As Generative AI (GenAI) gains traction across various industries, a recent survey conducted by Consilio, a global leader in legal technology solutions and enterprise legal services, sheds light on the attitudes and challenges faced by corporate law departments and law firms regarding its adoption.
According to the survey findings, a significant majority (63%) of legal professionals expressed a demand for increased human expertise before embracing GenAI technology. Key concerns cited include a lack of experience in leveraging GenAI within legal teams (36%), scarcity of the right tech talent to support implementation (27%), and apprehension about the technology's accuracy, with potential for AI hallucinations (34%).
Moreover, data security emerged as a paramount concern, with 58% of respondents highlighting it as a primary hesitation. There were also apprehensions about risking company intellectual property (30%) by utilizing GenAI. Additionally, 20% of legal professionals are awaiting wider industry adoption before considering the technology.
Raj Chandrasekar, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Consilio, emphasized the importance of data security and control in responsibly deploying GenAI in corporate settings, underscoring that without these safeguards, the reliability of results is compromised.
In response to these challenges, the survey identified various strategies adopted by legal professionals. Notably, 28% are currently engaged in educating their legal teams and broader business on GenAI's efficacy and benefits. Another 24% are strategizing and garnering consensus on GenAI deployment across the enterprise, while 33% are focused on exploring potential use cases with no definitive path forward yet.
Furthermore, the survey highlighted several use cases where corporate law departments and law firms are interested in leveraging GenAI, including gaining insights from data (54%), reviewing documents more efficiently (49%), leveraging existing work products for greater efficiency (49%), and identifying data more efficiently (44%). Additionally, managing sensitive workflows (32%) and contracts (30%) were identified as potential applications.
While legal professionals recognize the potential benefits of GenAI, their cautious approach underscores the importance of addressing key challenges, particularly around expertise, data security, and strategic deployment, to unlock its full potential in the legal domain.
