The UK legal industry is witnessing significant developments in artificial intelligence (AI), focusing
on productivity, technological innovations, regulatory challenges, and strategic partnerships.
Lawyers Using AI Produce Better Work In Half The Time, Landmark Study Finds
The research, involving 127 law students completing six realistic legal assignments, provides the first empirical evidence that AI tools can consistently improve the quality of legal analysis across various tasks. Participants were assigned to complete tasks using one of three methods: no AI assistance, OpenAI’s o1-preview, a reasoning model, or Vincent AI, a specialised legal tool using Retrieval Augmented Generation, or RAG.
"This is the first empirical evidence that AI tools can consistently and significantly enhance the quality of human lawyers' work across various realistic legal assignments," the researchers noted.
Technological Innovations: Introduction of Voice AI Assistants
At the 2025 Legalweek conference, Lexis Nexis unveiled Protégé, the legal industry's first personalised voice AI assistant. Integrated within the Lexis+ AI legal workflow solution, Protégé allows users to perform tasks such as legal research, document drafting, and case law summarisation through voice commands. This advancement aims to enhance efficiency and
streamline legal workflows.
Strategic Partnerships: Law Firms Acquiring AI Capabilities
In a move to enhance its AI capabilities, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton acquired Springbok AI, a London-based legal technology company specialising in AI products for lawyers. This acquisition
aims to integrate Springbok's expertise into Cleary's operations, enabling the development of custom AI-powered solutions and positioning the firm competitively in the evolving legal landscape.
Regulatory Challenges: Debates Over AI and Copyright Laws
The UK government's proposed changes to copyright laws have sparked debates within the legal and creative sectors. The reforms suggest allowing AI developers to use copyrighted materials unless rights holders explicitly opt out. Major AI companies, including OpenAI and Google, have rejected this approach, advocating for broader copyright exemptions to foster innovation. Legal experts warn that such proposals could breach international treaties, such as the Berne Convention, and undermine the UK's creative industries.
For advice on your Generative AI transformation, contact
Martin Talks
martin@matomico.com
www.matomico.com