8 Best Legal AI Tools for Lawyers in 2025 (Most Recommended)

Do you spend hours reviewing contracts, drafting legal agreements, or sifting through endless piles of documents?

AI tools can automate tasks such as document review, organization, and contract drafting, enabling you to focus on higher-value legal work. Legal-specific AI tools automate repetitive document and contract drafting and review tasks. AI tools like Spellbook can detect errors more quickly than human reviewers and draft and redline contracts efficiently.

In this article, we explore the eight best legal AI tools that can optimize your legal workflows and highlight features to consider when choosing the best AI tool for your firm.
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Quick Comparison Table: Best Legal AI Tools for Lawyers in 2025

With so many new AI tools available, it’s challenging to determine which fits your practice the best. The following table highlights features, security, pricing, and practice fit, letting you quickly scan and find the right solution for your firm. 

Please note that AI pricing is complex and often subject to change, as many vendors move to custom enterprise-level quotes.

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Top 8 Legal AI Tools for Lawyers

The following list highlights top legal AI software options and how they can enhance your practice through features such as automation, document management, and revision tracking systems. Key aspects focus on the quality of the tool’s assistance with contract reviews, writing suggestions, application to legal tasks, and other features.

1. Spellbook (Best Overall AI Tool for Lawyers)

Spellbook is a legal AI that assists transactional lawyers in drafting, reviewing, and analyzing contracts efficiently. For example, lawyers can customize and quickly retrieve frequently used legal clauses with Spellbook. This is just one of the many tasks Spellbook automates to save time. 

Because Spellbook works where lawyers do in Microsoft Word, it’s the top choice for those seeking an easy solution to improve efficiency and experience instant benefits. Spellbook offers mid-tier pricing at approximately $179 per user per month.

When you first use Spellbook, its integration with Word provides an intuitive user interface on the right side of your screen. You don’t need to switch to another tab or a different software environment. Every feature is available with a click, in a simple drop-down task menu, or by interacting with a chatbot under the Assistant tab.

Spellbook is ideal for offices focused on transactional contracts and solo legal professionals. It offers legal-specific core features such as:

• Comprehensive document review: Spellbook performs thorough checks to identify linguistic ambiguities, contextual errors, inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and potential legal issues and risks. 
• Redlining assistance: It automates the contract review and redlining process. 
• Auto-generation of legal text: The software can automatically generate requested legal text, including entire agreements, specific contract clauses, and amendments.
• Understanding complex legal nuances: Spellbook accurately comprehends the intricacy of legal language and circumstances.

Spellbook leverages an extensive database of industry benchmarks to compare your contracts against established compliance standards and best practices. It identifies gaps or missing sections quickly and drafts replacements to drop in with one click.

Transactional lawyers value these features because they save time and streamline the contract drafting process.

For even more polished legal documents, learn how legal document formatting software can enhance your workflow alongside tools like Spellbook.

Spellbook Pros

• Integrates directly into Microsoft Word, eliminating the need to switch platforms.
• Saves significant time on contract drafting and review.
• Tailored for legal professionals, especially in transactional practice areas.
• Offers clause suggestions, automated redlines, and benchmarking tools.
• Easy to implement, with minimal training required.
• Affordable and accessible for solo lawyers and small to midsize law firms.

Spellbook Limitations

• Not designed for post-signature contract management.
• Does not offer predictive analytics or ongoing compliance monitoring.

With an affordable subscription and a free trial available, Spellbook offers excellent value and support. Try the software for free and become familiar with its benefits before choosing a pricing plan.

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2. ChatGPT (Best Free AI Tool for Lawyers)

ChatGPT is a highly accessible free AI tool for lawyers. It’s great for drafting first-pass legal letters, summarizing content, or rephrasing boilerplate clauses. For solo practitioners or small firms looking to test AI without upfront costs, it’s an easy entry point.

That said, ChatGPT isn’t built for legal practice. It doesn’t provide jurisdiction-specific guidance, compliance checks, or contract benchmarking. While useful for brainstorming and client-friendly explanations, every output must be carefully reviewed by a lawyer.

As the ABA notes, “AI chatbots can be prone to hallucinations, have trouble understanding contextual nuances of the law, and contain trained-in biases. Also, ChatGPT prompts and responses are neither private nor confidential.” 

Pros

• Free and easy to access with no setup requirements.
• Helpful for general content drafting and language refinement.
• Supports quick brainstorming and legal language exploration.
• Great for non-sensitive, preliminary legal content.

