Will AI replace lawyers?

Will AI take my job? In a law firm, the question can come from a graduate starting out or from a partner who has seen a few new technologies come and go. What we're seeing is AI changing parts of legal work, and so far the Australian research gives little sign of lawyers being replaced.

The research also raises a question about junior lawyers, and how they learn the job when AI can take on part of the work they learn on.

1AI in legal work today

In the 2025 Victorian Lawyer Census, 36.7% of the 1,887 lawyers who responded used AI tools in their legal practice. The lawyers using it turned to it most for background research on non-legal issues (44%), legal research and case analysis (40%) and client communication (35%). The Productivity Commission describes law firms using large language models "for evidence review and preliminary drafting".

When Jobs and Skills Australia held focus groups with legal professionals for its 2025 case studies, one participant described AI "helping to focus on strategic and client-oriented work by reducing time on routine tasks". A partner said: "It's still my input and my expertise and experience, I still think is something that needs to be put into what I do."

The Law Society of NSW guide to responsible use of AI says: "Humans are accountable, but generative AI is not." The Federal Court's practice note on generative AI, issued in April 2026, says that where generative AI has been used to prepare documents, the Court expects the responsible person to have confirmed that legal authorities cited in submissions "exist and support the proposition stated". Human in the loop looks at who reviews AI work, and when.

When the census asked lawyers how they see the risks of AI, "fears about AI replacing lawyers ranked lowest among perceived risks". Of the respondents who gave a view, 36% saw replacement as a significant threat, while accuracy, and data, privacy and security, ranked higher.

2Lawyer jobs and capacity

In its 2025 report on generative AI and work, Jobs and Skills Australia found, across the Australian workforce, that while AI "may automate routine tasks often performed by junior staff, there is no current evidence of widespread displacement in Australia." It adds that this "may partly reflect the early stage of adoption in Australia." In its legal case study, "some law firms including larger ones are not reducing entry-level hiring". The managing partner of a small firm told the researchers: "my industry's been told for at least a year that a lot of the junior lawyer jobs will be disappearing, and I don't see that happening any time soon."

In the 2026 ALPMA and Dye & Durham survey of 555 law firms in Australia and New Zealand, "48% plan to increase solicitor/lawyer headcount, driven by workload, client demand and succession." The authors write: "There is no uniform expectation that AI is replacing legal roles." (Dye & Durham, a legal software provider, co-produced the survey.)

For a sense of scale, 43,619 solicitors held an NSW practising certificate at 30 June 2025, according to the Law Society of NSW's Annual Profile of Solicitors, and almost half (49%) were aged 39 or under. In legal aid, National Legal Aid's 2026-27 pre-budget submission says funded legal representation "is limited to approximately 18% of people who lodge NDIS appeals". It also lists an "ongoing loss of family law practitioners willing to undertake legal aid matters" among the pressures on the sector.

3People leaving the profession

A firm planning to grow also needs to keep the lawyers it has. In the Victorian census's wellbeing findings, published in June 2026, 53% of the lawyers who responded were at risk of burnout, including 25% at very high risk. "Perceiving workload as unacceptable was the single strongest predictor" of both psychological distress and burnout, and both were associated with intention to leave the profession. Among lawyers planning to leave for reasons other than retirement, adverse workplace conditions, including workload, featured prominently.

ALPMA and Dye & Durham found that solicitors "report higher mobility intent and lower personal balance compared to leadership or administrative support roles". The report adds that "recruitment alone won't close the capacity gap if the experience of legal work remains difficult to sustain." Our post on burnout in law looks at the wellbeing research in more detail.

4Junior lawyers

Younger lawyers are the most likely to use AI. In the census, AI use was highest among lawyers under 30, at 48.7%, against 36.7% across all respondents, and it fell with age. The authors write that general-purpose AI use, "particularly for tasks extending beyond information gathering to legal analysis and application, is concentrated among newer entrants to the profession." They add that patterns of use "raise questions about whether AI-assisted practice may undermine the development or retention of core professional skills."

Jobs and Skills Australia's legal case study describes AI tools being used in law firms "to draft client communications, conduct basic research, and summarise documents". It continues: "These were once staple tasks for junior legal staff and interns, creating a potential gap in early-career opportunities and learning." New entrants are also expected to bring "new skills like prompt engineering". A partner in the study said: "I understand my role is to educate the young lawyers."

The profession builds that education into the first years. In NSW, a new solicitor's practising certificate is subject to supervised legal practice: two years for a solicitor who completed a practical legal training course, or 18 months for one who completed their training principally under the supervision of an Australian lawyer, such as articles. The Law Society of NSW guide notes that a solicitor supervising others "needs to be particularly cognisant of the risks of generative AI".

A lot of what a junior learns during supervised practice comes from the work on their desk: the research memo, the first draft, the file note, the document review. Where a firm moves some of that work to AI, the learning that came with it needs its own planned place.

5A training program for juniors

A training program for juniors with AI in it can sit inside the supervised practice a firm already runs. A junior who has written a research memo without AI, then run the same question through the AI tools the firm uses, can see where the tool helped and where it missed something, and can talk both through with a supervisor. That conversation is where the junior builds judgement about the tool and about the law.

6Where we come in

Our investigation surveys the whole firm and talks with people at every level, so you can see how your graduates, juniors and supervisors use AI at the moment. It measures how long the firm's work takes today, so the firm starts from a baseline of its own. The findings belong to your firm whether or not we go any further together.

Every person then completes AI Foundations. Cohort workshops follow, with a maximum of 10 people per room, so juniors work through tasks from their own practice area. The training attaches to the supervision your firm already runs, with one AI Champion per team who carries it on once we step back.

If you would like to talk about how junior lawyers in your firm are learning alongside AI, get in touch. The first conversation works out whether your firm is the right fit for the AI Uplift Program, and whether we are the right people to help.

A training program for juniors