Legalweek 2026 brought together thousands of legal professionals from law firms, in-house teams, and legal tech companies. Hosted for the first time at the Javits Center in New York, the event offered an up-to-the-minute look into law firm and client priorities, the latest legal tech, and the future of the legal industry.
Like last year, artificial intelligence (AI) was a common thread running throughout the week. However, conversations about AI this year shifted from hypothetical and planned applications to practical use cases and business impact.
1. Firms that get creative will get ahead
Across sessions and conversations at Legalweek, the importance of creative thinking stood out. Firms that are willing to think differently about how legal work gets done are gaining an edge. This shift is not about disruption for its own sake, but about finding new ways to deliver value through smarter workflows, new perspectives, and faster, more responsive service.
From applying design thinking to empowering firm-wide innovation to delivering tailored solutions, firms that embrace creative approaches are better positioned to uncover new opportunities for growth.
Reframing legal work and the application of technology with design thinking
“How does that process feel to you?” This question, posed by James Vinson, senior director of eData at Morgan Lewis, was part of a thought-provoking session at Legalweek, Design Thinking in Legal: A Modern Approach to Tech Adoption and Problem Solving. In an industry that deals in facts and evidence, this subjective query breaks the mold. And that disruption is exactly the point.
As Vinson said, “It’s a very fast-paced industry. We have to demand things. We have to get things done quickly, but we’re trying to slow that down. That framework (design thinking) helps slow things down and really understand what the pain point and the problem is.”
Design thinking introduces a more human-centered approach to legal problem solving. Instead of quickly buying a new tech tool to meet a need, this approach seeks first to understand. “Talk me through the process and tell me how you’re spending your time,” Vinson asks his team. “Like, really tell me. What are you doing? Where are you going? What are you clicking?”
Design thinking asks teams to consider how processes affect the people using them. It frames conversations around human experience instead of finding the fastest software solutions. Ultimately, it helps law firms understand what makes clients want to engage more deeply and deliver more meaningful, valuable solutions. Design thinking also helps firms dramatically improve their internal workflows, which was another major subject this year. More on that in a few paragraphs.
Empowering early-in-career innovators
As firms seek to differentiate themselves, the next big idea could come from anywhere. Several law firm partners at Legalweek shared that some of the most intriguing and promising ideas are coming from team members who are relatively new to legal work.
It makes sense, as few are more driven to make a name for themselves than those early in their careers. And, when it comes to innovation, these next-generation legal professionals may have an advantage. They often have an innate understanding of technology and tend to be more familiar with AI than their tenured counterparts. These professionals often see inefficiencies first. They also bring fresh perspectives and fewer assumptions about how legal work “should” be done.
Empowering these early-in-career paralegals, litigation support professionals, and associates with AI tools and the space to experiment can unlock valuable ideas.
Relationship building with real-time solution delivery
For law firms, the ability to meet client needs proactively and solve challenges in real-time can deepen relationships and present new opportunities. When lawyers can share ideas, test approaches, and quickly deliver solutions, they position themselves as trusted advisors rather than reactive service providers.
Technology plays an important role in enabling this shift. With an adaptable technology platform, firms can deliver tailored client solutions in record time, moving from problem to proposed solution to proof of concept to delivery in days instead of months. This responsiveness demonstrates a deep understanding of the client’s needs and goals while offering greater transparency and trust.
Caroline Sweeney, chief knowledge and innovation officer at Dorsey & Whitney, shared the impact of delivering a client solution in near real time. The firm’s M&A team was working with an existing client who needed a deal room and were looking at several options. Rather than send over a static data sheet, the team presented a live demo of the AI-enhanced Dorsey Virtual Data Room offering built on Opus 2’s intelligent legal solutions platform.
Caroline described the client’s reaction to the solution, saying, “We showed them the AI functionality, and right there on the phone the client said, ‘OK, we’re going to use you guys.’ That’s a revenue-generating opportunity for us.” Experiences like this reinforce how pairing the right technology with speed and adaptability can be a competitive differentiator for law firms.
2. The next phase of AI: Trust, workflows, and measurable value
Like last year, AI was everywhere again at Legalweek 2026. It was featured on nearly every vendor booth and in more than half of sessions. “When you walk through that vendor hall, if a product did not have AI in it, it does now,” said Sean Harrington, Director of AI and Legal Tech Studio, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University in the session Creative AI Prompt Showdown: Unlock the Power of Creativity in Our Prompting Challenge. While AI still dominates, the nature of the conversation has evolved.
