AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 23-1011.00
Will AI replace Lawyers?
Lawyers: AI can already handle 18 of 22 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 22 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Lawyers, from most to least exposed. 18 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations. | Observed | Frontier | |
| Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses. | Observed | Standard | |
| Prepare, draft, and review legal documents, such as wills, deeds, patent applications, mortgages, leases, and contracts. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Present and summarize cases to judges and juries. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Help develop federal and state programs, draft and interpret laws and legislation, and establish enforcement procedures. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Confer with colleagues with specialties in appropriate areas of legal issue to establish and verify bases for legal proceedings. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Represent clients in court or before government agencies. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Select jurors, argue motions, meet with judges, and question witnesses during the course of a trial. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Present evidence to defend clients or prosecute defendants in criminal or civil litigation. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Examine legal data to determine advisability of defending or prosecuting lawsuit. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Supervise legal assistants. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Prepare legal briefs and opinions, and file appeals in state and federal courts of appeal. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Act as agent, trustee, guardian, or executor for businesses or individuals. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Search for and examine public and other legal records to write opinions or establish ownership. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Perform administrative and management functions related to the practice of law. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Evaluate findings and develop strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases. | Observed | Standard | |
| Probate wills and represent and advise executors and administrators of estates. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Study Constitution, statutes, decisions, regulations, and ordinances of quasi-judicial bodies to determine ramifications for cases. | Observed | Efficient | |
| Negotiate settlements of civil disputes. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Negotiate contractual agreements. | Estimated | Standard |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 6 of 22 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 16 of 22. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A standard-tier model or lower covers 83% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 754,500
- Median annual wage
- $159,670
- Middle half of earners
- $102,990 to $221,370
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +4.1%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Paralegals and Legal Assistants 64% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure66
- Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants 62% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure66
- Judicial Law Clerks 59% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure64
- Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates 59% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure34
- Law Teachers, Postsecondary 58% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure65
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Lawyers and AI
Will AI replace Lawyers?
AI already handles 18 of the 22 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 71 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +4.1% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Lawyers?
71 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 6 of the 22 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 16 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Lawyers tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations; Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses; Prepare, draft, and review legal documents, such as wills, deeds, patent applications, mortgages, leases, and contracts. They are three of the 18 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 83% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Lawyers, and what do they earn?
754,500 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $159,670 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +4.1% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Lawyers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/lawyers
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