Lawyers were long among the most cautious professionals about generative AI. Two surveys published this year show that has changed, and they show which tools law firms and individual lawyers have actually picked.
ILTA: almost every firm is in
The International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) surveys its member firms every year. Its 2026 Technology Survey covers 508 firms with more than 139,000 lawyers, from small boutiques to global firms. According to ILTA's executive summary, 94% of firms are now using or exploring generative AI tools, up from 80% a year earlier. Adoption is still controlled: more than half of firms hand out Copilot licenses only on request.
The product breakdown is in the full report, which is not free for non-participants. Bob Ambrogi of LawSites reported its figures on September 14. Asked which tools they are using or exploring, firms named:
Microsoft 365 Copilot: 76%
CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters): 44%
Claude (Anthropic): 44%
Harvey: 43%
Lexis+ AI: 26%
ChatGPT Enterprise: 22%
Legora: 16%
Firm size changes the picture. Among firms with more than 700 lawyers: Copilot 88%, Harvey 84%, Claude 64%, Legora 47%. Among firms with fewer than 50 lawyers: Copilot 59%, Claude 42%, CoCounsel 40%, Harvey 22%. ILTA itself notes that Harvey and Legora ramp up sharply at mid-size and larger firms, while Westlaw CoCounsel is spread fairly evenly across firms of all sizes.
The most common uses, each reported in the 73–79% range: first drafts of documents, meeting notes and summaries, legal research, and summarising or analysing long, complex documents.
Texas: what lawyers themselves use
The State Bar of Texas asked individual attorneys. Its 2026 AI survey, published on June 18, found that 62% use AI, up from 30% in 2024. Among those who use it, ChatGPT is the most common tool at 63%, and Westlaw/CoCounsel is the most common legal-specific tool at 30%. The top use is legal research (53%). Among lawyers who don't use AI, ethical concerns are the most common reason (59%).
Why the numbers look so different
The two surveys measure different things. ILTA asks a firm, usually through its technology leaders, which tools the firm is using or exploring: a pilot of Harvey or a handful of Copilot licenses counts, even if most of the firm's lawyers never touch the tool. Texas asks each lawyer what they personally use. That helps explain why Copilot leads at the firm level, where, as ILTA puts it, AI is arriving through the Microsoft tools firms already use every day, while ChatGPT leads among individual lawyers.
A live example: two legal AI platforms at once
On October 16, Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, formed this year by the merger of Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, announced that it had signed agreements with both Harvey and Legora instead of choosing one. Legora says it is rolling out to the firm's lawyers globally after a pilot with more than 1,300 lawyers in 18 practice teams; Harvey says it is in use across three practice groups. The firm will also keep building its own tools. CEO Miguel Zaldivar said "there is no single AI solution that will meet every need" of a modern global firm.
What this means if you're choosing an AI tool for legal work
General assistants are where most lawyers start. If your firm runs Microsoft 365, Microsoft Copilot may already be available to you. Claude is the general assistant firms explore most after Copilot, and ChatGPT is the one individual lawyers use most. Compare them side by side: ChatGPT vs Claude and Microsoft Copilot vs ChatGPT.
Legal-specific tools such as Harvey, CoCounsel and Legora are designed around legal work and sold mainly to firms rather than individuals. Harvey and Legora are concentrated in large firms; in firms with fewer than 50 lawyers, CoCounsel (40%) is about as common as Claude (42%).
Whatever you choose, check the output and protect client data. ILTA reports that most firms require human review of AI-assisted work and independent verification against authoritative citations. Check every case and quotation an AI gives you against the source. Keep confidential client information out of consumer chatbots: use a business or enterprise plan your firm has approved, which is why most firms limit use to vetted tools.