A significant number of legal departments want their outside counsel to use generative artificial intelligence, and expect the technology to lead to better value for law firms’ services, according to the 16th annual Law Department Operation Survey from the Blickstein Group and Deloitte.

The survey of 77 in-house legal and legal ops professionals, each from a separate company, found that many legal departments see generative AI as a benefit to their bottom line and the legal services they procure. A majority, 54.5%, expect that for work augmented by generative AI, firms will bill in different ways, including offering more alternative fee arrangements (AFAs). A larger majority, around 68%, also believe that the value of law firms’ legal services will increase if they leverage generative AI.