By New Delhi [India], June 2: Manupatra has consistently led the charge in bringing technological transformation to India’s legal field. Our sustained engagement with lawyers and law students provides a unique perspective on the tools and trends that are reshaping legal practice across the country.
Artificial intelligence has increasingly become part of everyday work life, altering how professionals operate. In the legal domain, AI has shown clear benefits by enhancing research, streamlining drafting processes, and simplifying the handling of contracts and cases. However, concerns have surfaced, such as lawyers and judges unintentionally citing non-existent cases generated by AI.
To assess the current state of AI adoption, Manupatra launched a first-of-its-kind national survey to explore how legal professionals across India are engaging with AI. The initiative collected responses from a wide demographic to better understand the opportunities, challenges, and readiness for ethical, efficient AI integration in the legal system. The insights aim to inform industry leaders, legal educators, and policymakers.
The survey report, titled “Adoption of AI in the Indian Legal Landscape,” includes input from 227 respondents spanning students, advocates, corporate legal teams, firm partners, faculty, and judicial officers nationwide.
Key Findings:
Young Legal Minds at the Forefront: 60% of respondents were between 18 and 34 years old, with law students (36.6%) and advocates (23.8%) contributing the most—indicating strong interest from the next generation of legal professionals.
Active Use Emerging: Close to 60% had used AI tools in the past year, most commonly for legal research (77.9%), document summarization (65.7%), and drafting tasks (54.7%).
Time-Saving with Reservations: While 79.7% found AI helpful for repetitive work, just 4.1% said they completely trusted AI-generated outputs. Nearly half (48.8%) preferred to validate results manually.
Key Challenges Observed: 58.1% reported issues with inconsistent output, 51.2% noted hallucinated or incorrect content, and 42.4% highlighted the lack of Indian legal specificity in current AI tools.
Policy Vacuum: Although 77.1% support disclosure of AI use in legal matters, only 11% confirmed that their organizations had written AI guidelines or policies.
Top Concerns Identified:
Output Accuracy (58.14%): A majority raised concerns about the reliability of AI-generated content.
Data Privacy (47.67%): Respondents worried about safeguarding client confidentiality while using AI tools.
Inadequate India-Focused Training (42.44%): Many AI models lack awareness of Indian laws and jurisdictional nuances.
Ethical Questions (38.37%): Professionals were uneasy about liability, fairness, and ethical responsibility tied to AI use.
Training and Familiarity Gaps (40.12% & 34.30%): A significant number cited poor tool awareness and insufficient training as roadblocks.
Outlook and Expectations:
Integration Timeline: 35.68% believe AI will become a standard tool in legal practice within 1–2 years; only 3.96% see it taking over five years.
Cautiously Positive Attitude: 46.25% view AI’s impact as generally positive, 18.06% consider it transformative, while 45.37% remain balanced, acknowledging both risks and rewards.
What’s Needed for Progress: Respondents emphasized the need for certified training (67.40%), trial access to tools (66.52%), and regulatory guidance from bar councils and courts (47.58%) to promote trust and usage.
AI as a Support, Not a Substitute: Most participants agreed that AI can assist in tasks like research and drafting, but final legal decisions should stay in human hands.
About Manupatra:
Manupatra is India’s leading legal-tech company, offering comprehensive access to legal, regulatory, and business information. Since launching the country’s first online legal research platform in 2000, Manupatra has built India’s most extensive digital legal database. With AI and machine learning-driven tools, it empowers lawyers, firms, courts, corporates, and students to navigate the law faster and more intelligently.