Rather than focusing on what AI can potentially do, we noticed discussions that centered around trust as a differentiator, the growing ambiguity around “workflows,” and the challenge of defining and measuring AI value.
Trust IS the product
Walking the floor, attendees could be forgiven for feeling a bit of déjà vu. In almost every booth that featured AI, prominent messaging about trust also followed. It was the title of an excellent educational session I attended. The emphasis reveals a truth: In the legal industry, trust IS the product. Trust is how clients choose law firms and how law firms choose legal tech.
In a world where AI capabilities are becoming widely available, trust is becoming the real differentiator. Clients want confidence that their legal teams are making thoughtful decisions about the technology and AI they use. They expect their outside counsel to cut through the noise and ensure the solutions their law firm partners use are secure, reliable, and proven. Law firms that take a deliberate approach to selecting and implementing technology can strengthen that trust.
Everyone wants better workflows…but what does that really mean?
Interested in integrated workflows? AI-enhanced workflows? Improved or accelerated workflows? For anyone at Legalweek looking for better workflows, there were dozens of booths promising to deliver. Appearing just as frequently as “trust,” the word “workflow” came up in vendor messaging so often that it risks losing its meaning.
In legal tech, workflow has become a quick catch-all term. Often, it’s used to represent and encompass all the ways a solution can deliver value. And now with AI, it may seem like every solution promises to transform every workflow by automating something or introducing agents that do the work for you.
… Admittedly, you’ll see “workflow” used across Opus 2’s website as well.
Everyone wants better, faster, and more collaborative outcomes. But when vendors talk about improving workflows, the definition is not always clear. At its core, a legal workflow is a repeatable sequence of tasks, decisions, and handoffs required to complete a defined outcome. It includes steps, people, rules, decisions, inputs, and outputs, not just an automation or tool.
The real question is, “How can technology meaningfully improve this sequence?” For many firms, this means identifying painful and inefficient processes that could be enhanced. Naturally, AI automation and agents play an extremely important role in accelerating legal workflows. However, there’s a lot more to it. Using a human-centered, design-thinking approach like I mentioned earlier, provides for more meaningful improvements because it combines people, process, and technology.
And from a tech perspective, it’s not just AI that improves workflows. Whatever technology firms use to simplify workflows needs to have an underlying data structure that allows for AI to understand the context of data. Which person is connected to a particular event or organization, for example. It also needs capabilities that expertly handle things like file management, project management, reporting/auditing, communication, and so on.
The challenge of measuring the ROI of AI
As the legal industry has advanced from AI speculation to application, how to calculate ROI is now top-of-mind. Having faced intense pressure to adopt AI last year, many firms now find themselves with a dozen or more solutions for various use cases. As renewals approach and new solutions continue to enter the market, firms must evaluate each of their tools to decide if it should be kept, retired, or replaced. Unfortunately, firms are now finding that measuring AI impact and value is difficult for a number of reasons, including:
Insufficient pre-AI benchmarking data – Legal professionals say that AI has sped up tasks, surfaced insights, and had a positive influence on outcomes. But few law firms established concrete baseline metrics before implementing AI, which now makes it difficult if not impossible to quantify improvements.
Time is saved, but also shifted – Unlike other technologies, measuring AI ROI isn’t as simple as calculating time saved per task. For example, AI can draft a deposition summary in seconds, saving hours or even days of manual work. But that doesn’t capture the full picture because legal professionals must then spend time verifying, validating, and fine-tuning the AI draft. While the AI-assisted process will take less time overall, human judgment is still required to ensure that the firm is meeting their ethical obligations.
Varied use across workflows and teams – While firms can typically measure how many people are using each solution and how often, the details are more difficult to capture. Understanding how users apply AI, whether outputs are useful, and how they incorporate AI into existing workflows is likely a manual exercise, dependent upon anecdotal feedback.
In short, measuring ROI for AI solutions is a challenge without a simple answer… for now. I expect that by Legalweek 2027, law firms will establish AI metrics and more refined approaches to measuring impact.
