March 10, 2026, 10:43 am CDT
The adoption of artificial intelligence is expected not only to reduce billable hours but to increase the amount of legal work that is allocated to alternative legal services providers, according to Wolters Kluwer’s 2026 Future Ready Lawyer Survey Report.
The report, which was published Tuesday, found that 62% of legal professionals think that efficiencies driven by AI tools will reduce billable hours.
According to Law.com, which has coverage, 62% of legal professionals say their use of AI tools has already resulted in weekly time savings of up to 20%. More than half of legal professionals also say they have seen revenue increases while using AI.
The billable hour model is not likely to disappear any time soon, but the Wolters Kluwer report identifies other potential changes in legal services delivery, according to Law.com. More than half of legal professionals expect more routine work—such as legal research and analysis, document automation and contract drafting and review—to go to alternative legal services providers.
“The ALSPs are all about efficiency,” Dean Sonderegger, the senior vice president and general manager of enterprise legal management solutions for Wolters Kluwer’s legal and regulatory business, told Law.com. “They’re tailor-made from the way they’re built to be able to [adopt new technology quickly] and to compete.”
Wolters Kluwer surveyed 810 legal professionals who are employed by law firms and corporate legal departments worldwide for its report.