In the law firm, Ai is a daily tool

Artificial intelligence has become an ordinary tool on the digital desk of the lawyer. Not just a curiosity or a support to make work more efficient in medium to large firms, but a way to facilitate case-law research and now also to help in the drafting of deeds even in small law firms. An affirmation, that of the Ai, in just three years, witnessed in the survey carried out by the Milan Bar Association, in collaboration with "Il Sole 24 Ore". The survey, which will be presented this morning (from 10 a.m.) at the Palazzo di Giustizia in Milan as part of the "Talk to the future" event, photographs the evolution since 2024 and gives an account of the cultural change that thelawyers are undergoing. In particular the Milanese one, which has been questioning artificial intelligence for years and has been experimenting with it, sharing the results. From the Order of Milan, it should be recalled, came the first decalogue on the duties of the lawyer who adopts artificial intelligence, principles that were then transposed - in summary - into law 132/2025.

The Order's research mainly involveslawyers already registered (93.5%), while trainees account for 6.5% of the total. The most represented age group remains that between 45 and 54 (38.9%), followed by the over-55s (31.7%).

The structure of the law firms involved also confirms a figure that has been consistent in previous surveys: 73.5 per cent work in firms with one to three lawyers and 93.8 per cent in firms with at most three trainees.

In the areas of activity, consistent with previous editions,civil law dominates (53.6%), followed by criminal law (15.2%) and family law (10%). More residual, but still present, are corporate, banking, tax, privacy and new technology law. Ai is thus perceived as useful even in areas historically considered to have a high relational and interpretative component.

"In just three years, artificial intelligence has gone from being an emerging topic to an operational tool, to becoming an everydayinfrastructure of work," the research findings note. "The 2024 survey represented a snapshot of strong curiosity accompanied by caution. In 2025, Ai begins to be perceived as a concrete factor of professional evolution: the perception of the positive impact grows, real usage increases, and the conviction that some forensic activities can structurally benefit from assisted automation strengthens. In 2026 - according to the research results - the cultural change appears to be complete. The profession is no longer questioning 'whether' to use artificial intelligence, but about how to govern it, with what competences and according to what deontological and organisational limits'.