• Firms disagree on how significantly AI will affect legal jobs in the next five years, according to a survey of top U.K. law firms.

• Some firms are actively trialing AI technology, while others remain cautious about its adoption.

• The divergence in opinion is shaping firms' varied approaches to innovation.

A recent survey of the U.K.'s top 30 law firms reveals significant differences in expectations about the impact of artificial intelligence on legal jobs. While some firms predict a radical transformation, others remain more measured, reflecting the uncertain future of AI adoption in the legal industry, Law.com reports.

The survey shows a split between firms embracing AI to streamline operations and those more hesitant about the technology's potential job displacement effects.

• Several firms, including Fieldfisher, Freshfields, Kennedys, and Macfarlanes, stated that they believed every single job at their firm would incorporate or be altered by generative AI in the next five years.

• Other firms such as Bird & Bird believe less than half of their roles internally will be affected.

• And other firms, such as Addleshaw Goddard, Charles Russell Speechlys and CMS, put the figure at between 50 and 75%.

Limited Impact

Some of the firms interviewed in the survey said they believed AI impact would remain limited to specific areas:

• Bird & Bird expects AI to generate a major part of first-draft contracts and other legal documents. 

• Charles Russell Speechlys expects the least likely roles to be impacted to be those at partner level. 

• Travers Smith said AI would affect knowledge worker roles across legal and business services.

• Fieldfisher and Addleshaw Goddard said they believed all roles will be impacted in some way, whether it’s productivity gains or the introduction of LLMs into everyday solutions.

AI Adoption

This difference in perspective is influencing how law firms implement AI programs. Those predicting major disruptions are rolling out AI technology faster, while those more skeptical are proceeding cautiously, concerned about the balance between efficiency and maintaining traditional legal expertise.

Microsoft Copilot and Harvey AI are among the most popular options for law firms, many of which have incorporated the technologies to various degrees.

"GenAI is enabling us to leverage technology to do things that were previously not possible", said Addleshaw Goddard, adding that GenAI would bring opportunities for people to work in law outside of the traditional routes.

Skepticism

Among those skeptical about AI integration, one firm whose name was not revealed in the survey expressed doubts that the initial hype around generative AI had been merited: "Our experience is that AI is surrounded by a mix of exaggerated claims and underestimated potential. The hype is often a blend of heady aspirations and sensationalized marketing."

With the right amount of caution, AI can nonetheless help increase efficiency in the field, according to most firms questioned. "It will increase efficiency in legal work,” Freshfields said. “However, at the same time, we are already witnessing for example a significant increase in cases due to technological advancement in the efficiency and automation of case submission."