UK law firms are adopting artificial intelligence (AI) at higher rates than their international counterparts, according to the Profitability in Law: Global Report 2026, which surveyed 700 legal professionals across six countries.
The report indicates that 31% of UK legal professionals use AI tools daily or as a core part of their work, a higher rate than in Australia and New Zealand. An additional 31% use these tools regularly, meaning a total of 62% of UK respondents are regular users of integrated AI, suggesting a shift from pilot use to broader implementation.
This level of usage is associated with reported time savings. Around 79% of legal professionals in the UK and Ireland report that AI saves their firm a moderate to significant amount of time, above the global average. A smaller proportion of UK respondents report that AI is not in use at their firm compared to other regions.
AI is primarily used for document-related tasks such as document review and analysis, with additional use cases including drafting and legal research. UK respondents also report higher use of AI for meeting summaries and note-taking compared to other regions.
Training appears to be a factor in AI adoption. Two-thirds of UK respondents (67%) rate their firm’s training and expertise as good or excellent, which is higher than reported in other regions.
The report also finds that only a small proportion of UK respondents believe their firm’s profitability potential has declined over the past year, while a majority report improvements. UK firms also report higher adoption of workflow and case management tools compared to global peers.
Globally, the findings are more varied. While most legal professionals see potential for improved profitability, adoption of workflow automation remains limited. Manual administrative work continues to be reported as a significant factor affecting efficiency, with AI adoption contributing to changes in how such tasks are managed in some UK firms.
