2025 Legal Trends

Legal industry predictions for the year ahead

Prepare for the biggest challenges facing lawyers with data-driven expert perspectives and actionable insights from the Bloomberg Law 2025 series.

1. Litigation

Explore major changes to case law in 2024 and what they might mean for 2025, including:

  • Why the death of Chevron deference won’t mean the death of corporate liability
  • How challenges to corporate DEI programs may fare in 2025
  • How Meta releasing an open source LLM might tip the scales in fair use lawsuits

2. Transactions and contracts

Discover the forces shaping key markets of interest in commercial and corporate transactions:

  • Does the recent popularity of going-private transactions represent a new dealmaking trend?
  • Why supply chains will face new risks at home and abroad, and how businesses will respond
  • How SEC actions against large banks and OpenAI will change how NDAs are drafted

3. Artificial intelligence (AI)

The dramatic rise of generative AI technology will continue to change the legal profession in 2025 and has sparked compelling legal questions, including:

  • Will AI oversight efforts follow the model of EU-inspired state privacy laws or the framework of voluntary nationwide cybersecurity standards?
  • Will basic contract-drafting skills matter for early-career transactional attorneys when AI takes over?

4. Regulatory and compliance

Dive into what legal compliance might look like in important areas of corporate risk, such as:

  • Why corporate climate goals will be subjected to new investor scrutiny
  • Why last year’s unprecedented flurry of state privacy laws is only the beginning

5. Practice of law

Understand the issues law firms and in-house legal departments will contend with and what they mean for the future of legal careers, including:

  • How law firms are deflecting anti-DEI lawsuits without changing their programs – and how corporations can do the same
  • Where high-tech project management software is gaining traction in an industry where email still rules
  • The right ratio of in-office and remote work for peak billable-hour efficiency
  • What survey responses reveal about the future of well-being programs for lawyers

These insights are only the beginning. Download our full report for a comprehensive analysis of 2025 legal industry trends and stay ahead of the evolving legal landscape.


57
%

of lawyers expect associates to have AI experience. Most attorneys expect new legal professionals to have at least a basic familiarity with AI upon hiring.


82
%

billable-hour efficiency rate for hybrid work policies suggests that attorney efficiency peaks when return-to-office arrangements allow for remote work one to two days per week.

Growth sectors for the legal industry

The legal industry is set for growth in 2025, with a heightened demand for legal expertise across specialized fields – especially regulatory compliance, privacy, and litigation. In the face of the growing complexity of global commercial activity alongside technological advancements, the demand for legal services is likely to rise in sectors affected by evolving compliance needs, including:

  • Commercial transactions
  • Supply chain risk management
  • Mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
  • Drug pricing litigation
  • SEC rulemaking

The most in-demand fields of law in 2025

Due to these predicted regulatory and market-driven changes, lawyers specializing in certain areas of law will likely be in high demand. The need for legal professionals who are adept in both AI-related ethics and law as well as those familiar with emerging issues in privacy, environmental law, and technology-driven cases will intensify.

Key fields set to experience demand spikes include:

  • Administrative and regulatory law: Agency powers are facing more judicial scrutiny, including the changing “arbitrary and capricious” standard.
  • Privacy law: State-level privacy regulations are set to proliferate, filling the gaps left by federal inaction.
  • Antitrust law: Heightened enforcement, particularly within the tech sector, signals sustained interest in antitrust expertise.
  • Climate and environmental law: Corporations face increasing scrutiny over climate goals and emissions, requiring compliance and advisory services.
  • Health law: Pharmacy benefit managers face mounting litigation and regulatory changes, as drugmakers are also grappling with state-specific drug pricing laws.

How technology is changing the legal field

The integration of AI into larger industry and commercial sectors is raising complicated legal and compliance questions. Like with the recent development of privacy and cybersecurity laws, stakeholders are debating whether AI compliance standards should follow state-driven laws or a voluntary national framework. In 2025, regulators will likely begin to address how industries use the new technology, including with oversight strategies such as the SEC’s regulation of “AI washing” in financial disclosures.

2025 is also likely to see a widespread adoption of state AI regulations narrowly targeted to curb election-related misinformation, deepfakes, and sexually explicit content. Legal professionals should expect First Amendment challenges to arise.

AI’s environmental impact is also gaining attention. In response to the new scrutiny, tech companies will be reevaluating their “green” claims in 2025.

The future of AI in legal services

Legal technology, particularly AI, is fundamentally reshaping legal practices. Even though the adoption of such tools has been gradual and cautious due to privacy and cybersecurity questions, in-house legal departments are leading the industry in implementing legal tech tools to transform how they work. For example, project management tools are more common in corporate settings than in law firms.

AI tools are increasingly being used to drive efficiencies in areas such as contract drafting, legal research, and due diligence. With AI taking over more repetitive tasks, lawyers will be able to focus on complex, strategic work, but law firms and in-house legal teams will need to develop strong oversight processes to mitigate legal and ethical risks.

To effectively leverage these tools and audit their outputs, legal professionals will still need to have a foundational understanding of contract law and legal writing skills. However, 74% of attorneys believe transactional lawyers with fewer than five years of experience lack proficiency in drafting concise, legally sound contracts. Law schools are responding by expanding AI course offerings to prepare future lawyers for AI-integrated practice.

Most attorneys expect associates to have AI knowledge

“What level of practical experience with AI would you expect new associates or new legal professionals at your firm or organization to have upon hiring?”

Law firm trends and challenges in 2025

Law firms will grapple with several challenges in 2025, including finding ways to optimize operational efficiency while balancing employee well-being:

  • Adapting to hybrid work models: Firms may struggle to balance work-from-home policies that optimize billable hours with traditional office culture.
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program sustainability: While firms remain committed to these programs, they’ll need to adapt to persisting anti-DEI legal pressures.
  • Technology implementation: The transition to project management tools and knowledge management systems remains slow, despite a recognized need among in-house teams.
  • Lawyer well-being: As mental health and well-being become focal issues, firms will expand wellness programs and dedicate staff to address these concerns.

In-house counsel trends and challenges in 2025

In-house counsel will play a crucial risk management role for their organizations, especially regarding evolving regulatory compliance challenges:

  • Supply chain resilience: Expanding and diversifying their network of suppliers while also renegotiating supply contracts for more flexibility are key tactics that corporate counsels are taking to mitigate disruption in response to global trade and regulatory risks.
  • Technology adoption: Implementing project management tools and compliance monitoring systems to improve efficiency and responsiveness.
  • Flexible contract arrangements: Ensuring adaptability in supplier and vendor contracts to respond swiftly to changing business environments.
  • Enhanced compliance oversight: Managing compliance in emerging areas, such as climate reporting and AI regulation, to align with corporate governance goals.

Golriz Chrostowski
Principal Legal Analyst

Robert Dillard
Principal Legal Analyst

Abigail Gampher Takacs
Legal Analyst

Michael Maugans
Senior Legal Analyst

Mary Ashley Salvino
Senior Content Specialist

Laura Travis
Content Specialist

Louann Troutman
Senior Legal Analyst

Erin L. Webb
Principal Legal Analyst