A recent Help Net Security article highlights new Deloitte research on enterprise AI adoption, drawing on insights from more than 3,200 business and IT leaders across industries. The findings reveal a familiar pattern: meaningful progress in access and executive support, paired with ongoing friction when it comes to scaling, governance, and workforce readiness.

According to the research, nearly six in ten workers now have access to approved AI tools. However, far fewer are using those tools consistently in their day-to-day workflows. This gap underscores a growing challenge for organizations: providing access to AI does not automatically translate into effective or routine use.

The transition from pilot projects to full production remains especially limited. Only about one quarter of surveyed organizations report having successfully made that leap. Many cite persistent barriers, including training gaps, poorly aligned workflows, infrastructure constraints, and uncertainty around expectations for AI use. These challenges point to a broader issue—AI initiatives often outpace the organizational structures needed to support them.

From a security perspective, the article also raises important concerns. As AI becomes more embedded in enterprise environments, organizations should expect new classes of attacks and failure modes to emerge. One key risk involves permitted access being misused outside its intended workflow, forcing security teams to rethink controls originally designed for purely human activity.

This aligns closely with what we see in our ALSP work with clients. Evaluating the “right” automation and AI tools is rarely a one-time decision. Client expectations, existing infrastructure, regulatory considerations, and internal resources are constantly evolving, making AI adoption a moving target rather than a fixed endpoint.

Ultimately, successful enterprise AI adoption requires more than access—it demands thoughtful governance, practical workflow integration, ongoing training, and security models designed for AI-augmented work. Organizations that address these areas together will be better positioned to turn experimentation into sustainable, secure value.

Read the full article here

The 2026 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑼.𝑺. 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕, published annually by the Thomson Reuters Institute and the Georgetown Law Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession, examines the forces shaping the future of law firms. These include shifting client power, economic instability, and technological disruption.

The 23-page report outlines five core findings that challenge the status quo. While the U.S. legal market experienced unprecedented demand surges last year, smaller firms captured a disproportionate share of growth as clients shifted work from the most expensive firms to lower-cost alternatives.

At the same time, firms are aggressively investing in AI capabilities while carefully balancing technology spending and talent costs. With general counsel signaling significant spending pullbacks amid deteriorating buyer sentiment, firms must not only continue to push the GenAI envelope but also revisit traditional billing structures. Notably, 90% of legal dollars still flow through hourly billing arrangements, which are often misaligned with the value delivered.

Link Report: https://lnkd.in/gfBSvKF3

Fifteen years ago, Attorney at Work (AAW) began publishing “one really good idea every day” for lawyers and legal professionals, sharing tips, lessons, how-to guidance, tech reviews, and insights on everything in between.

As we close out 2025, AAW revealed its top 20 posts of the year, spanning AI (#1 and #3), legal tech (#2, #5, #19), productivity and planning (#4, #6, #13), as well as widely read articles on mental health, social media, succession planning, and new business development for lawyers.

We relate in particular to the #1-ranked article, “5 Essential Questions Every Lawyer Should Ask Before Using AI Tools.” The article reinforces that the most trustworthy legal AI tools prioritize transparency while safeguarding confidentiality. The author also highlights the importance of customization and built-in validation, ensuring AI aligns with practice-specific needs and supports, rather than replaces, professional judgment.

We couldn’t agree more. When using AI for client work, our Solvaire Technologies ALSP team relies on tools that deliver transparency, leverage authoritative and current legal data, protect client confidentiality, and help streamline and automate workflows.

Article Link: https://lnkd.in/e7prmSdX

Anyone who has spent time in the legal industry, particularly in the business of law, has heard repeated predictions about the demise of the billable hour and the belief that billing in six-minute increments is no longer sustainable.

As an Alternative Legal Services Provider (ALSP), Solvaire Technologies brings decades of experience structuring client engagements with creativity, transparency, and flexibility, including a long-standing use of fixed fees and alternative fee arrangements (AFAs). Our clients value the transparency and increased visibility into the work we deliver.

A recent The American Lawyer magazine article echoes this sentiment, suggesting that 2026 may finally be the year the legal industry becomes more open to alternative billing arrangements. The anticipated shift toward AFAs over hourly billing is likely driven by efficiencies created by artificial intelligence in client matters.

While adopting new technology, particularly generative AI tools, can accelerate administrative workflows and automate timekeeping processes, understanding overall cost and return on investment continues to evolve. Moving to an AFA structure, or at least offering alternatives to traditional billable hours, is one immediate way to pass these efficiencies on to clients.

