AI vs. human capability
Legal Productivity Benchmarks
Before-and-after time per workflow, with the productivity gain from AI.
Across eight legal workflows, the dataset shows a before-and-after time split with AI assistance layered in. Directionally, the largest gains cluster in document-heavy tasks: document summarization drops from 2.0 to 0.7 hours (65%) and e-discovery review from 8.0 to 3.2 hours (60%), while client communication moves less, from 1.8 to 1.3 hours (28%). This suggests AI compresses review and synthesis time more than relationship-driven work, pointing to triage and first-pass review as the more defensible near-term deployment, with lawyers retained for judgment calls and client-facing work.
The data
| Workflow | Before AI | With AI | Time saved | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract Review | 4.2 h | 2.3 h | 45% | hours |
| Legal Research | 3.8 h | 2.4 h | 38% | hours |
| Due Diligence | 12.5 h | 6 h | 52% | hours |
| Brief Drafting | 6 h | 3.9 h | 35% | hours |
| Compliance Monitoring | 2.5 h | 1.5 h | 40% | hours |
| Client Communication | 1.8 h | 1.3 h | 28% | hours |
| Document Summarization | 2 h | 0.7 h | 65% | hours |
| E-Discovery Review | 8 h | 3.2 h | 60% | hours |
Illustrative estimate - a directional figure for scenario framing, not a measured benchmark. Do not read these as measured per-vendor results.
Related research
- Time Savings by Legal TaskMedian hours saved per task when a lawyer works with AI versus alone.
- AI Autonomy Scores by TaskHow autonomously AI can handle each legal task, on a 1-5 scale with confidence intervals.
- Workflow Automation PotentialCurrent versus potential automation across core legal workflows.