Key points:
- Clio’s annual Legal Trends Report provides analysis of legal services industry based on law firm operating data, surveys of legal professionals and consumers, and qualitative interviews.
- 85% of legal professionals surveyed said firms have adopted some level of AI, with half saying firms allow and encourage its use.
- Firms are finding more ways to bill time, as AI reduces time spent on some individual tasks.
- 73% of respondents at firms using AI say it has improved the quality or value of the work, while 64% said it is positively impacting revenue.
- AI is also tied to improved job satisfaction, lower stress, and employee retention.
- Consumers want firms to tie AI efficiency to decreased costs.
- Legal professionals and consumers agree that judgment, human-centered skills, specialized expertise, and ability to review AI-assisted work are priorities for lawyers.
A study from the legal technology company Clio found that lawyers are recording more billable time than ever, and AI may be contributing to that increase.
Clio projected that the number of hours lawyers bill per an eight-hour workday will increase by 3.1 percentage points in 2026. This is the largest single-year increase in the history of Clio’s Legal Trends Report, and a notable spike compared to the steady climb of the past decade.
Clio found that the vast majority (85%) of legal professionals surveyed reported some level of AI adoption at their firms, and more than half (51%) said AI is allowed and encouraged at their firm. Among legal professionals whose firms use AI, 64% said it was positively impacting revenue, up from 36% in 2025.
The Legal Trends report provides an analysis of the legal services industry based on law firm operating data from Clio customers, surveys of U.S. legal professionals and consumers, and qualitative interviews. The legal professionals surveyed include an independent market panel and Clio customers.
Lawyers report more hours billed per day
Lawyers’ utilization rates, or the number of hours they bill in an eight-hour workday, have increased steadily over the past decade. But Clio’s projection of a more substantial increase in 2026 could represent $9,400 in additional annual billable value per lawyer, based on lawyers’ average hourly rate of $362, the report says.
While the data does not conclusively point to one reason for the increase, the report said that firms adopting AI may have found ways to record more billable work, even as AI reduces the time required to complete individual tasks.
One possible explanation for increased billable work, according to the report, is that AI helps lawyers spend less time on administrative tasks and more time on billable work.
Firms adopting AI reported utilization rates 1.3 percentage points higher than comparable firms that did not adopt the technology. The difference was more significant among solo and small firms, where AI adopters reported utilization rates more than 4% higher than non-adopters.
How are legal professionals using AI?
Clio found that AI adoption among the legal professionals it surveyed continues to grow. As mentioned, 85% of legal professional respondents reported some level of AI adoption in their firms, up from 79% in 2025. Among firms that have widely or universally adopted AI, 96% have a formal AI policy.
Many legal professionals said they are using more than one AI tool. Seventy-four percent reported using at least two tools, and 49% reported using three or more. More than half (52%) said losing access to AI would disrupt their work.
The most common uses of AI by legal professionals were legal research (54%), document drafting (49%), and document review or summarization (49%).
How are lawyers benefiting from AI?
Legal professionals using AI were more likely in 2026 to say the technology had improved their working experience than they were in 2025.
Almost 60% said AI has improved their job satisfaction; 68% said AI has decreased tedious, disengaging work; 65% said they feel more confident in the quality of their work; and 63% said they feel more capable of taking on complex work. All of these percentages increased from 2025.
The number of legal professionals using AI who reported lower stress, better work-life balance, and improved professional development or advancement opportunities also increased in 2026.
How are law firms benefiting from AI?
Firms are also reporting increased benefits from AI in 2026 compared to 2025. Of the legal professionals surveyed whose firms use AI, 73% say it has improved the quality or value of the work, 65% say it has helped the firm respond to clients faster or more proactively, and 61% say it has let the firm take on a higher volume of work.
AI has contributed to firms’ revenue opportunities as well. Fifty-one percent say AI has shortened the time between finishing work and sending the invoice, 44% say it has sped the conversion of inquiries into clients, and 45% say it has lowered operating costs.
The report found that AI may also influence retention and even hiring. Half of legal professionals using AI say it has positively contributed to their desire to remain at their firm, up from 36% in 2025.
And most survey respondents said their firm has not had AI-related headcount changes in any lawyer or non-lawyer role. When firms do report a change, they are more likely to add positions.
How are consumers using AI for legal issues?
Among 1,000 consumer survey respondents, 462 indicated they would turn to AI first for their legal issues. Common uses included better understanding their legal issue (80%), researching their options (73%), and determining whether they need a lawyer (65%).
Respondents also said they are using AI to prepare questions for lawyers and to find a lawyer, though internet search, referrals, and firm websites remain more common methods of finding a lawyer.
Among consumers who said they have already used AI for a legal question (241 respondents), 64% say AI answered their concern and 32% say it helped them decide the issue was not worth pursuing.
Consumers are mixed on the value AI is providing lawyers but expect it to lower the price of services. Just 6% said that firms’ use of modern tools or AI is a deciding factor in hiring a lawyer.
Among people who recently hired a lawyer, 38% are comfortable with their lawyer using AI, 37% are uncomfortable, and 25% are neutral. Levels of consumer comfort vary depending on how AI is used and the stakes of the matter. For example, 58% of consumers surveyed said they are comfortable with lawyers using AI to summarize documents, while just 26% said they are comfortable with lawyers using AI to make decisions about a case. However, when lawyers use AI, the vast majority of consumers (82%) want to know about it, and 70% said they have more trust in a lawyer who is open about it.
When it comes to cost and value, 47% of consumers said AI reduces the value of legal services. And when AI makes the work faster, more accurate, or more thorough, consumers say the services should cost less.
Consumers also voiced concerns about lawyers’ use of AI, including relying on AI instead of professional judgment, providing inaccurate advice, not reviewing AI-assisted work, and breaches of confidentiality.
What is next for AI in the legal profession?
Clio’s Legal Trends Report points to a profession in which technology is becoming a more prominent part of legal work, but not a substitute for the qualities clients expect from their lawyers.
Both legal professionals and consumers agreed on skills that will be the most valuable for lawyers over the next two years. These include judgment, human-centered skills, specialized expertise, and the ability to review AI-assisted work.
The challenge for legal professionals will be to use AI to improve efficiency and service while maintaining the discernment, accountability, and human relationships at the heart of legal practice.
Read more about the Clio Legal Trends report on the Clio website.
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