NALP: 48% of Early-Career Lawyers Use AI Daily — Most Without Law School Training
A NALP Foundation survey of 1,302 graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, published July 7, found that 48% of early-career lawyers now consider AI an essential part of their daily work, using it primarily for legal research (57%), compiling and synthesizing information (55%), and drafting documents (40%). Critically, 96% of this cohort — the class of 2022 — graduated before ChatGPT debuted, meani
BY FRONTIER DESK · JULY 8, 2026 · 1 MIN READ
A NALP Foundation survey of 1,302 graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, published July 7, found that 48% of early-career lawyers now consider AI an essential part of their daily work, using it primarily for legal research (57%), compiling and synthesizing information (55%), and drafting documents (40%). Critically, 96% of this cohort — the class of 2022 — graduated before ChatGPT debuted, meaning they entered practice with no AI training from their legal education and acquired their AI skills on the job. For law firm training directors and supervising partners, the data creates a specific risk profile: a large cohort of daily AI users whose habits were formed outside any structured curriculum, supervision framework, or citation-verification protocol. The NALP Foundation president noted adoption is expected to continue climbing — which means the supervision gap between actual daily use and formal AI policy is widening, not narrowing, at most firms.