AI Adoption in Corporate Legal Departments Doubles According to The General Counsel Report
Rhea-AI Summary
FTI Consulting (NYSE: FCN) and Relativity report generative AI adoption in corporate legal departments rose to 87% in 2026 from 44% in 2025. The report finds 39% of legal teams now treat AI as a strategic priority and 53% have formal technology roadmaps, up from 25%.
About 70% plan technology investments in the next 12 months. Common generative AI uses include summarization (83%), clause identification (63%) and transcription (53%). The study combines 30 executive interviews and a 224-respondent quantitative survey across multiple regions.
Positive
- Generative AI adoption at 87% among general counsel (2026)
- Technology roadmaps reached 53% of legal departments, up from 25%
- 70% of legal departments plan technology investments in the next 12 months
Negative
- 39% view AI as a strategic priority, leaving a majority not prioritizing AI strategically
- First-pass review and foreign-language analysis adoption remain lower at 37% and 40%
News Market Reaction – FCN
In the Mar 11 session, FCN gained 0.29%, reflecting a mild positive market reaction.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Findings from part two of The General Counsel Report, released today by FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) and legal data intelligence company Relativity, show generative artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in corporate legal departments has nearly doubled year over year, with
The report also found a range of changes in the ways legal departments are approaching AI and other technologies, and
Legal departments that have a formalized technology roadmap in place also reached an all-time high of
When asked about their comfort with generative AI use for certain tasks, respondents expressed the most openness for legal research, e-discovery, document review, contract drafting and contract analysis. Respondents said the most common task for generative AI was summarization, with
“Generative AI has become a fixture in the majority of legal departments, and of those not yet using it, most have plans to implement in the near term,” said Sophie Ross, Global Chief Executive Officer of FTI Technology. “As in-house teams grow more comfortable with a wide range of generative AI use cases, appropriate upskilling will be imperative. General counsel will need to provide their departments with structured training, education and expert support to use this technology effectively, and underpin those efforts with technology roadmaps that enable innovation alongside risk mitigation.”
“The 2026 edition of The General Counsel Report is significant because it provides compelling evidence indicating the era of the ‘Luddite Lawyer’ is over,” said David Horrigan, Discovery Counsel and Legal Education Director at Relativity and Adjunct Professor of Law at Duquesne University’s Thomas R. Kline School of Law. “Throughout the seven annual editions of this report, chief legal officers’ use and acceptance of technology have been important focus areas, and the 2026 edition shows a meaningful shift in the role technology plays in the work of the general counsel. For instance, the report shows that chief legal officers’ use of generative AI has steadily and substantially increased, from a mere
The General Counsel Report is based on one-on-one interviews between Ari Kaplan Advisors and chief legal officers at large corporations around the world, as well as a separate quantitative survey of more than 200 general counsel in a dozen countries. For the first time, this year’s findings include insights from c-level technical leaders, including chief information officers and heads of transformation within large organizations, providing commentary on the dynamics between legal department leaders and their cross-department counterparts. Together, the data pools examined how organizations have responded during the past year of technological, policy, geopolitical and economic disruptions.
Part two of The General Counsel Report is available for download here. Part one was released in February.
Demographics and Methodology
In September 2025, Ari Kaplan conducted personal interviews with 30 leaders serving as general counsel or chief legal officers of their organizations. Sixty-three percent have a role with global responsibilities and
About FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting, Inc. is a leading global expert firm for organizations facing crisis and transformation, with more than 8,100 employees located in 32 countries and territories as of December 31, 2025. In certain jurisdictions, FTI Consulting’s services are provided through distinct legal entities that are separately capitalized and independently managed. The Company generated
About Relativity
Relativity is a leading legal data intelligence company that builds technology to help users organize data, discover the truth, and act on it. Its extensible, AI-powered cloud platform, RelativityOne, transforms complex data into actionable insights at massive scale for litigation, investigations, regulatory inquiries, data breach responses, and other legal use cases. The world’s largest law firms and corporations, government agencies, and a robust network of channel partners rely on Relativity’s legal AI software to securely surface and manage the most relevant and impactful information in their matters. The company also expands access to technology by providing its platform at no cost to academic institutions through its Relativity Academic program and to organizations supporting pro bono legal work through its Justice for Change initiative.
FTI Consulting, Inc.
555 12th Street NW
Washington, DC 20004
+1.202.312.9100
Investor Contact:
Mollie Hawkes
FTI Consulting
+1.617.747.1791
mollie.hawkes@fticonsulting.com
Media Contacts:
Ashley Allman
FTI Consulting
+1.206.369.5209
ashley.allman@fticonsulting.com
Mia McGee
Relativity
+1.773.519.6529
mia.mcgee@relativity.com