Cons

• Not legally trained or specialized; content requires full legal review.
• Lacks contract benchmarking, redlining, and document comparison features.
• Cannot integrate directly into legal workflow tools such as Microsoft Word.
• Poses risks of inaccuracies or hallucinations in legal contexts.
• Presents ethical and confidentiality risks.

3. Thomson Reuters - CaseText CoCounsel (Best AI for Legal Research)

Thomson Reuters has integrated CoCounsel with its product set since purchasing CaseText. This AI-powered solution can benefit large offices with many team members, extensive documentation, and complex workflows.

CoCounsel performs in-depth contract analysis to identify areas for improvement. Attorneys may find it useful when preparing cases due to its ability to quickly search relevant databases for case citations. Thomson Reuters recently introduced several new features, including:

• Inline Citations: Helps verify sources and check accuracy.
• Document Comparison: Offers side-by-side automated summaries and review options.
• Organized Dashboard: Keeps member chats organized in folders for easy navigation.
• Automatic Timeline Creation: Generates timelines for contracts and cases.

CoCounsel is an AI assistant that coordinates teamwork in busy offices. It can quickly generate legal letters and emails tailored to specific tones for in-house correspondence and client communication.

Pros

• Deep legal research capabilities across extensive databases.
• Inline citation checks enhance accuracy and verification.
• Document comparison streamlines case preparation.
• Chat folders support team workflows.
• Auto-generated timelines improve case and contract clarity.
• Customizable email and letter drafting for internal use.

Cons

• Can be overly complex for solo practitioners or small firms.
• Higher cost and a learning curve due to a broader toolset.

4. Lex Machina

Lex Machina provides predictive analytics to help law firms, companies, and government agencies make data-driven decisions in litigation. Its database contains millions of court documents, offering insights into case outcomes, judicial behavior, and legal strategies. Key features of Lex Machina include:

• Litigation analytics, with insights on judges, law firms, and case outcomes.
• Tactical decision-making, helping to predict case outcomes based on historical data analysis.

Law firms use Lex Machina for competitive intelligence, case strategy, and client advisories, enabling legal professionals to anticipate outcomes more accurately and optimize their litigation approach.

Pros

• Provides litigation analytics, including judge tendencies and case outcomes.
• Supports tactical decision-making with data-driven predictions.
• Customizable reports on judge behavior, firm performance, etc.
• Ideal for firms focusing on litigation strategy and competitive intelligence.
  
  

Cons

• Focused on litigation analytics, not document review or drafting.
• Best for larger firms; may be too complex or costly for solos or small firms.
• Not suited for transactional law or contract drafting.

5. Superlegal

Superlegal combines AI with human attorney oversight to streamline contract review. It automates initial redlining and markup, providing a faster, cost-effective solution for high-volume work. Each contract is processed by AI and legally vetted by a licensed attorney, ensuring clarity, consistency, and compliance with quick turnaround times. Ideal for law firms and in-house teams handling standardized contracts.

Pros:

• Final review by licensed attorneys reduces risks.
• Affordable, scalable alternative to full-time legal staff.
• Automates compliance checks with legal benchmarks.
• Best for high-volume, routine contracts like NDAs.

Cons:

• Separate platform, may not integrate seamlessly with daily workflows.
• Less flexible for complex, multi-party agreements.
• Requires setup to match firm-specific policies.

6. Harvey AI

Harvey optimizes workflows to improve efficiency in legal firms through AI-powered features. It is particularly useful for tasks like drafting, summarizing, and reviewing large volumes of documents.

Harvey’s automated summarization feature can quickly analyze thousands of legal documents and provide summaries in minutes, saving hours of manual review. Additionally, Harvey simplifies the legal research process by thoroughly analyzing relevant law databases to provide pertinent case citations from sources like:

• US Case Law
• EDGAR
• A custom Tax AI Assistant
• The European Legislation Identifier (EUR-Lex)

Overall, Harvey is excellent for litigators as it offers insights into legal precedents and helps tailor case strategies. There is still little public information about Harvey; however, the company is generally focused on enterprise legal teams. 

Pros

• Efficient document summarization at scale.
• Strong legal research capabilities across multiple databases.
• Tailored tools for litigators, including precedent insights.
• Specialized support for tax law and international legislation.

Cons

• Limited public transparency about features and pricing.
• Primarily focused on enterprise legal teams; may not suit smaller firms.
• Integration details with standard legal tools are unclear.
• Potentially steep learning curve.

Curious how Harvey compares to other leading AI tools? Check out this detailed comparison of Spellbook vs. Harvey.

7. Diligen

Diligen is a contract review automation platform designed to streamline legal workflows, particularly for firms dealing with large volumes of contracts and compliance documents. It uses AI to identify, extract, and analyze key clauses, making it valuable during due diligence processes and routine compliance checks.

