Profitability Report: What Are Legal Professionals Saying About Investments in People and Technology?

While profitability has long been a priority for many law firms, legal professionals are now facing a period of significant transformation. Pricing pressures, evolving client expectations, and technological advancements are reshaping how firms operate and approach profitability in modern practice.

To better understand this shift, LEAP surveyed 700 legal professionals across six countries, highlighting four major investment pillars that drive firm performance: strategy, people, technology, and AI.*

The result is Global Report 2026: Profitability in Law, a quantitative study that examines where legal professionals are focusing their efforts, where they see room for improvement, and which factors they believe have the greatest impact on their bottom line.

Alongside key findings from the report, this article shares additional US-specific data that was gathered, but not published in the initial report, which can be downloaded from this page. The insights below offer a more specific view into profitability in law across the United States.

Whether you're looking to evaluate your firm's current approach, identify new opportunities, or understand how peers are putting legal technology to work, these findings offer valuable perspectives.

A Closer Look at the US Legal Market

To better understand how US-based legal professionals are approaching profitability today, we have identified three key themes from the survey data:

1. Profitability isn’t just a financial goal. It’s a guiding business priority that influences how firms make decisions around staffing, technology, and growth.

2. Many firms are operating across fragmented systems and multiple platforms, creating friction that complicates daily workflows.

3. A significant portion of the workday is still consumed by non-billable tasks, with 58% of respondents spending between two and five hours each day on work that doesn’t directly generate revenue.

Together, these themes reflect a US legal market that is highly motivated to improve outcomes but is still navigating processes and systems that can slow progress. They also point to a clear opportunity: for firms relying on multiple disconnected tools, greater consolidation and alignment could meaningfully reduce administrative burden and open the door to more efficient, profitable ways of working.

US Survey Responses at a Glance

• 58% say they spend 2–5 hours on non-billable tasks every day

• 44% say better technology and tools are among the best investments a firm can make to increase profitability

• 90% say they are concerned about burnout

• 64% report using integrated or legal-specific AI tools regularly

• 77% say they are saving a moderate or significant amount of time with AI

Profitability and Legal Technology as a Strategic Focus

95% of survey respondents in the US said their firms had moderate to high potential for improving profitability. Many also see technology as a key lever in achieving that. In the US, 44% of respondents say that tools and technology rank among the most valuable investments a firm can make in its people to drive profitability.

When it comes to where legal tech can have the greatest impact, respondents selected three top investments that firms can make: automating repetitive workflows and tasks (38%), consolidating into one integrated platform (33%), and eliminating manual data entry and re-entry (30%). These priorities reflect a broader shift in how legal professionals are thinking about profitability—it’s less about working harder and more about removing the friction that gets in the way of higher-value legal work.

This mindset appears to be paying off for many respondents. Around 76% report that their tech stack is a helpful or major advantage to profitability—a strong signal that investments in the right tools are already making positive impacts for US law firms.

The Impact of Fragmented Systems

Survey responses from the US show that the country has a large number of legal professionals who are using several different technology platforms with varying levels of integration. 79% of respondents say that they use 3 or more technology platforms daily with 22% at a level of 5 or more. 61% describe their firm’s technology as mostly integrated, with a few add-ons to their main platform, 10% say they access everything through one platform, and 7% say they use different platforms for different functions, and they are not integrated.

Respondents were asked, “What critical features or capabilities are missing from your current technology that prevent you from working more efficiently?” One US-based survey respondent highlighted the inefficiencies that can arise when systems are fragmented saying, “Our systems don’t talk to each other, so we spend too much time on manual data entry.” Another said, “We still lack a fully integrated system that allows us to handle everything without having to juggle between tools.”

AI’s Role in Supporting Efficiency and Profitability

For many legal professionals, AI is now a regular part of everyday legal work. According to the survey data, 67% of US respondents report using standalone AI tools at least regularly in their workflows, while 64% use integrated or legal-specific AI. Only about 7% and 11% of respondents say they have never used standalone or integrated/legal-specific AI, respectively.

Additionally, nearly half of legal professionals report that standalone and integrated/legal-specific AI have had an equally positive impact on their firm’s profitability and efficiency. However, it is noteworthy that almost 30% of respondents said integrated/legal-specific AI tools had the greatest positive impact, compared to just 13% for standalone AI tools. When asked what ways their firms were currently using AI, respondents most often pointed to legal research and case law analysis (38%), document review and analysis (35%), and drafting and document generation (31%).

Key Considerations

By combining the right legal technology with AI, firms can help reduce operational friction while improving speed, consistency, and overall output. That said, these changes tend to be most effective when approached with intention. Clear implementation strategies, strong onboarding, and alignment across teams can all play an important role in helping to ensure new tools are used effectively.

When done well, the result is a more connected and efficient technology ecosystem—one that supports both day-to-day work and longer-term growth.

Turnover & Burnout in US Legal Professionals

Workforce pressures are a defining part of the legal landscape globally. The US is no exception with 81% of respondents identifying turnover as a problem, and 9% of those describing it as significant or critical. 36% say high turnover is one of the biggest barriers to running an efficient practice. Burnout levels at firms are also reported as widespread, with 90% in the US saying it is a concern.

Growing workloads, client demands, and court deadlines contribute to pressure and strain for legal professionals, while a significant portion of the workday continues to be spent on non-billable tasks. In fact, 64% report spending more than two hours per day on this type of work, and 6% spend more than five hours.

At the same time, the data highlights how AI is—and isn’t—being used by legal professionals. About one-third of respondents are not regularly using standalone AI tools, 36% are not using integrated or legal-specific AI, and around 8% are not using AI at all. In contrast, among those already using AI, 92% say it has saved them time, with 17% reporting significant time savings. Firms seem to have opportunities to use technology to help relieve workload pressures without compromising productivity and help boost profitability at the same time.

Is Your Firm Well Positioned for What’s Next?

The findings show that legal professionals in the United States are focused on improving profitability while navigating time constraints, fragmented systems, and evolving approaches to technology.

While many report that their current tools support productivity, there is still an opportunity to further align workflows, particularly in environments where multiple systems are in use. How well those systems work together continues to play a role in shaping the day-to-day experience of legal work.

The data also highlights the role of AI within that broader ecosystem. When used in conjunction with more connected systems, it can help reduce friction and support more consistent, efficient workflows.

Dive Into the Global Report

The findings in this article only scratch the surface. The Global Report 2026: Profitability in Law draws on responses from 700 legal professionals across six countries to deliver a comprehensive look at how they are currently navigating technology adoption, people management, and profitability strategy.

Access the global report for first-hand perspectives, data visualizations, and more to help you identify where the greatest opportunities may lie.

* In collaboration with Agile Market Intelligence, LEAP surveyed 700 legal professionals across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand from November 10–28, 2025.