3. Evolving client expectations
At Legalweek, we heard a common refrain from law firm leaders: “It doesn’t matter what we want—it matters what the client expects.” While there’s nothing revolutionary about tailoring services to meet client needs, the sentiment was accompanied by a new sense of urgency.
It goes without saying that law firms want to serve their clients the best way possible. However, that may mean challenging industry norms and asking big-picture questions. Will firms retain billable hour models as AI drives greater efficiency? Does the traditional law firm structure still hold up? And, what does it mean to be a lawyer in the age of AI? Evolving client expectations are driving conversations around these topics and inspiring new approaches.
Cost pressure continues to drive decision-making
At Legalweek, it was clear that effectively managing costs remains a key priority for in-house teams. Ongoing pressure to reduce outside counsel spend is not just influencing billing discussions. It is also increasing scrutiny of how legal work is performed.
Harrington, shared his perspective on this change as well, saying, “The other thing that’s important to talk about is the fact that clients are probably going to start demanding that we use generative AI to some degree because of efficiency gains, or it’s more predictable than humans, or whatever the reason is.”
Having embraced AI to reduce legal operations costs, in-house teams are increasingly asking law firms to do the same. At Legalweek, a few law firm leaders shared similar experiences. As one put it, “If the firm can do something with AI, they want that—rather than humans billing by the hour.” In some cases, clients are beginning to challenge hourly billing for tasks like document review and data analysis.
These conversations are likely to become more frequent in the coming year. Law firms should be prepared to address:
- How they are using AI to manage matters more efficiently and effectively
- When and why legal professionals must remain involved to protect the client and uphold ethical standards
- How the thoughtful combination of AI and human expertise delivers more value
In short, clients expect more clarity on how AI is being used and assurances that efficiency gains are translating into lower costs and greater value.
Non-traditional law firm structures and the ‘AI-enabled partner’
To address client expectations around greater cost effectiveness, some firms are beginning to rethink the traditional law firm structure. One example is Pierson Ferdinand, which describes its model as partner-only, technology-enabled, and client-centric. Since its founding in 2024, the firm has grown to include more than 250 ‘AI-enabled partners’…and no associates. Its approach and rapid growth generated a noticeable buzz during this year’s Legalweek.
For now, Pierson Ferdinand appears to be the only firm of its size to embrace an AI-enabled, partner-only strategy. However, similar approaches are starting to emerge elsewhere. Some small and boutique law firms are slowing associate and paralegal hiring, instead exploring AI-first operating models.
It’s still too early to know if these approaches will pay off in the long run. Indeed, non-traditional structures aren’t yet taking the industry by storm, but clearly law firms (and clients) are taking notice. The shift also reflects a renewed willingness to question long-standing assumptions about roles, leverage, and legal service delivery.
Transparency and collaboration are client priorities
Another clear theme at Legalweek was the expectation of increased transparency and collaboration between law firms and clients. As technology accelerates legal work, clients expect more than efficiency. They want greater visibility into how work is progressing and how decisions are being made.
The sessions focused on client service and workflow design highlighted a shift toward more connected, collaborative ways of working. Clients increasingly want to engage with their legal teams in real time, with access to the same information and insights that are shaping a matter.
This includes expectations for:
- Clearer reporting on case progress and key developments
- More collaborative, integrated working relationships
- Easier access to documents, data, and matter insights
Collaboration portals offer law firms the tools to deliver customized, client-facing workspaces. These portals centralize communication, documents, and real-time progress reports. In addition, they can be tailored to deliver client-facing solutions like compliance tracking, case portfolio overviews, and matter progress reporting.
Firms that deliver this level of visibility and collaboration are better positioned to build trust and strengthen long-term relationships. In many cases, transparency at this level is no longer a differentiator. It is becoming a baseline expectation.
Now calling the Javits Center home and with sessions that felt more engaging, entertaining, and informative than ever, seems that Legalweek has entered a new era. The event felt more cutting-edge as well, highlighting sessions and ideas that challenge industry norms rather than retreading well-known topics. The change of pace is exciting, and we’re already looking forward to Legalweek 2027.
If you’d like to compare notes from the event, or see the latest AI and platform technology from Opus 2, get in touch.
