In-house counsel take on broader business responsibilities, LOD report finds

Corporate legal departments are expanding their role beyond traditional legal advisory work and becoming more deeply involved in business strategy, according to a new report by Lawyers On Demand (LOD).

The study found that 71% of in-house legal teams now view themselves as strategic business partners, a significant increase from 21% a year earlier. By comparison, 62% of respondents identified the provision of specialist legal advice as their primary function.

The findings suggest that legal departments are taking on broader responsibilities at a time when workloads continue to rise. More than half of respondents (56%) cited growing work volumes as their main challenge, while 54% pointed to increasing involvement in technology-related decision-making.

Artificial intelligence is playing a growing role in legal operations, although adoption remains uneven. Document review and analysis emerged as the most common use case, followed by legal research and contract management. However, many legal teams continue to face operational inefficiencies, with 46% reporting fragmented technology environments. Among them, nearly half rely on manual workarounds, while more than one-third struggle with duplicated data across multiple systems.

Despite these challenges, respondents reported tangible benefits from AI adoption. Nearly six in ten said the technology has improved efficiency and productivity, while others highlighted the automation of routine tasks and reductions in operating costs.

Concerns around implementation remain. Accuracy and trust in AI-generated outputs were cited as barriers by 34% of respondents, while 32% pointed to data security and confidentiality issues. A further 26% said limited internal expertise was slowing adoption.

According to LOD, the findings reflect the growing complexity of the in-house legal function, which is increasingly expected to combine legal expertise, business insight, technology oversight and risk management.

The report, titled The Integration Imperative: Optimising the Legal Engine of the Future, is based on responses from 678 legal, risk and compliance professionals worldwide and marks the sixth edition of the annual survey.