The Future of AI-Driven Legal Practice
2026 Legal Tech Trends Helping You Make the Most of Every Moment
WHAT’S INSIDE
1 2 3 4 5 6
The Rise of the Intelligent Assistant
Automation with Intent
Collaboration Without Boundaries
Search Becomes Understanding
The Era of Connected Intelligence
Knowledge That Organizes Itself
1
NetDocuments | 2026 Legal Tech Trends
Letter from the CEO
This year’s trends report arrives at an important moment for our industry. The rapid rise of AI has pushed legal teams across law firms, corporate legal departments, and government agencies to rethink how work gets done — not only what AI can do, but how it should be applied, governed, and adopted. Amid that change, one principle has guided our decisions at NetDocuments: the DMS must now function as the strategic core of modern legal operations. For years, document management focused on storing and organizing information. Today, it must do much more. It must activate your knowledge, support intelligent workflows, and serve as the secure environment where AI can work reliably and responsibly. That shift is well underway, and we are investing heavily to ensure the NetDocuments platform provides the intelligence, extensibility, and governance that legal teams require. Our focus is not on adding complexity — it’s on reducing it. We believe AI should support professionals inside the tools and workflows they already use, not force them to learn new interfaces or juggle a growing collection of point solutions. This is why we continue to embed ambient intelligence directly into the platform, and why we built ndConnect: to give organizations access to secure, specialized Legal AI solutions while keeping NetDocuments as the trusted backbone where work, permissions, and security remain consistent. But as many teams experienced over the last year, technology alone doesn’t drive impact — adoption does. We are equally committed to helping customers build the readiness, structure, and change management capabilities needed to benefit from AI in meaningful ways. Our mission has always been to help legal professionals do their best work. Today, that means supporting not only the technology behind that work, but the human and operational practices that bring it to life. In the pages that follow, you’ll see six trends shaping the next phase of legal innovation. The “In Practice” examples within each one highlight what’s possible right now — from intelligent assistants and connected workflows to agentic AI and self-organizing knowledge. My hope is that they spark ideas for how your firm, department, or agency can build on what’s working today and prepare for what’s next. Thank you for your continued trust and partnership. Together, we are shaping the future of legal work with purpose, responsibility, and innovation at the core and helping legal professionals make the most of every moment.
Sincerely,
Josh Baxter Chief Executive Officer NetDocuments
2
NetDocuments | 2026 Legal Tech Trends
AI should support professionals inside the tools and workflows they already use. — Josh Baxter, CEO, NetDocuments
3
NetDocuments | 2026 Legal Tech Trends
Introduction
Is your firm using generative AI tools for business tasks?
The past year has been a turning point for legal teams. Legal AI adoption has surged — use by corporate legal teams’ organizations is up to 60% , and law firms jumped from 37% in 2024 to 80% in 2025 , with usage among 700-lawyer-plus firms now at 100%. In 2025, firms, legal departments, and public-sector organizations experimented, piloted, and pressure-tested a wave of new AI tools. Some delivered real value; others revealed the gap between promise and practicality. What emerged from that learning is a clearer understanding of what it will take to move from experimentation to meaningful, sustainable impact. In 2026, we begin to see a more grounded vision take shape: AI that becomes part of the workflow, not another place to click. Ambient intelligence that supports work as it happens. A DMS that shifts from a passive system of record to the foundation of an organization’s future legal operating system — where content, workflow, and AI come together to make both work and life better. This evolution won’t happen overnight. It requires thoughtful change management, better-structured knowledge, secure integrations, and tools that meet professionals exactly where they work. But the direction is clear. As organizations adopt more disciplined, workflow-ready AI — instead of chasing hype or standalone tools, the benefits compound: faster insight, smoother collaboration, fewer manual tasks, and more time for the work that depends on human judgment. The result isn’t just efficiency. It’s balance. It’s the ability for lawyers and other legal professionals to make the most of every moment with powerful legal tech. Here are six key legal tech trends that will redefine what it means to work — and thrive — in 2026. Each one shows how technology can be more than a tool; it can be a partner that gives time, clarity, and purpose back to the people driving the future of the profession — whether in a law firm, corporate legal department, or government agency.
80%
Yes
37%
15%
2025
2024
2023
ILTA 2025 Tech Survey
“We’re going to see — and we have seen — ambient AI become ubiquitous. It’s going to seep into everything in ways that are largely undetectable but have a profound impact on what we see and ultimately what we do.”
– Casey Flaherty, B+B Partner and LexFusion Co-Founder
4
NetDocuments | 2026 Legal Tech Trends
Trends At A Glance 1
The Rise of the Intelligent Assistant From command-based to conversational—and now to proactive. (page 6)
2 3 4 5 6
Automation with Intent Workflows that plan before they act. (page 8)
Collaboration Without Boundaries The future of co-authoring and beyond, securely reimagined. (page 10)
Search Becomes Understanding AI s‑earch replaces keyword chaos with contextual intelligence. (page 12)
The Era of Connected Intelligence Everything talks—securely and seamlessly. (page 14)
Knowledge That Organizes Itself AI profiling turns documents into structured intelligence—automatically. (page 16)
5
NetDocuments | 2026 Legal Tech Trends
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator