Anthropic Targets Legal Work With New AI Tools as 83% of Lawyers Already Have Access
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jun 25
Anthropic Targets Legal Work With New AI Tools as 83% of Lawyers Already Have Access
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jun 25
Summary
Anthropic this year rolled out legal-sector AI tools aimed at automating routine work, joining a crowded push into law as firms seek measurable productivity gains.
100,000 documents were processed in 48 hours by Ashurst Advance using generative AI for an Australian competition review, versus roughly two weeks previously—an example vendors are using to sell efficiency.
Harvey, valued at $11 billion, Legora at $5.6 billion, LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters already compete in legal AI, while OpenAI is also reported to be preparing software for legal work.
83% of lawyers in firms and in-house teams have access to AI, but only 22% report high trust in its outputs, leaving adoption, training, confidentiality and ROI as major hurdles.
Corporate legal departments are forecast to double legal-tech spending by 2028, yet broader AI access may also shift work in-house as clients gain tools once concentrated at outside law firms.
Can free, lawyer-built AI tools dethrone the billion-dollar platforms reshaping the legal industry?
Will a lawyer's value soon depend more on tech skills than on traditional legal expertise?
As clients and firms use the same AI, can the traditional billable hour model survive this tech revolution?
500% Growth and $300 Billion Disruption: Anthropic’s Claude AI Redefines Legal Practice and Market Dynamics in 2026
Overview
In 2026, Anthropic launched its Legal AI, Claude, fundamentally reshaping law firm operations. This transformation began with a strategic partnership with Freshfields, which gained early access to Anthropic’s AI and provided crucial feedback. Freshfields then deployed Claude firmwide, integrating it seamlessly within the Microsoft Office ecosystem. Claude operates across Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint, maintaining context between applications. The beta launch of Claude for Word, initially focused on legal contract review, quickly became deeply embedded in legal workflows. This multi-level integration marked a major shift in how legal professionals use AI in their daily work.