The adoption of artificial intelligence by the legal profession has sparked anxiety and fears of job displacement among legal teams, according to the "2026 Axiom Global In-House Talent Study" conducted by Axiom Law.
Forty-three percent of in-house legal teams reported that they were using AI tools daily, and 93 percent claimed that AI upped their productivity significantly. However, 76 percent of respondents are worried that AI will replace them, while just 24 percent feel secure in their jobs.
This concern has exacerbated the retention issue in the profession, with 97 and 95 percent of legal departments struggling to hire quality talent and resource multidisciplinary legal projects, respectively. Seventy-eight percent of legal departments said project volume rose, while 77 percent reported that projects were increasingly complex.
The report indicated that although many organizations adopted AI, less than 40 percent established usage policies and conducted staff training. Unclear communication regarding AI strategy has also led legal professionals to assume the worst about their job security. Thus, 46 percent of respondents indicated they were actively job hunting.
The report suggested that organizations collaborate with alternative legal service providers, which offer headcount flexibility to help manage increasing workloads without long-term staffing commitments that could lead to redundancy. In-house legal teams that worked with both ALSPs and AI experienced less pressure (34 percent) than those who did not (59 percent). The former also better retained talent, with just 14 percent of staff actively looking for work, compared with 28 percent for those who did not use ALSPs.
The report also urged organizations to clarify how AI implementation affects workflows, confirm which positions are unaffected by the adoption, and explain how staff will be supported during the AI transition. It called for legal teams to set basic AI policies and training.
The report recommended that, beyond productivity, organizations should monitor staff’s anxiety levels, pressure points, and retention risk.