Remember why you went into law? It probably wasn’t to spend your Tuesday nights reviewing standard vendor agreements or your weekends summarizing case law. Maybe you pictured yourself in a boardroom helping navigate a critical merger, or crafting the legal framework for a groundbreaking new product, or building the case that would set an important precedent.
Somewhere along the way, the profession buried that vision under mountains of administrative tasks, routine document reviews, and repetitive work that felt more like data entry than practicing law. But our 2025 State of AI in Legal Report, based on a survey of 800 legal professionals, reveals something encouraging: AI is helping lawyers rediscover their original calling.
The work is becoming meaningful again
Before diving into the data, let’s pause to imagine what the implications of the rediscovery might look like. When you’re not staying late every night to wade through routine contract language, you can actually have dinner with your family. When AI handles the repetitive research, you have mental bandwidth left for creative problem-solving. When administrative tasks stop consuming your weekends, you might even remember what you used to do for fun.
These potential results are more than compelling. Lawyers who get to focus on intellectually engaging work are more satisfied with their careers. They see their role as strategic rather than reactive. And they deliver the kind of counsel that makes legal indispensable to business success.
The numbers tell the story
So what did survey respondents actually say? Nearly half of legal professionals (48%) now use AI specifically to handle mundane tasks. Contract review—identified by 28% of respondents as their most impactful AI use case—exemplifies this shift: what once required hours of parsing standard language now happens in minutes.
We see the shift out in the wild as well. At Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, contract creation that “used to take two weeks to just get that initial draft” now happens in seven seconds using Ironclad’s AI-powered contract management capabilities. Legal teams are consolidating dozens of different static templates into just a few by building in conditional logic, eliminating the complexity that made accuracy nearly impossible.
The time savings are substantial. We saw a 16% increase overall in people reporting significant time benefits from AI, with corporate legal teams experiencing a 22% jump. But the real value comes from what those hours offer: freedom to engage with the work that energizes them.
As Gabriella Hoffmann, Legal Counsel at Gong, puts it: “[Using AI] makes me better at my job. I get to focus on complex issues because AI has replaced a lot of the mundane repeatable tasks.”
Strategic thinking makes a comeback
Hoffman isn’t alone. 57% of legal professionals report being more strategic with their work when using AI—a 19% jump from last year, with in-house teams seeing an even larger 21% increase.
What does “more strategic” look like, though? Having time to think proactively about legal risks instead of just responding to crises. Contributing to business decisions rather than reviewing them after the fact. Engaging with the intellectual challenges that made you want to practice law.
At Alnylam, the transformation has been so significant that previously strained relationships with business partners have completely turned around. Elliot Mandell, who heads up legal operations there, went from tense interactions with demanding stakeholders to being invited to present at town halls.
“It fixes the relationship,” Mandell explains. “They see you’re taking steps that put you in a better position to meet their needs.”
Quality improves with speed
When lawyers aren’t rushing through document reviews or scrambling to meet deadlines on routine tasks, they can invest more thoughtfully in the work that matters. 60% of respondents report improved work quality alongside speed improvements. The same percentage say AI helps them conduct better, more thorough research.
Legal professionals report that AI handles the initial phases of complicated reviews, providing enormous time savings while starting complex analysis from a more informed position. This allows lawyers to focus on the nuanced judgment that actually requires human expertise.
The result is work that feels more like what you imagined legal practice would be: thoughtful, strategic, intellectually engaging.
The human advantage grows
As AI handles routine work, the uniquely human skills that make great lawyers—curiosity, judgment, creative thinking—become more valuable, not less. Lawyers who learn to work alongside AI are positioning themselves as strategic business partners rather than cost centers.
The data backs this up. 96% agree that AI has helped them achieve their business objectives more easily. These aren’t just productivity metrics—they’re indicators of a profession rediscovering its core value.
The window is closing
We’re at a turning point. Legal professionals experimenting with AI today are rediscovering what made them want to practice law in the first place. But this window won’t stay open forever. As AI becomes standard, the advantage goes to lawyers who learn to work alongside these tools effectively.
93% of legal professionals surveyed say AI has improved how they work. The transformation is already underway—the question is whether you’ll be part of it.
To learn more about how AI is helping legal professionals get back to the good stuff, download the 2025 State of AI in Legal Report today.
Ironclad is not a law firm, and this post does not constitute or contain legal advice. To evaluate the accuracy, sufficiency, or reliability of the ideas and guidance reflected here, or the applicability of these materials to your business, you should consult with a licensed attorney. Use of and access to any of the resources contained within Ironclad’s site do not create an attorney-client relationship between the user and Ironclad.