Diligen enables legal teams to reduce manual review time and ensures that important contract elements are not overlooked.

Pros

• Automates the extraction of clauses, terms, and key data points.
• Speeds up due diligence and large-scale contract review processes.
• Useful for compliance monitoring across high volumes of documents.
• Offers customizable review checklists for specific workflows.

Cons

• Requires initial setup and training to optimize for firm-specific needs.
• Cost and a potentially steep learning curve may make it less practical for solo or small firms or lower document volumes.
• Core strength remains the review and analysis of existing documents rather than generating new contracts from scratch..

8. Lexis+ AI

Lexis+ AI is the latest extension of the LexisNexis platform, designed to enhance legal research, drafting, and litigation insights with the power of generative AI. It combines conversational search with real-time case law, citations, and Shepard’s validation. Recent updates emphasize accuracy, explainability, and streamlined research. Positioned as a premium solution, it’s best suited for firms needing both cutting-edge AI and the credibility of an established provider.

Pros

• Backed by LexisNexis’s extensive research database
• Real-time Shepard’s validation and accurate citations
• Strong focus on accuracy and explainability

Cons

• Premium pricing; less accessible for small firms
• Onboarding may be required for advanced features

Looking for more AI tools tailored to legal professionals? Explore our complete guide to the best AI tools for law firms.

How to Choose the Right Legal AI Software for Lawyers

Invest in software that aligns with your business objectives and meets your firm’s needs. For instance, busy law offices with numerous documents awaiting redlining should invest in AI tools that help legal professionals review documents faster and more accurately. A reliable AI tool for lawyers focused on document review and management can save time and resources when handling existing contracts and drafting new ones.

Functionality and Features

Most law firms will benefit from software with the following features:

• Integration with Word: Let lawyers work in the familiar Microsoft Word environment, empowered by AI.
• Automatic legal document drafting: Quality legal AI tools like Spellbook can generate new content from scratch based on your input or their analysis of existing documents.
• Automatic reviews and redlines: AI can provide valid suggestions for improving document language and quality, including accuracy, compliance, consistency, and other contract aspects.
• Customization: The ability to incorporate customized playbooks and templates is a bonus.
• Multi-document support: Effective legal AI tools can handle various types of documents, scanning them for compliance and detecting discrepancies in policy, terms, language, and tone to ensure consistency.

User Interface and Usability

In legal practice, user-friendly AI software is essential to save valuable time navigating and managing multiple documents. Spellbook recognizes your focus is on legal work, not trying to find features in complex software tools. Spellbook’s interface stands out with:

• Smooth integration with Microsoft Word: Unlike other tools that require switching between different platforms, Spellbook operates directly in Microsoft Word. You draft, review, and redline contracts in the same window. You don’t have to bounce between tabs or software—everything you need is on the same screen as the contract.
• Intuitive navigation: Spellbook’s interface is designed for legal professionals, offering simple, clearly labeled options for contract review, clause generation, and summaries. Easily move between contract versions and legal tasks without unnecessary clicks.
• Fast and highly responsive: Legal professionals cannot afford delays in their workflow. Spellbook’s responsive design ensures fast access to AI-powered suggestions, redlines, and comparisons to industry standards, helping you stay on track with your deadlines.
• Quick access to clause libraries and past documents: Saving time is a priority. With Spellbook, commonly used clauses and previously reviewed documents are just a shortcut away. Quickly pull in standard language and legal precedents when needed.

If you’re looking to further optimize your firm’s efficiency, check out the best law firm productivity tools here.

Accuracy and Reliability

AI tools offer significant value by predicting outcomes and modernizing workflows. However, accuracy remains crucial. Precision is essential for transforming AI into a reliable and powerful tool for lawyers, especially in contract drafting and review. Spellbook excels in this area by providing dependable insights tailored to the legal sector.

Liabilities all AI tools in legal applications currently share include:

• Incorrect predictions from irrelevant or incomplete data: Generic AI tools may depend on incomplete or irrelevant data sources, leading to inaccurate legal interpretations. Spellbook addresses this issue by focusing on transactional law, delivering the most relevant results for drafting, reviewing, and redlining contracts.
• Hallucinated case citations: Some general-purpose AIs may fill in gaps with false information to make responses more convincing. Specialized legal AI tools like Spellbook avoid this pitfall by concentrating on contract review and drafting processes, where the primary tasks revolve around structured documents and legal language, not case law.

Compliance and Security

Customer data management (CDM) in AI software operates under the same legal framework as other software solutions. Digital tools must adhere to client confidentiality, privacy, and data management standards.

