Nearly Half of Legal Departments Tie AI Adoption to Business Outcomes

47% of corporate legal departments now adopt AI across the board, linking it to business objectives.

Corporate legal departments are rapidly moving beyond experimenting with AI, opting for strategies that directly support overall business objectives. According to the 2026 State of the Corporate Law Department Report from Thomson Reuters, 47% of legal departments have now adopted AI tools on a department-wide basis, a significant uptick that reflects AI’s growing role in legal workflows.

• Technology, particularly AI, is now seen as a top strategic priority by 28% of general counsels—a figure that has doubled from the previous year, signaling a shift from tactical to transformative intent.
• The Association of Corporate Counsel backs up this trend, reporting that over half (52%) of in-house counsel now use generative AI, compared to just 23% in 2024.
• Meanwhile, professional services at large are also embracing AI, with organization-wide usage nearly doubling to 40% in 2026, according to another Thomson Reuters report.

Despite this surge, few legal teams rigorously track AI’s business value—just 18% monitor AI ROI, and even fewer evaluate its impact on broader organizational outcomes. This lack of measurement could hinder effective long-term adoption.

There’s also a sharp disconnect between how legal teams and C-level leaders view these contributions: 86% of general counsels believe their function is central to business success, while only 17% of executives share that view. As Laura Clayton McDonnell, President of Corporates at Thomson Reuters, puts it: “AI is inevitable, and adoption will not be optional.”

The challenge now is not adopting AI, but ensuring it drives clear, measurable results that resonate beyond the legal department.

Yes, but: A wide gap persists between legal departments and C-suite executives over the perceived impact of legal’s AI investments.