Lawyers spend 60% of their time on research and document review. AI can cut that in half. Here are the tools actually being used by top firms.
Legal Research
1. CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters) — Best for Legal Research
Price: $100-300/user/month Use for: Case law research, document review, memo drafting
CoCounsel (built on GPT-4) is the most trusted legal AI. It’s trained on legal data and cites sources.
Pros:
- Trusted by major law firms
- Cites case law accurately
- Document review and analysis
- Memo drafting
Cons:
- Expensive
- Requires Thomson Reuters subscription
2. ChatGPT — Best Budget Research
Price: Free / $20/month Use for: Initial research, brainstorming, drafting
ChatGPT is useful for initial research, but always verify citations (it can hallucinate cases).
3. Perplexity — Best for Quick Research
Price: Free Use for: Quick legal questions, statute lookup, trend research
Contract Review
4. Kira Systems — Best for Contract Analysis
Price: Custom pricing Use for: Due diligence, contract analysis, clause extraction
Kira extracts and analyzes contract provisions across thousands of documents.
5. LawGeex — Best for Contract Review
Price: Custom pricing Use for: Automated contract review, approval workflows
LawGeex reviews contracts against your firm’s playbook and flags issues.
Document Management
6. Clio — Best Practice Management
Price: $39/user/month Use for: Case management, billing, client portal
7. Smokeball — Best for Small Firms
Price: $29/user/month Use for: Practice management, billing, document automation
Drafting
8. Harvey AI — Best for Legal Drafting
Price: Custom pricing Use for: Briefs, motions, contracts, client letters
Harvey is a legal-specific AI that produces better legal writing than general-purpose tools.
9. ChatGPT — Best for First Drafts
Price: Free Use for: First drafts, outlines, client explanations
Time Savings
| Task | Without AI | With AI | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Case Research | 8 hours | 2 hours | 6 hours |
| Contract Review | 4 hours | 1 hour | 3 hours |
| Brief Drafting | 6 hours | 2 hours | 4 hours |
| Client Communication | 2 hours | 30 min | 1.5 hours |
| Per Case | 20 hours | 5.5 hours | 14.5 hours |
Ethical Considerations
- Verify AI output — AI can hallucinate case citations. Always verify.
- Client confidentiality — Don’t upload privileged information to non-legal AI tools.
- Supervision required — AI is a tool, not a lawyer. Attorneys must supervise.
- Disclosure — Some courts require disclosure of AI use in filings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can AI replace lawyers?
No. AI handles research and drafting. Legal strategy, courtroom advocacy, and client counsel need humans.
Is AI legal research reliable?
Legal-specific tools (CoCounsel, Harvey) are reliable. General AI (ChatGPT) can hallucinate citations — always verify.
Is it ethical to use AI for legal work?
Yes, with proper supervision. The ABA permits AI use as long as attorneys supervise the output.
What’s the best free AI for lawyers?
ChatGPT for initial research and drafting. Perplexity for quick legal questions.