At the heart of the legal profession's transformation lies artificial intelligence (AI). As generative AI joins lawyers' routine work—which has previously been characterized by passive research and complex document review—the legal landscape is rapidly changing. LexisNexis is a prime example of an early adopter of AI integration, and its AI solutions, based on billions of documents and data, are considered to be reshaping the entire landscape of legal practice.
Lexis+ began integrating generative AI and agent-based AI into its platform several years ago. The company's core platform, "Lexis+ AI," connects over 138 billion judicial precedents and records with its AI assistant, "Protégé," enabling it to perform not only document summarization but also complex question-and-answer sessions, drafting, and litigation analysis. According to a recent Forrester Research survey, five major law firms that adopted the platform achieved an average return on investment of 344% within three years and recouped their initial investment in less than half the time.
Within law firms, increased productivity at all levels of the legal profession has been validated. Junior lawyers have saved up to 35% of previously non-billed work time, while intermediate and senior lawyers have saved more than 2.5 hours per week on draft legal work. Legal researchers have also gained an average of more than 225 hours of disposable time per year.
This shift transcends simply introducing IT tools; it signifies a fundamental transformation in how legal information is handled. Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO of LexisNexis North America and the UK, stated, "When the company started, half of our sales came from print media, but now our information, analytics, decision-making tools, and entire workflow have been transformed into an AI-centric digital ecosystem."
This achievement is thanks to the company's long-term refinement of its own content based on metadata. Protégé is not just a simple chatbot; it categorizes user questions and connects them to models suitable for drafting documents, models suitable for summarizing, and so on. Furthermore, all outputs are always credited to their original sources, a feature that ensures its credibility even in environments requiring legal verification.
Cases of AI exceeding expectations in the legal field are emerging one after another. Even when lawyers are generating questions for witness interrogations, AI plays a tireless supporting role. This allows lawyers to free themselves from the simple task of drafting questions and focus their time on strategy development. Fitzpatrick's CEO expressed surprise: "To be honest, its effectiveness in stimulating creative thinking has exceeded expectations."
However, along with the anticipation, caution also exists. The quintessential problem of generative AI—the "illusion"—remains a factor that the legal field needs to handle with care. This is why LexisNexis has focused on building models specifically for the legal profession, rather than developing general-purpose chatbots. Thanks to this strategy, clients can embrace a gradual transition by automating only parts of their processes while maintaining their existing workflows.
However, new technologies are indeed impacting the legal profession's traditional "apprenticeship model." Fitzpatrick points out, "We've now entered an era where AI can perform the work of lawyers with one to three years of experience. In this environment, how to maintain the apprenticeship system remains a question without a sufficient answer."
Nevertheless, he emphasized that law firms that boldly embraced the introduction of AI actually reaped the greatest benefits. He explained that while some firms are still observing, most have recognized the necessity of using AI and taken the first steps. Technology has crossed the threshold of the legal profession; now the key is how quickly we can adapt to it.