When evaluating your legal AI software, look for the following data security measures:

• Encryption: Protect data by converting it into a secure format.
• Advanced user authorization and authentication: Ensure only authorized users can access sensitive information.
• Security audits: Regular checks to identify vulnerabilities and ensure compliance.
• Data intrusion detection: Monitor for unauthorized access attempts.
• Sensitive information protection: Safeguard confidential data from breaches.
• Emergency response plan: Include backup and recovery options to restore data in case of an incident.

Scalability

When selecting legal AI software, ensure it can scale with your law firm's current size and future growth. Here’s how to assess whether AI tools meet your scalability needs:

• Research firm size compatibility: Determine the most appropriate firm size for the software. For instance, Spellbook suits solos, small, and mid-sized legal teams and can grow alongside your business.
• Support for multi-user environments: Ensure the AI software allows multiple users to work simultaneously on drafting and reviewing legal documents.
• Cloud-based and scalable storage: Cloud infrastructure ensures that as your firm's workload increases, so does the AI tool’s data storage capacity. This allows you to manage growing volumes of documents and legal data without compromising performance.

Cost Effectiveness

Many AI solutions require a significant upfront investment without first providing long-term value. To decide whether to invest in AI for your firm, consider these factors:

• Subscription fees: Compare basic and premium plans, as well as monthly or yearly subscriptions, to find the best value for your money.
• Maintenance and support: Look for affordable, reliable support and low maintenance costs.
• Return on investment (ROI): For example, Spellbook significantly reduces the time spent on contract drafting and reviewing, providing a clear ROI.

Reviews and Reputation

Lastly, consult colleagues in similar practice areas for their opinions on software. Unbiased reviews provide valuable insights into the features and overall customer satisfaction of the AI software you are considering. Find credible reviews and recommendations on:

• Quora and Reddit: Users on these social media platforms often discuss various software options.
• Trustpilot: This site offers user reviews and ratings for many products.
• LinkedIn Posts: Professionals frequently share their experiences and recommendations on LinkedIn.
• YouTube Video Reviews: Many users create video reviews that highlight the pros and cons of software.

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How Much Do Legal AI Tools Cost for Lawyers?

Legal AI tool pricing typically starts at around $150 to $400/month, but can climb to $2,000/month for enterprise-grade features. Costs depend on the tool’s functionality, scalability, and integrations. Many providers also offer discounts for annual subscriptions, making long-term plans more cost-effective. Additional factors that influence AI tool pricing include:

• Available pricing models: Companies may offer various subscription structures.
• Market demand: Pricing can fluctuate based on demand for specific features.
• Number and complexity of features: The more features offered, the higher the costs tend to be. 
• Potential integration with other software: Tools that integrate with existing systems may have different pricing. 

Some AI companies offer various product subscriptions that cover individual tasks and charge extra for upgrades and integrations. For example, a basic plan might include only initial contract reviews. If you want legal document drafting features, you may need to purchase additional products and integrate them into your existing workflow.

Beyond the Hype: Practical Use Cases for Legal AI Software in Niche Practice Areas

AI isn’t just for Big Law firms. Big wins can come in smaller or niche practice areas, where resources are limited and efficiency is paramount, such as:

• Immigration lawyers: Generate multilingual client checklists and identify errors in applications.
• Family law attorneys: Speed up drafting custody orders and settlements.
• Intellectual property lawyers: Scan prior art and flag risks in filings.
• Solo lawyers advising small businesses: Redline contracts and prepare formation documents.

These examples demonstrate how AI delivers efficiency gains that help niche firms serve more clients and compete effectively without requiring additional staff.. The myth that AI is only for large firms is fading, as real-world use cases demonstrate its value across the profession.

The Financial Impact of Legal AI Tools: A Shift in Business Models

AI is transforming how law firms bill. Clients demand more transparency and speed, and in some practice areas, the traditional hourly model is giving way to flat-fee and subscription pricing. With AI tools, a contract review that once took 10 hours can now be completed in two. Firms repackage this work into fixed-fee offerings, making services more affordable while protecting margins.

In M&A due diligence, AI can help analyze contracts, extract key clauses, and flag potential risks in minutes, which helps to lower costs and supports flat-fee pricing. This efficiency enables firms to scale without hiring additional staff. Experts say firms that embrace new, AI-driven pricing models will increase their client volumes and reduce overhead, while those clinging to hourly billing risk falling behind.

In short, AI poses both a threat to outdated billing systems and an opportunity for forward-looking firms to differentiate themselves.

