Thomson Reuters has published its 2025 Generative AI in Professional Services Report, which indicates a significant increase in optimism and adoption regarding generative artificial intelligence among legal professionals. The findings show that adoption rates have nearly doubled in the past year, alongside a growing consensus that the technology should be formally incorporated into legal practice.
Surging Adoption and Future Expectations
According to the report, 26% of legal organizations are now actively utilizing generative AI, a notable rise from 14% reported in 2024. While only 15% of law firm respondents currently consider generative AI central to their workflow, a substantial 78% anticipate it will become central within the next five years. This highlights a strong expectation for future widespread integration.
These figures align with or exceed recent findings from other industry reports:
- The American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Survey Report found that approximately 21% of law firms were using legal specific generative AI tools.
- The 2025 Legal Industry Report from AffiniPay noted that individual use of generative AI at law firms reached 31%, although organizational adoption was slightly lower at 21%.
- The 2025 State of Law Report from Smokeball observed that AI adoption among small and solo firms increased from 27% in 2023 to 53% in 2024.
The Thomson Reuters report suggests that the change has been more evolutionary than revolutionary for professional services. “GenAI has not broken the ways professionals work or significantly disrupted the interactions between firms and their clients. Instead, for professional services, it has been more of an evolution,” the document states.
Shift in Sentiment and Primary Use Cases
Law firm sentiment toward generative AI has shifted significantly over the past year. In 2024, hesitancy was the dominant reaction at 35%. However, in 2025, excitement (27%) and hopefulness (28%) have become the prevailing attitudes, with hesitancy dropping to 24%.
The top use cases identified by legal professionals remain consistent: document review (77%), legal research (74%), and document summarization (74%). Nearly 70% of law firm respondents who utilize generative AI report doing so at least weekly.
Raghu Ramanathan, president of legal professionals at Thomson Reuters, commented on the rapid change: “It is incredible how quickly legal professionals have moved from skepticism to strategic adoption of gen AI, and we are seeing it firsthand through use of our AI solutions. The legal sector is embracing gen AI not as a threat but as an ally, and this isn’t about replacing legal expertise—it’s about enhancing it.”
Gaps in Strategic Implementation
Despite the increased adoption, the report identified several crucial gaps in how legal organizations are implementing generative AI:
- Only 41% of law firms have established specific or broad technology policies governing generative AI use.
- Just 40% provide any form of generative AI training to their staff.
- Merely 20% of organizations are actively measuring the return on investment for generative AI tools.
- A significant 71% of corporate legal clients are unaware whether their outside law firms are utilizing generative AI.
The report also raises concerns about preparing the future workforce. “If 95% of professionals believe GenAI will be central to their organizations’ workflow within the next five years, presumably, new hires today should be present and engaged when GenAI comes to the fore,” the report notes. However, it indicates that a large proportion of organizations are not targeting applicants with these essential skills.
To fully realize the potential of generative AI, legal organizations must transition beyond initial adoption toward strategic implementation. This includes establishing governance frameworks, measuring outcomes, and initiating explicit discussions with clients about the use of generative AI.
The Thomson Reuters Institute survey data was collected in January and February 2025 and included 1,702 respondents across multiple sectors, with legal professionals making up 41% of the total.
