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Lawyers using AI to boost billable hours, report finds

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By Legal Cheek on

12

Prioritising additional chargeable work over potential work–life balance benefits


Lawyers are increasingly using AI tools to drive up billable hours, with more than half admitting they spend the time saved by automation on extra chargeable work.

The findings come from a new report by LexisNexis, The AI Culture Clash, which shows 61% of lawyers now use AI in their day-to-day work, up from 46% in January 2025.

Most lawyers (56%) said they used the time saved with AI to increase billable work, while nearly as many (53%) used it to improve their work-life balance.

Associates across firms of all sizes are prioritising billable work over wellbeing, with larger firms in particular focusing on the commercial gains AI can deliver.

“Lawyers are proving that AI delivers clear commercial returns,” said Stuart Greenhill, senior director of segment management at LexisNexis UK. “They’re using it to increase billable hours, rethink pricing models, and deliver more value to clients. Firms that treat AI as a strategic investment, not just an efficiency tool, will gain a decisive edge in profitability and client satisfaction.”

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Despite the surge in usage, the report highlights a cultural lag. Only 17% of lawyers said AI is fully embedded in their firm’s strategy and operations, while two-thirds reported their organisation’s AI culture is slow or non-existent.

Confidence is highest among those using tools designed specifically for the legal sector, with 88% of users reporting greater trust in outputs grounded in verified legal sources. This follows several high-profile incidents where lawyers used general AI tools, only to discover that the tools had fabricated cases, which were then inadvertently included in legal submissions.

The research also warned of a potential talent risk for firms that fall behind. Nearly one in five lawyers said they would consider leaving their organisation if it failed to adequately invest in AI — a figure that jumps to 26% at large firms.

Almost half of lawyers (47%) now expect AI to transform billing models, up from 40% earlier this year, with law firm leaders and general counsel among the most attuned to the shift.

12 Comments

name

If you were previously billing for work on an hourly basis, and AI has reduced the number of hours needed to complete the work on a matter, then AI will reduce the amount you can bill on that matter. If you then use the hours freed up to bill on another matter, the amount you are billing is the same as previously because you’re still working the same number of hours. If anything it’s slightly less lucrative because you need to handle more admin over multiple smaller matters, rather than simply starting your timers on a single matter and billing 12 hours on grunt work (like doc review) each day. AI increasing billables therefore doesn’t really make sense. What am I missing?

Also, it’s not a surprise that the Lexis has put at the bottom of the article a form to get a quote for Lexis+ AI.

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(30)(0)

Too much admin

I used to do 7 chargeable hours a day and 3 non-chargeable hours a day. If I use AI to get my 3 hours non-chargeable work done in 30 minutes, I might spent some of the extra 2 and a half hours billing…

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(10)(1)

No block billing

How does that make any sense when legal AI is primarily designed to assist with chargeable tasks? @name is correct, it makes you able to get more tasks done but you’d still be billing the same hours only with more admin in between that your fancy doc review AI can’t help you with.

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(0)(0)

Sarah

Do you think clients bills have gone down?

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(1)(0)

Jack

I’ve never ever seen anything that results in lawyers reducing their fees

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(10)(2)

KF HO

how about competition?

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(3)(0)

DW

I think AI has the potential to enhance recovery rates, improve work/life balance, mitigate risk, remove inefficiency, and focus lawyer time on the work that needs innovation and judgement.

I agree with “name @ 10:44 am’ that it is hard to see how AI can increase chargeable output, absent misrepresentation.

There is an opportunity for solicitors to take on more work that would otherwise have been outsourced to Counsel; legal research has never been more accessible.

The next wave will be interesting; law firms building AI into their operating model rather than dabbling around the edges.

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(4)(2)

Dick-ens

Sometimes I just like to let the AI do its magik while I go to the meeting rooms upstairs and sling some web.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

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(6)(0)

Lay person

Much of the non reserved legal work of Tribunal SEND appeals and Ombudsman complaints can be done without representation using AI and programs like NotebookLM. One still has to research case law and verify it outside of AI, but I’ve managed to have Tribunal decisions set aside on multiple points of law using AI.

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(1)(0)

dayusmc

The only possible way to increase billable hours with AI is to lie. Let’s face it, no one is using legal AI to do non billable work to increase free time to do billable hours work. They are simply using AI to do the work, and billing for the amount of hours it would have taken them to it without AI. It is simply double and triple billing their time.
There are only so many billable hours a person can work in a day, you cannot increase that with AI. AI is being marketed for actual legal billable hour work, not admin work. If a firm uses AI to do their billable hour work (as it is being marketed for), then if that firm is honest, how could they actually make more money?

Example:
(Actual attorney doing legal work)
Monday – Matter 1, Legal research 3 billable hours, write brief 6 billable hours, admin work 1 hour. Total 9 billable hours in a 10 hour day.

(AI doing legal work)
Monday – Matter 1, AI Legal research .2 billable hours, AI write brief .2 billable hours, attorney review and correct brief 2.6 billable hours.
Matter 2 AI Legal research .2 billable hours, AI write brief .2 billable hours, attorney review and correct brief 2.6 billable hours.
Matter 3 AI Legal research .2 billable hours, AI write brief .2 billable hours, attorney review and correct brief 2.6 billable hours. Attorney doing 1 hour admin work. Total 9 billable hours in a 10 hour day.

There is no one to increase billable hours without lying to the client.
Using AI for “admin work”? Do you need legal AI for admin work?
So the only thing I see with AI is you need more cases. Now if your firm is turning away cases because they don’t have the hours in a day to do them, maybe AI can help them service more clients – BUT the amount of billable hours is the same, unless they lie.
Where Legal AI may increase profits is if the firm works on contingent fees….

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(1)(0)

Matt

AI will drive down law firm margins over time. Not the other way around.

Sophisticated clients will know this.

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(0)(0)

Nigel

The efficiency of AI can only be truly realised if lawyers move away from the billable hour and transition to fixed fees. AI can be used to help break down the work likely to be involved in a brief and make estimates. This will provide clarity and certainty for clients and allow firms leveraging AI to both undercut firms operating a traditional time and materials model and ALSO increase profits.

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(0)(0)

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