Article Link: https://lnkd.in/gCe5K8Fg

AI is enabling a variety of new skills and forcing the hand of those reluctant to change or take individual initiative. A recent Corporate Counsel Business Journal (CCBJ) article highlights “citizen developers” and how AI has empowered employees to create tools and workflows on their own terms.

According to the authors, employees across industries and organizations are now generating workflows and influencing decisions in ways that differ from traditional software development timelines yet carry the same operational weight. These citizen developers are solving problems with the AI in front of them, doing so quickly and with noticeable ROI.

So where does that leave companies and firms? The sooner employers accept this reality, the sooner they can enable a path that turns informal AI work into something the enterprise can own, leverage, and govern.

Article Link: https://lnkd.in/d3DzPvbs

Solvaire Technologies has been guiding law departments and in-house teams on eDiscovery strategies and technologies for the last 25 years, so we’re not too surprised by Exterro’s recent article stating “why 40% of legal pros still misunderstand eDiscovery.” An Exterro survey revealed that familiarity doesn’t equal understanding when it comes to defining eDiscovery, and this gap can complicate the execution of eDiscovery functions, leading to delays, inconsistent scoping, and potential sanctions.

eDiscovery sits at the crossroads of Legal, IT, Security, and Privacy. When these functions lack a shared understanding of eDiscovery, every project turns into a costly negotiation. Since eDiscovery is the largest driver of litigation costs, clarity and consistent understanding of terminology and scope across teams is critical.

We also agree with the authors that good eDiscovery starts long before any hold is placed. It begins with a solid foundation of governance. Take five minutes to read this practical eDiscovery article.

Article Link: https://lnkd.in/dfsmus_g

The latest 80/20 Principle column by highly respected attorney and legal tech veteran Ernie Svenson 😎 highlights AI tools for lawyers and what legal professionals are actually using. An ad hoc poll found that 57% use ChatGPT, which excels at conversation and problem-solving. Overall, tool choice depends on purpose and the task at hand.

The article notes that some lawyers prefer Anthropic’s Claude for tone and polished writing, Perplexity for better-sourced research, and Gemini AI for drafting complex documents. But as we have seen in our own AI work with Solvaire Technologies clients, no single tool does everything. Be sure to test a variety of out-of-the-box solutions as well as legal-specific products, and do not settle for “it works pretty well” or “well enough.”

Article Link: https://lnkd.in/gHBVq58T

Thomson Reuters has long been a reliable source for legal industry insights, surveys, and trend analysis, so the launch of its new eBook, 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐈: 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, has our attention.

As AI moves from theory to everyday legal work, professionals now see a more straightforward path to confidently and responsibly adopt AI.

The numbers don’t lie. According to recent Thomson Reuters research, 59% of firms’ operational strategy, 53% of service strategy, and 40% of talent acquisition will be significantly impacted by AI over the next five years.

This naturally raises important questions, each addressed concisely in this 17-page eBook:
• What is changing in legal work and client expectations?
• What are the key ethics and risk considerations in the AI landscape?
• How do we practically integrate AI into existing tech stacks and workflows?
• How does the return on AI investment translate into client value?

Spend 30 minutes with this report. It is time well spent as we continue to leverage AI in legal practice heading into 2026.

eBook Link: https://lnkd.in/eXgjNViz

While most of us have wrapped up our summer reading lists, it may be time to consider some winter selections. Bloomberg Law recently released the latest installment of its annual outlook series, now available for download. 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑔 𝐿𝑎𝑤 2026: 𝑆ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑝 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑠 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛 𝑈𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 is a year-long content series featuring more than 30 articles focused on critical issues expected to shape the legal industry in the coming year.

The report highlights four key categories: litigation, corporations and transactions, artificial intelligence (AI), and executive orders and authority. On the AI front, legal analysts explore why states are shifting from privacy regulation to AI regulation and why, heading into 2026, corporate legal departments may struggle to measure the ROI of AI.

This 38-page report makes for insightful winter reading or a great head start over Thanksgiving.

Report Link: https://lnkd.in/eeXvQ8EG

Legaltech Hub Hub (LTH), a trusted source for legal tech insights, analysis, and advisory, just published an insightful piece on the state of AI in the legal industry, highlighting emerging AI companies, notable M&As, and the latest funding activity.

One of the most interesting takeaways is a shift in AI pricing, long a concern and barrier for smaller firms and law departments. According to LTH, several legal tech companies now include GenAI capabilities as part of their core offerings rather than selling them as standalone products or add-ons.
The key trend to watch, as LTH puts it, is the “democratization of AI” and how easier, more affordable access to GenAI could soon become the new status quo.

Article link: https://lnkd.in/eNgj534v