September 15, 2025

 Erica White

Consulting best practices legal operations law department artificial intelligence

AI is quickly saturating the legal industry today via conference presentations and exhibit halls, within new and existing tech platforms, and in online communities and forums. AI is impacting the way legal teams work in areas ranging from litigation to contracting to legal project management. For many in legal operations, the feeling of AI-FOMO is real, as is the desire to remain personally relevant and to ensure the legal department is on a journey of continuous improvement and modernisation.

When it comes to AI, legal ops professionals are juggling competing demands such as:

• Organisational mandates to incorporate AI, but limited or no AI-specific budget for legal
• A desire to tap into the promise of AI efficiency, but an acute awareness of compliance and confidentiality concerns
• An industry-wide interest in AI, but heavy change resistance internally

Navigating these demands requires a thoughtful approach – one that balances innovation with practicality. Legal operations professionals can approach AI assessment and implementation with clarity and intention, guided by a practical framework that adapts to their department’s unique needs.

A Flexible Framework for Getting Started

1. Align with Organisational and Departmental Goals: Understand your company’s broader AI objectives and compare them against the legal department’s strategic plan and tech roadmap.
2. Assess Budget and Resources: Evaluate available funding and staffing capacity to support AI initiatives.
3. Identify High-Impact Use Cases: Document potential AI applications such as contract review, matter intake, or spend analysis, that align with legal priorities.
4. Explore the Market: Research AI tools, focusing on legal-specific solutions and ensuring they meet regulatory compliance requirements.
5. Pilot Thoughtfully: Launch a small-scale pilot with clear KPIs and success metrics, monitor performance and gather feedback.
6. Evaluate and Build the Case: Assess ROI, budget impact, and alignment with your tech roadmap. If indicated, use pilot feedback and your assessments to build a business case and secure approval.
7. Plan for Change: Develop a change management strategy, assemble a cross-functional project team, and oversee implementation.
8. Monitor and Iterate: Continuously track performance, adapt as needed and share learnings to drive ongoing improvement.

Key Considerations Before You Dive In

Before moving forward with any AI initiative, legal operations teams should pause to consider the practical realities and risks that come with AI technology.

• AI is a Tool, Not a Replacement: AI can enhance efficiency, but it should never replace human judgment – especially in legal work where nuance and context matter.
• Prompt Quality Matters: The way you write prompts for generative AI tools can dramatically affect the quality and relevance of the output. Precision, clarity, and specificity are essential.
• Bias and Accuracy Risks: AI tools can reflect biases in their training data and may produce inaccurate or misleading results. Always validate outputs before relying on them.
• Supplement, Don’t Substitute: AI should support your work, not become the sole solution. It can miss details or misinterpret context, especially in complex legal scenarios.
• Data Governance and Confidentiality: Understand your organisation’s policies on data usage. Know whether the AI tool trains on your data and how it handles sensitive information.
• Nuance and Domain-Specific Gaps: Some AI tools may struggle with the intricacies of legal language, your specific practice area, or internal processes. Human oversight remains critical.
• System Integration and Scalability: Before investing in an AI tool, consider how it will integrate with your existing systems and whether it can scale with your department’s needs.

Looking Ahead

AI is already reshaping the legal industry, and legal operations professionals are at the forefront of this transformation. By approaching AI adoption with strategic intent, practical planning, and a clear understanding of its limitations, legal ops can help their departments modernise responsibly. The goal isn’t to chase trends – it’s to build sustainable, scalable solutions that enhance legal service delivery while preserving trust and accuracy.