GenAI in Law:
Unlocking New Revenues

The explosion in Generative AI (GenAI) technology is changing the way lawyers work, streamlining and automating processes such as research and drafting. For law firm leaders that open their minds to progress, it also has the potential to create new revenue streams for law firms and drive practice growth. 

More than half of senior lawyers at Am Law 200 firms (54%) believe GenAI can help them expand into new business areas or take advantage of new billable opportunities, according to the 2024 LexisNexis Investing in Legal Innovation Survey. By freeing up lawyer capacity, firms will be able to offer more services to existing clients or more easily absorb new clients, boosting profitability. 

This report explores how firms can use GenAI tools to innovate and provide new services for clients—and even help improve margins in practice areas that have been less profitable. It also highlights the challenges firms must navigate and the AI skills and expertise they will need to succeed in this fast-evolving field.

Finding new business opportunities may become easier with GenAI. Not only can GenAI unlock efficiency gains that enable lawyers to focus on higher-value work, it can also help them expand into new practice areas. There is a degree of urgency too. With some law firms already implementing GenAI initiatives and AI innovation happening at breakneck pace, firms that move too slowly could get left behind.

While there are trust issues to work through—see the first report in this series, downloadable here—the vast majority of lawyers are optimistic about the potential for GenAI in the legal profession. As many as 77% of senior lawyers at Am Law 200 firms believe GenAI will enable them to offer new value-added services to clients, with 54% say