Additional perspectives on Legalweek 2026
As one of the biggest annual events in the legal industry, commentary on Legalweek abounds. And there are always more perspectives to explore. For more on the sessions, trends, and takeaways from the event, check out these articles from some of our favorite journalists, analysts, and legal professionals.
- Law.com – Daily recaps
- LawSites – Bob Ambrogi’s perspective on the event
- Above the Law – Insights from the closing keynote
- eDiscovery Today – Venue impressions and legal tech insights
Together, these perspectives provide a helpful snapshot of the trends shaping legal technology and law firm strategy.
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1. Law firms that take a value-based approach to technology lead innovation
In conversations at Legalweek, it became clear that most leading firms don’t approach innovation with the goal of buying whatever solution is new and trending. Instead, these firms invest in developing a deep understanding of the day-to-day needs of their lawyers and support staff. Then, they adopt new solutions that can meet those needs, deliver more value to their clients, and set them apart from other law firms.
These firms stay on the cutting edge because they make smart investments and routinely phase out anything that no longer delivers value. When they have a challenge to solve, they begin by looking at the technology the firm already has. They define why each software investment was made, assess whether the technology still serves that purpose, and decide if the tool can be applied creatively to solve the new challenge. If yes, they aim to maximize the firm’s technology ROI by developing additional use cases and improving adoption. If not, they carefully consider a new solution to meet the need.
The other thing that sets these firms apart is their understanding that technology isn’t always the answer. Sometimes innovation is about a shift in processes and the utilization of resources or creating a new role dedicated to enabling users to get more value from the firm’s solutions. At the end of the day, innovation is a compelling solution offering when delivered along with high-value legal services.
2. Tech stacks are expanding but a big-picture view is elusive
AmLaw 100 firms have largely embraced software as a service (SaaS) legal tech, and they routinely add new tools to their stack. For example, one attendee who works in a large firm with more than 1000 attorneys. They shared that the firm currently uses and manages 400 different applications. And chances are good that they’ll increase that number year over year. Firms will continue adopting new technology to operate, serve clients, and scale. At the same time, they also need to be able to use information from a combination of solutions to see the big picture – which can be a challenge.
For innovative, tech-forward firms it’s important to build a legal tech stack thoughtfully and maintain a framework that enables useful connections between systems. From paralegals to partners, end users need to be able to access information from various systems and view it together in reports and dashboards. The attendee that shared that they’re currently building dashboards in Microsoft with aggregated, real-time data visualizations of various tasks, activities, notifications, data tiles, project info, and so on. This solution leverages the APIs in their SaaS applications to create dashboards customized by use case. While this approach may be time-consuming to build out, it will be highly impactful.
Ultimately, focusing on user experience and interconnectivity will be essential for firms to get the most value possible out of their legal tech stack as they grow.
3. Firms want their legal tech to improve client engagement
We connected with a lot of our customers during our time at Legalweek and many were eager to find new ways to use technology to streamline client engagement and collaboration. Naturally, a firm’s relationships are built on a foundation of personal interactions, but the legal teams we talked to are looking to use technology to enhance client engagement.
Specifically, we saw interest in the use of information portals in litigation for law firm clients. These client portals empower your team to deliver and receive case-related documents securely while also providing insights and progress updates. Additionally, these portals can be used to collaborate with expert witnesses and co-counsel as needed. Overall, they can deliver a tremendous amount of value.
We also explored how law firms can leverage the Opus 2 platform as an illustrative tool for client presentations – an approach that certainly makes a lasting impression.
4. Despite the AI buzz, firms still need day-to-day solutions
The chatter at Legalweek certainly confirms that AI is still a hot topic. However, most current AI applications don’t address the day-to-day administrative work law firms need to complete. In fact, in many cases, it adds new tasks and workflows that require human input to complete.
When considering technology, firms should focus on investing in foundational tools that address the most time-consuming, manual tasks before adding AI to their workflows. For litigation teams, this means adopting software that helps with preparing virtual binders, stamping exhibits, relating designations, and clipping deposition video. These are time-consuming, repetitive, and tedious tasks that can take hours instead of days with the right case management software.
5. Law firms aren’t taking full advantage of adoption experts
Change is hard. And we all know that lawyers can be particularly set in their ways. So, technology adoption is a real challenge, and law firms are looking for help. As a few litigation leaders shared that they were struggling with this, but many didn’t have a clear strategy to promote their products and solutions to attorneys and staff.
