Victorian Lawyers Increase AI Use, Few Reduce Client Fees Despite Efficiency Gains

Increased AI Adoption Among Lawyers

A recent census of 2,221 Victorian lawyers by the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner's legal services research centre revealed a significant rise in AI adoption. The percentage of lawyers using AI in their practice increased from 37% to 55% over the past year. While AI use was previously concentrated among younger lawyers, this disparity has largely disappeared, though usage remains low for those aged 60 and over.

Prevalence of Consumer AI Tools

The study found that 79% of lawyers using AI reported utilizing consumer chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot. In contrast, only 22% of respondents used legal-specific AI tools. AI use was most common in trade practices (85%), banking and finance (78%), and information technology and telecommunications (78%), with lower adoption in criminal law (29%) and family law (45%).

Limited Impact on Client Fees

Despite the increased use of AI, only 26% of lawyers indicated that their AI usage resulted in lower client fees. Fee reductions were more common for business clients (34%) compared to individual fee-paying clients (23%). Some lawyers (18%) noted that AI enabled them to undertake work that was previously uneconomical.

Challenges and Verification Efforts

The principal researcher, Dr. Georgie Rychner, suggested that efficiency gains from AI might not be as high as expected. This could be partly due to the fact that 89% of practitioners reported taking steps to verify the accuracy of AI output, which can offset time savings. Additionally, 46% of lawyers reported an increase in clients arriving with inaccurate or misleading information generated by their own use of AI chatbots for legal research, adding to the lawyers' workload.