LegalTech Digest: 69% of Legal Professionals Use AI — Mid-Sized Firms Lead on Governance, 60% Have Formal Policies and 39% Report Direct Revenue Improvements

A LegalTech Digest survey published July 16 establishes the clearest mid-sized firm adoption baseline available: 69% of legal professionals now use general-purpose AI tools for work-related tasks (doubling from 31% in 2025), yet only 26% of legal organizations have meaningfully integrated generative AI into workflows, and only 9% of law firms have a written, actively enforced AI use policy. Mid-sized firms are the outlier in that picture — 60% have formal AI policies (versus the 9% industry average for actively enforced policies), 38% actively encourage AI use among their teams, and 39% attribute direct revenue improvements to AI implementation (Clio). Additionally, 65% of mid-sized firms report managing higher volumes of work, with 44% noting improved client satisfaction. The governance gap for the sector as a whole is acute: 54% of law firms have provided no training on responsible AI use and have no plans to introduce programs (ABA Law Technology Today), and 46% cite data security as a top barrier while 39% cite lack of trust in AI outputs. For managing partners and innovation leads at mid-sized firms, the survey data positions mid-sized firms as the sector's governance leaders — but the gap between having a formal policy (60%) and having actively enforced policies with training and audit logging (9% industry-wide) suggests that many mid-sized firm AI policies exist as documents rather than operating programs. The firms converting policy into practiced governance are the ones that can answer client AI questionnaires, respond to malpractice carrier inquiries, and demonstrate defensible AI use when a court or client asks.