Lawyer preference for AI grounded in legal sources rises to 81%

LONDON, Sept. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

• Four in five lawyers (81%) say they feel more comfortable using AI when it is grounded on legal sources, up from 70% this time last year
• Hallucinations are the top concern, while 77% believe AI is causing clients or the public to misinterpret the law
• 94% of lawyers now use AI for legal work, with 74% using it at least once a week

LexisNexis® Legal & Professional, a global leader in information, analytics and AI-powered legal workflow solutions, has published new research showing that lawyers are placing growing importance on AI that is grounded in trusted legal sources.

The 2026 survey of 543 legal professionals found that 81% feel more comfortable using AI when it is grounded in legal sources, up from 72% in January 2026 and 70% this time last year.

At the same time, concerns are growing about AI contributing to misinterpretation of the law. More than three-quarters of respondents (77%) believe AI is causing clients or the public to misinterpret the law.

Accuracy remains the profession’s biggest concern. 83% of respondents worry about lawyers relying on inaccurate or fabricated information, significantly ahead of concerns about confidential-data leakage (53%) and becoming too reliant on AI (52%).

AI use is now firmly mainstream. 94% of lawyers use AI for legal work, with 74% using it at least once a week and 34% using it every day. One in ten (10%) say they are now dependent on AI to do their job.

Legal research remains the leading use case, with 69% currently using AI for this work, followed by document summarisation at 62%, while drafting and document review are both at 53%.

The proportion of organisations with AI embedded in strategy and operations has risen sharply, from 17% in January 2026 to 29% today.

The findings also suggested that these AI strategies could have an impact on talent retention. 46% of lawyers say their career would be negatively affected if their organisation failed to fully embrace AI, up from 28% this time last year. Meanwhile, 22% say they would consider leaving an organisation that failed to embrace AI, up from 16% a year ago.

The survey also highlighted shifting expectations around the commercial impact of AI. 55% of lawyers now believe law firms will change how they bill because of AI, compared with 40% in January 2025.

The report’s editor, Dylan Brown of LexisNexis, says:

“The findings point to a legal profession that is becoming more comfortable with AI, but more demanding about the trust, accuracy and authority behind it. As adoption accelerates, lawyers increasingly want AI tools that support rather than replace professional judgement.”

About LexisNexis® Legal & Professional
LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides AI-powered legal, regulatory, business information, analytics, and workflows that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,900 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.

Note for editors: You can view the report here: https://www.lexisnexis.co.uk/insights/the-ai-dependent-lawyer/index.html

Name: Laura Halls
Email: Laura.Halls@LexisNexis.co.uk
Job Title: Brand Marketing & Social Media Manager