It was surprising to hear this because legal tech companies, including Opus 2, are full of technology experts, solutions consultants, and customer success professionals who can help. In fact, many of them come from a legal background and understand the nuance of legal organizations. Sadly, it seems that many law firms aren’t tapping into these resources.
Software teams have endless experience navigating and overcoming barriers to adoption. They can collaborate with you to build a proactive change management plan that is customized to meet the unique needs of your firm. Additionally, they can provide customized promotional resources, curated training materials, and ongoing support.
Having a plan and a software partner that’s invested in your success will make all the difference as you build a culture of technology adoption.
6. There are lots of differing definitions of case management
Talking with attendees, it was clear that many of them had different definitions of what case management means. Ask 10 people, and you’ll get 10 different answers. It all depended on what role they play in the firm. Litigation support professionals, paralegals, associates, and partners may all define case management differently.
These assorted definitions make sense when we consider the different parts of the process each role is responsible for and the variety of point solutions they may use to accomplish their work. Point solutions that consider themselves case management tools may help with case chronology, electronic bundling, transcript management, or some other workflow – but they rarely address more than one litigation use case effectively.
This means that firms must invest in multiple tools, navigate different systems to access information, and manually manage processes. It can quickly become an organizational nightmare – which is why a platform that can do it all (like Opus 2 Cases) is so valuable.
7. Lawyer tech adoption is still a challenge
At almost every legal event we attend, we hear the same thing – getting lawyers to use new software is an uphill battle. Regardless of what solution you’re adding to your legal tech stack, you’re bound to get a tepid response from a handful of lawyers. The key to overcoming resistance? Proactive planning and persistence.
Here are a couple of ways our clients win buy-in from their team:
- Ignite their competitive spirit by sharing success stories from notable firms.
- Promote how the software can be customized to reduce disruption to their processes and personalized to meet their individual needs.
- Empower litigation support to track logins and usage to identify power users and champions.
- Make training more manageable with mini-workshops focused on how the tool simplifies the tedious processes that cause recurring frustrations.
- Give them a head start by proactively creating a new workspace for matters that may go to trial.
8. Users want to shift to the cloud, but law firm buy-in is slow
Many tech-savvy lawyers and staff are eager to make the move from legacy on-premise solutions to the cloud. They understand the value that cloud-native solutions deliver including real-time global collaboration, on-demand scalability, intuitive client information portals, routine system updates without downtime, easier sign-in processes, lower IT staffing costs, and more. But it seems some law firms aren’t quite ready yet.
Several attendees expressed frustration with their firms’ hesitation to move to the cloud. Despite having a solid reputation for being highly secure, customizable, and reliable, some firms still avoid cloud-based legal tech solutions. This preference is likely rooted in the desire to maintain full control over all network hardware and software as well as lingering security concerns. This wariness of proven cloud-based solutions illustrated an interesting juxtaposition when considering the industry’s enthusiasm for relatively new technology like generative AI.
In the end, law firms have to carefully consider the solution that’s right for their needs and their clients. But, the benefits of the cloud for both software providers and law firms are sure to overcome lingering objections in short order.
9. Features designed without a user focus – all flash and little function?
No recap of this year’s Legalweek would be complete without a mention of AI. It was everywhere, from sessions to the exhibit hall. It’s clear that many of the legal tech companies at Legalweek now offer solutions or features that rely on Large Language Models (LLM), typically via OpenAI’s suite of generative AI models. These companies are easy to spot as you walk the floor because their booths and messaging are now centered around AI buzzwords. And as a marketing tactic, it works – but does their AI
It’s a question worth considering as law firms invest in new technology, navigate emerging AI regulations, and address user and client concerns. Certainly, the power and promise of AI are real, but only when solutions are designed thoughtfully, with an unwavering focus on the user’s needs.
When it comes to AI, the “how” of it all matters – a lot. How can AI be incorporated to improve existing processes rather than create barriers? How will lawyers maintain control of the resulting work product? How can AI be applied to be fully integrated, intuitive, and easy to use? How will it deliver meaningful, long-term value? When software companies take the time to ask these questions and answer as an advocate for their users the result is more than a marketing gimmick – it’s genuine innovation.
