U.S. FEDResearch
Everlaw survey finds most in-house teams are cutting work sent to outside counsel
Everlaw's In-House Innovation Report, published October 20, 2026, found that 54% of in-house legal teams have already reduced the work they send to outside counsel because of AI, and another 44% plan to start within a year. The survey of 300 in-house attorneys and legal operations professionals was conducted with Wakefield Research.
Paper (ABA Journal) → · eDiscovery Today
Key points
- 86% of respondents use generative AI for legal work, and 37% use it extensively.eDiscovery Today
- 81% expect most legal work to be priced by outcome rather than billable hours within five years.ABA JournaleDiscovery Today
- 47% expect that pricing shift within three years.eDiscovery Today
- Only 27% ask outside counsel for routine legal work, while 56% rely on them for business and commercial insight.ABA Journal
- Accuracy and alignment was the top AI concern, cited by 80% of respondents.eDiscovery Today