liability issues. AI reviews documents fast; eligibility calls need human accountability. Done by compliance officers. | 60% AI helps 102 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Advise licensees or other individuals or groups concerning licensing, permit, or passport regulations. LLMs answer regulation questions; advice must be checked for accuracy. Done by compliance officers. | 50% AI helps 85 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Monitor or track sustainability indicators, such as energy usage, natural resource usage, waste generation, and recycling. Meter, utility and waste logs can be pulled and tracked by software. Done by sustainability specialists. | 68% AI can do it 107 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Research or review regulatory, technical, or market issues related to sustainability. AI can search and summarise regulations and market data quickly. Done by sustainability specialists. | 68% AI helps 95 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Collect historical cost data to estimate costs for current or future products. AI queries and cleans cost records; estimator checks relevance. Done by cost estimators. | 72% AI can do it 111 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Develop reports or presentations to communicate the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives. AI drafts reports and slides from data, person checks and presents. Done by sustainability specialists. | 62% AI helps 91 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Prepare cost and expenditure statements and other necessary documentation at regular intervals for the duration of the project. Routine statements from ledger data; AI drafts, estimator reviews. Done by cost estimators. | 75% AI can do it 103 hours a year for each person in the role |
| Write reports to summarize testing activities, including descriptions of goals, planning, scheduling, execution, results, analysis, conclusions, and recommendations. Reports from test notes are highly suited to AI drafting. Done by business continuity planners. | 78% AI can do it 79 hours a year for each person in the role |
What stays with people
17% 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.
- 21% AI can do it
- 62% AI helps
- 17% 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
- Negotiate settlements of civil disputes. Lawyers, 22% exposed
- Confer with or interview officials, technical or professional specialists, or applicants to obtain information or to clarify facts relevant to licensing decisions. Compliance officers, 20% exposed
- Administer oral, written, road, or flight tests to license applicants. Compliance officers, 20% 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.
Roles in legal and compliance
22 roles, each linked to its task-by-task score. Of the roles with at least 2% of the jobs, sustainability specialists score highest at 60, lawyers lowest at 48.
- Lawyers, 25.7% of the team, score 48 out of 100
- Compliance officers, 14.2% of the team, score 58 out of 100
- Paralegals, 13.4% of the team, score 52 out of 100
- Business continuity planners, 9.2% of the team, score 58 out of 100
- Security management specialists, 9.2% of the team, score 49 out of 100
- Sustainability specialists, 9.2% of the team, score 60 out of 100
- Cost estimators, 7.6% of the team, score 53 out of 100
- Legal secretaries, 5.3% of the team, score 56 out of 100
- Fraud analysts, 2.2% of the team, score 53 out of 100
- Title examiners, 1.7% of the team, score 55 out of 100
- Judges, 0.8% of the team, score 39 out of 100
- Administrative law judges, 0.6% of the team, score 54 out of 100
- Judicial law clerks, 0.5% of the team, score 49 out of 100
- Mediators, 0.3% of the team, score 50 out of 100
- Farm labor contractors, Counted under a related job in US data, score 20 out of 100
- Coroners, Counted under a related job in US data, score 40 out of 100
- Customs brokers, Counted under a related job in US data, score 57 out of 100
- Environmental compliance inspectors, Counted under a related job in US data, score 51 out of 100
- Equal opportunity officers, Counted under a related job in US data, score 55 out of 100
- Government property inspectors, Counted under a related job in US data, score 43 out of 100
- Personal property appraisers, Counted under a related job in US data, score 57 out of 100
- Regulatory affairs specialists, Counted under a related job in US data, score 60 out of 100
Questions about AI for legal and compliance teams
Which tasks should a legal and compliance team 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 prepare, draft, and review legal documents (78%). Together they free the most hours across the team.
How many hours can AI save a legal and compliance team?
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 legal and compliance team are most exposed to AI?
Of the roles with at least 2% of the jobs, sustainability specialists score highest, at 60 of 100, and lawyers lowest, at 48. Each role's page lists its tasks one by one.
Will AI replace jobs in legal and compliance?
AI can do 21% of the task time across these roles today. Another 62% gets faster with AI while a person stays in charge. 17% 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 legal and compliance team start with AI?
With the quick wins: approved assistants for the tasks AI helps with, under a written AI policy. Then automate the 10 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
Find the tasks to automate first in your team
We map the tasks in your legal and compliance team, score each one the way this page does and build the automations that pay back first.