Measuring Success in GenAI Adoption: Legal Departments at the Crossroads

On the wild ride that is currently the rollercoaster of legal tech, enterprise-level legal leaders find themselves navigating a complex balance between pressure to innovate and practical implementation challenges. Our recent survey of deputy general counsel (DGCs) reveals interesting—yet alarming—insights into how legal departments are approaching legal GenAI adoption, training, and success measurement.

The Pressure to Innovate vs. Real-World Barriers

While pressure to digitize mounts—with 88% of legal professionals feeling compelled to adopt new tools – the landscape remains fraught with challenges. This pressure creates a challenging dynamic as legal departments face significant implementation hurdles. 

Compliance and regulatory risks top the list of concerns with almost half of all legal leaders (42%) expressing concern, followed closely by questions about business case justification (40%) and the irreplaceability of human judgment (40%). The human element remains a crucial factor, with 39% of departments also reporting they’ve experienced staff resistance to adoption of new technology. These staff and infrastructure limitations indicate that successful implementation requires technological solutions tightly coupled with change management strategies. 

Training: A Critical Gap in GenAI Implementation

The survey reveals a troubling paradox in AI training for legal work. While nearly all legal departments (98%) provide some form of legal AI training, less than half (43%) believe their training effectively prepares teams for legal work. This gap between training provision and effectiveness suggests a need for more targeted, specialized approaches to GenAI education in legal contexts. 

Regional differences add another layer of complexity to this picture, with U.K. legal departments showing a stronger tendency toward in-house training (68%) compared to their U.S. counterparts (48%). This disparity might reflect different approaches to technology adoption and training across legal cultures.

AI Risk Awareness and Mitigation

Research shows widespread acceptance of AI in legal departments, with 94% of Deputy General Counsel seeing benefits outweighing risks. Yet leaders remain clear-eyed about challenges—cybersecurity (44%) and data privacy (43%) top their concerns, followed by intellectual property issues (40%) and workforce impact (38%). This balanced view suggests legal teams are taking a mature approach, recognizing both AI's transformative potential and its current limitations.

Want to Know if Your Legal AI is Working? Here's What Legal Teams Are Tracking

When it comes to measuring AI success, legal departments aren't just watching the bottom line. While 47% track efficiency and cost savings, the story runs deeper. Quality metrics matter too—especially in the U.K., where 52% of teams prioritize work quality versus 29% in the U.S. Meanwhile, U.S. legal departments keep a closer eye on business impact (39% vs 29% in the U.K.).

The Future of Legal AI: Measured Steps, Long-Term Vision

Legal teams are charting a strategic path forward with AI – one that prioritizes strong foundations over quick wins. This year’s DGC survey suggests legal teams’ success hinges on building robust AI risk management and training programs before scaling implementation.

For legal departments considering or expanding their legal AI initiatives, the research suggests that success focusing on creating frameworks that manage risks, deliver effective training, and track diverse success metrics. This thoughtful approach, backed by widespread optimism, points to AI becoming a core, well-integrated part of legal operations.

*Axiom commissioned Wakefield Research, a leading global market research organization, to survey 200 in-house deputy general counsel across the United States and United Kingdom.