The imperative for legal transformation

"The legal function has traditionally been seen as a cost center -- but that’s changing. AI is giving legal leaders a seat at the strategic table."
– Tim Parilla, Chief Legal Officer, LinkSquares

Legal departments face an intensifying mandate: deliver greater strategic value with fewer resources. As budgets tighten and organizational expectations grow, general counsel and legal operations leaders must find ways to increase efficiency, reduce risk, and support the broader business -- all without expanding headcount.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful lever to help legal teams meet these demands. Yet despite growing interest, many legal leaders remain hesitant. Concerns about risk, uncertainty around practical applications, and uneven internal enthusiasm can all delay meaningful progress.

However, the market is moving quickly. According to the American Bar Association’s 2024 Legal Technology Survey Report, AI adoption within the legal profession has nearly tripled, from 11% in 2023 to 30% in 2024. Thirteen percent of professionals say AI is already mainstream in legal practice, up from just 4% the previous year.

In short, the window for cautious observation is closing. AI is no longer optional -- it is essential for legal teams that aim to operate strategically and competitively. This white paper offers a comprehensive guide to help legal leaders understand where AI can deliver measurable value, how to build a practical adoption roadmap, and what trends to watch as the legal technology landscape continues to evolve.

Top AI use cases for legal departments

While AI is often perceived as complex or experimental, its most powerful applications are pragmatic and accessible. Legal teams are increasingly using AI to automate routine work, accelerate decision-making, and generate actionable insights from large volumes of legal data.

Below are the most common and effective use cases:

1. Contract drafting and review

AI tools such as LinkSquares Analyze and Finalize use natural language processing to extract, summarize, and tag key terms across contracts. This enables faster, more consistent reviews, redlines, and drafting processes while reducing the risk of human oversight. 

2. Sales enablement and deal acceleration

AI-powered tools help legal teams reduce turnaround time on NDAs, MSAs, and other standard agreements by surfacing pre-approved clauses, automating redlines, and routing documents efficiently across departments.

3. Compliance and risk management

As data privacy regulations evolve and enforcement intensifies, AI enables teams to proactively monitor for noncompliant terms, outdated clauses, or emerging risks -- ensuring consistent application of company policies and reducing regulatory exposure.

4. Legal operations and efficiency tracking

AI can uncover inefficiencies in contract workflows, measure cycle times, and deliver reporting that enables legal leaders to demonstrate value and advocate for resources.

5. Knowledge management

Legal departments accumulate large volumes of valuable information, but it is often difficult to access. AI turns this unstructured data into an indexed, searchable knowledge base that improves decision-making and preserves institutional memory.

Case study: OutSystems
OutSystems reduced contract completion time by over 30% after implementing LinkSquares, freeing legal personnel to focus on strategic initiatives.

Building your strategic AI roadmap

Successfully adopting AI begins with a clear, realistic roadmap aligned to organizational goals. Legal leaders must assess pain points, identify priority use cases, and select the right technology partner to support a phased implementation.

1. Identify key challenges and bottlenecks

Begin by understanding where your team spends the most time, and where manual processes create delays or risks. In 2024, LinkSquares helped its customers save a total of 653,000 hours of manual work on contract review. Common friction points include:

• Lengthy contract review cycles
• Repetitive negotiation of standard agreements
• Manual compliance tracking
• Fragmented document storage or version control

Prioritize areas that impact business velocity, create legal risk, or occupy significant attorney hours.

2. Define initial use cases

Start with one or two focused use cases that will demonstrate clear, measurable value. Early wins help build credibility and internal support for broader adoption. For many teams, contract analysis or NDA automation are ideal entry points.

3. Evaluate AI vendors with rigor

All AI tools are not equal. Legal departments should look for vendors who provide:

• Accuracy and transparency: Clear explanations of how AI models function and reach conclusions
• Security and compliance: Robust data protection, audit trails, and alignment with SOC 2 or similar standards
• Ease of use: An intuitive interface and minimal learning curve to encourage adoption
• Proven results: Case studies or benchmarks showing demonstrated ROI in legal environments

4. Choose responsible and compliant AI solutions

It is essential to partner with vendors who treat security, privacy, and model integrity as core design principles. LinkSquares, for example, maintains enterprise-grade compliance frameworks to support sensitive legal content -- and that extends to the AI models they develop.

Implementing AI and driving adoption within your legal team

Successfully deploying AI requires more than software installation -- it requires thoughtful change management. Legal leaders must cultivate buy-in, support training, and monitor performance to ensure long-term adoption and value.

1. Establish internal alignment

Transparency is key. Legal professionals may be wary of AI’s impact on their roles. Address concerns directly by emphasizing how AI reduces manual burden, enhances accuracy, and creates more time for strategic work.

2. Designate AI champions

Identify early adopters within your team to serve as champions and advisors during the rollout. Their feedback will help refine workflows and build broader enthusiasm.

3. Track and communicate results

Define success metrics at the outset. These may include:

• Time saved per contract
• Volume of contracts analyzed
• Reduction in manual errors
• Team satisfaction scores

Communicate early wins to stakeholders and use them to build support for expanded adoption.

Additional resource: The full guide to change management and technology implementation

4. Avoid common pitfalls

Legal leaders should be mindful of common challenges during implementation:

• Overcommitting early. Start small and scale based on results.
• Neglecting training. Ensure users have the support they need to use the tools confidently.
• Working in isolation. Collaborate across departments -- especially with sales, procurement, and finance -- to maximize impact.

Where AI is going: Future trends in legal technology

The pace of innovation in AI continues to accelerate. Legal teams that understand the emerging trends will be better positioned to adapt and lead.

1. Agentic AI and proactive, autonomous workflows

AI tools are evolving from reactive assistants to proactive agents. In the near future, AI will autonomously suggest next steps, monitor contract performance, and initiate reviews based on internal triggers or external regulatory changes. You can get an early preview of AI's agentic potential with LinkSquares' LinkAI.

2. Conversational interfaces

Natural language interfaces will soon allow legal professionals to query their contract database as easily as asking a colleague. For example: “Show me all contracts with auto-renewal clauses longer than one year.”

3. AI-informed strategic decision-making

Legal AI will provide predictive insights based on past agreements, risk patterns, and negotiation trends -- empowering general counsel to contribute directly to enterprise strategy.

4. Seamless cross-functional integration

Modern AI platforms will serve as a connective layer between legal, finance, sales, and procurement, enabling real-time collaboration and unified contract management.

Why LinkSquares is the strategic partner of choice for legal AI

Legal teams need a solution built for their unique challenges -- not just another tech platform. LinkSquares is purpose-built for legal, combining cutting-edge AI with intuitive design and enterprise-grade compliance.

Key differentiators include:

• Proven AI models: Trained on over six million legal documents for exceptional accuracy and context awareness
• Responsible architecture: Customer data segregated to prevent leakage via AI models; full control and transparency over outputs
• User-centric design: Intuitive interfaces tailored for legal professionals, not data scientists
• Comprehensive platform: From pre-signature to post-signature workflows, LinkSquares supports the entire contract lifecycle

Take the lead with AI – before you're left behind

AI is transforming legal departments from reactive service providers into proactive business enablers. The question is no longer whether legal should adopt AI—it is how quickly they can implement it effectively.

Legal leaders who act now will:

• Save time and reduce operational friction
• Enhance accuracy and compliance
• Deliver insights that shape business strategy
• Future-proof their legal function

At LinkSquares, we are committed to helping legal teams embrace this transformation with confidence. Our platform, people, and proven track record make us a trusted partner for building your AI roadmap.

Let’s start the conversation; contact LinkSquares today.