By New Delhi [India], June 2: Manupatra has long been at the cutting edge of technology within the Indian legal space. Our consistent engagement with law students and professionals enables us to gather ground-level insights into innovations that influence legal operations in India.
In recent years, artificial intelligence has found its way into everyday life—impacting both personal routines and professional workflows. In the legal field, AI tools have delivered tangible benefits—from speeding up research and enhancing drafting processes to streamlining case and contract handling. That said, concerns have surfaced, such as legal practitioners unintentionally relying on AI-generated fictitious cases.
With a strong focus on responsible innovation, Manupatra has launched a pioneering nationwide survey aimed at assessing the current landscape of AI adoption in India’s legal community. This effort captures authentic feedback from lawyers and students, identifies major implementation gaps, and highlights the need for structured and ethical deployment of AI in legal work. These findings are intended to guide policymakers and professionals toward better integration strategies and safeguards.
Manupatra is now unveiling its full report, “Adoption of AI in the Indian Legal Landscape,” which reflects feedback from 227 respondents across India—including students, practicing lawyers, corporate legal advisors, firm partners, professors, and judicial officers.
Key Findings:
Young, Engaged Participants: 60% of respondents were between the ages of 18–34, with law students (36.6%) and advocates (23.8%) comprising the largest groups—suggesting high receptiveness to AI among the younger demographic.
Initial Usage Trends: Close to 60% had interacted with AI tools over the past year, mostly for legal research (77.9%), summarizing documents (65.7%), and drafting assistance (54.7%).
Productivity Boost with Caution: While 79.7% reported saving time on routine legal tasks, only 4.1% expressed complete trust in AI results, and 48.8% emphasized the need for human validation.
Key Limitations: Over 58% raised concerns about inconsistent results, 51.2% mentioned hallucinated content, and 42.4% cited a lack of tools tailored for Indian legal nuances.
Policy Shortcomings: Although 77.1% believe AI usage should be declared in legal work, only 11% reported having an existing written AI policy in their organization.
Highlighted Challenges:
Unpredictable Accuracy (58.14%): A majority flagged unreliable or fabricated outputs as a significant limitation.
Client Data Sensitivity (47.67%): Many participants voiced concerns over safeguarding client confidentiality and data integrity.
Lack of India-Centric Data (42.44%): Several tools are not optimized for Indian legal systems, causing frequent misinterpretations.
Ethical Responsibility Issues (38.37%): There is uncertainty around accountability, fairness, and bias in AI-generated results.
Training and Awareness Barriers (40.12% & 34.30%): Respondents pointed to limited staff readiness and unfamiliarity with legal AI tools as key hurdles.
User Sentiment and Future Outlook:
Adoption Timeline: 35.68% foresee AI becoming a standard part of legal practice in 1–2 years, while only 3.96% think it will take longer than five.
Balanced Viewpoint: 46.25% rated AI’s impact as “mostly positive,” and 18.06% viewed it as “transformative,” while 45.37% recognized both pros and cons.
Requirements for Broader Adoption: Respondents prioritized structured training (67.40%), free or trial-based access to tools (66.52%), and official guidance from legal bodies (47.58%) to build trust.
AI as a Support Tool: Most participants agreed that AI will assist with research and drafting, while critical decision-making will remain with legal professionals.
About Manupatra:
Manupatra is India’s most trusted provider of legal, regulatory, and business research solutions. As the first company to offer online legal research in India in 2000, it has developed the country’s largest database of Indian and international legal resources. Powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, Manupatra supports legal professionals, firms, courts, corporates, and law students with tools that simplify legal research and boost efficiency—combining legal expertise with smart technology.
