Midsize firms with AI strategies see 3.9x better ROI
Highlights
- Midsize law firms are rapidly adopting GenAI to gain a competitive edge, with strategic implementation leading to a nearly 4x better return on investment (ROI).
- Uniquely positioned with operational flexibility and strong market demand, midsize firms leverage AI to amplify productivity, maintain strategic pricing advantages, and enhance profitability.
- Real-world case studies demonstrate that tools like Thomson Reuters CoCounsel and Westlaw Precision can save up to 80% of research time and find critical evidence in minutes.
AI advantages in the midsize firm space
Measuring AI’s financial impact
Transformative results from real practices
Enhancing ROI with strategic AI implementation
The legal industry’s relationship with technology has always been cautious, but AI is rewriting that narrative. While hesitation once defined the profession’s approach to innovation, midsize law firms now see that AI adoption delivers measurable competitive advantages that directly impact their bottom line.
2025 Thomson Reuters Institute research shows generative AI (GenAI) adoption jumped from 14% to 26% in just one year, with law firms leading at 28% adoption. More telling is that 59% of law firms believe GenAI should be integrated into their work, citing automation of routine tasks, time savings, and increased productivity as primary drivers.
For midsize firms, this presents an unprecedented opportunity to level the competitive playing field.
AI advantages in the midsize firm space
Midsize law firms occupy a unique position in today’s legal market. Unlike their larger counterparts struggling with complex bureaucracies or smaller firms limited by resources, midsize practices can implement AI strategically while maintaining operational flexibility.
Current market data reveals three distinct advantages for midsize firms:
- Stronger demand growth. Midsize firms are experiencing higher demand for services compared to the broader legal industry. This creates timely opportunities to capitalize on increased efficiency through AI implementation.
- Rising productivity trends. After years of industry-wide productivity decline, midsize firms are finding measurable productivity improvements — a foundation that AI can amplify significantly.
- Strategic pricing flexibility. Midsize firms balance their competitive rates against quality service delivery, and AI enables them to maintain cost advantages while delivering premium-quality work.
Measuring AI’s financial impact
Document review poses one of the most time-intensive challenges facing midsize firms. AI solutions tackle this challenge head-on by conducting comprehensive document analysis, extracting essential information from large databases, and providing insights backed by citations from trusted sources. Attorneys can then spend more time on high-value legal work.
Workflow inefficiencies often consume billable hours and decrease revenue opportunities. AI solutions automate these tedious processes, enabling lawyers to spend less time sorting through data. For midsize firms operating with limited resources, this creates higher capacity for revenue-generating client work without increases in overhead costs.
Perhaps most critically for midsize firm profitability, visibility into financial performance is key. Managing partners may wonder which cases are yielding an actual profit and which cases aren’t. AI tools provide real-time analytics and dashboard-style reporting. Enhanced visibility, in turn, empowers data-driven decisions about resource allocation, pricing strategies, and practice area focus.
Transformative results from real practices
Attorney Guy D’Andrea at Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan has seen the benefits of GenAI come to life in Thomson Reuters Westlaw Precision, using the AI-Assisted Research feature to lay the groundwork for his cases. He reports that the feature has saved him up to 80% of the time previously devoted to legal research. This efficiency gain allows him to focus on the sensitive client relationships that define his practice.
“It allows you to hyper-focus on that incredibly important skill set — and less on the everyday monotony of what we sometimes do in the practice of law,” D’Andrea explains.
Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan
Partner Guy D’Andrea at Laffey Bucci D’Andrea Reich & Ryan shares the tangible benefits of using Thomson Reuters CoCounsel
Read case study ↗Al Aquila, partner at Sullivan Papain Block McManus Coffinas & Cannavo, praises Thomson Reuters CoCounsel’s time savings that directly impact firm profitability. In one case, while a colleague spent two hours unsuccessfully searching through 6,000 pages for critical evidence, CoCounsel found the key information in approximately seven minutes — evidence that helped settle the case. It also reviewed hundreds of pages of Medicare treatment codes and “broke down the Medicare lien into what was relevant and what wasn’t, and even did the math for me,” helping cut down significant money from liens.
“I realized right away that I don’t have to waste a lot of time going through thousands of pages of records to try to find the relevant material,” Aquila says.
For firms considering AI adoption, his ROI message is clear: “If you’re not using [CoCounsel], you could be more efficient. And in our practice, efficiency is everything.”
Enhancing ROI with strategic AI implementation
Thomson Reuters’ Future of Professionals 2025 report confirms that organizations with visible AI strategies are 3.5 times more likely to experience ROI compared to those without strategic adoption plans. As you consider your midsize firm’s AI journey, ask yourself these essential questions:
- What are the 2-3 most time-consuming tasks for your team? Conduct targeted assessments to identify where AI can deliver immediate impact.
- Are you choosing AI tools that integrate seamlessly with your existing workflows? Evaluate solutions based on how they enhance your current processes rather than disrupting them.
- How will you know if your AI investment is working? Establish clear metrics that track both time savings and quality improvements.
- Will your firm commit to ongoing education? AI implementation requires continuous learning and expanding your firm’s capabilities.
See unmatched results today
Midsize firms implementing AI today establish competitive advantages that become increasingly difficult for others to match. The combination of operational efficiency, enhanced service delivery, and strategic positioning creates favorable results for a more sustainable future.
Over 20,000 U.S. law firms currently use CoCounsel, the professional-grade AI assistant that accompanies users from task to task and connects every capability in CoCounsel Legal. Accelerate your legal work today from start to finish.
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The financial and operational benefits of AI for small and midsize law firms
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