AI's Impact on Access to Justice and the Pro Bono Landscape

AI can reduce barriers to justice by lowering costs, automating routine tasks, and making legal information more accessible to underserved communities. For lawyers, this creates opportunities to expand pro bono services without adding overhead.

Examples are already emerging. Legal Aid of North Carolina launched LANC-LIA, a virtual assistant that offers multilingual answers to civil legal questions and automates routine communications. In Canada, JusticeBot helps tenants navigate housing disputes with rule- and case-based guidance. Tools like DoNotPay also demonstrate how AI can empower individuals to handle legal matters on their own.

These advances, however, also raise concerns about oversight and fairness. Poorly verified outputs can mislead vulnerable clients, and pro bono lawyers remain ethically responsible for ensuring the accuracy of their work. AI can expand access to justice, but only when paired with careful human review.

The New Legal Skillset: From AI User to AI Integrator

The next generation of lawyers won’t succeed by using AI passively. To stay competitive, they must learn to integrate AI strategically into daily workflows, not just for efficiency, but to ensure accuracy, maintain ethical standards, and deliver more value to clients.

Prompt Engineering for Lawyers

AI is only as good as the questions you ask it. Lawyers must learn to craft effective prompts to get reliable results.

• Vague: “Summarize this contract.”
• Precise: “Summarize the key risks for the customer in this SaaS contract, focusing on data privacy and liability.”

Precise prompts lead to greater accuracy, fewer errors, and faster insights, making AI outputs more practical and useful.

Auditing and Verifying AI-Generated Work

Lawyers remain accountable for AI-generated work. Review and verification of work products help prevent malpractice claims, ethical breaches, and reputational harm. The Mata v. Avianca case, where fake AI-generated citations were used, illustrates the risk of skipping this step. By checking every citation, redline, and recommendation, lawyers reinforce client trust and maintain credibility in court.

The "AI-Fluent" Partner

Firm leaders are now expected to champion the use of AI, rather than merely approve it. AI fluency is a leadership differentiator. Partners who understand AI can attract clients, recruit top talent, and position their firms for long-term growth. 

For ambitious lawyers, developing AI fluency means more than just increasing efficiency. It’s a career advantage and a way to position yourself as a forward-thinking leader in the profession. 

Want to build your AI fluency as a lawyer? Learn practical, real-world applications of AI for lawyers to stay ahead in your practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Legal AI Tools Enhance Client-Lawyer Interactions?

Yes. Legal AI tools enable lawyers to update clients about their cases in minutes with features like AI document reviews, drafts, and summaries. By automating these tasks, lawyers also gain more time to build client relationships and provide personalized service.

How Effective Are AI Tools in Managing Large Volumes of Legal Data?

AI software can classify and categorize legal information for easy access, regardless of data volume. It quickly extracts data to automate various tasks, including redlining, summarization, and drafting.

Are Legal AI Software Reliable for Court Case Predictions?

The reliability of AI legal software in predicting court case outcomes depends on its database and the complexity of the factors analyzed. The more factors the software considers—such as a judge’s behavior in similar past cases—the more accurate the predictions will be. However, AI cannot make reliable predictions based on incorrect or missing data.

What is the Best AI Tool for Legal Research?

Lexis+ AI is the best AI tool for legal research. It uses natural language processing and machine learning to analyze legal documents, provide case summaries, and generate citations. Lexis+ AI offers real-time Shepard’s validation, conversational search, and predictive insights, making it the most advanced legal AI platform as of 2025.

What is the Best Free AI Tool for Lawyers?

ChatGPT is the best free AI tool for lawyers, offering a versatile solution for drafting documents, summarizing legal texts, and brainstorming ideas. While not legal-specific, it provides solo practitioners and small firms with a no-cost way to leverage AI for non-sensitive tasks. The free version allows lawyers to create drafts, condense case opinions, and generate research strategies. However, outputs should be verified for accuracy, as ChatGPT isn’t trained on legal data, and sensitive client information should not be input.

What is the Best AI for Legal Document Review?

Spellbook is the best AI tool for legal document review. Spellbook enables lawyers to review and redline agreements directly in Microsoft Word. It assists in identifying clause-level issues, improving language, and comparing text against internal standards.

What is the Best AI Tool for Legal Contract Drafting?

Spellbook is the best AI tool for legal contract drafting. It integrates with Microsoft Word to suggest clauses, flag risks, and auto-complete legal language using GPT-4. Spellbook helps lawyers draft contracts faster and with greater accuracy, reducing manual edits and improving consistency across legal documents.

What is the Best AI Tool for Writing Legal Documents?

Harvey AI is the best AI tool for writing legal documents. Built on OpenAI's GPT-4, Harvey generates contracts, memos, and legal briefs with high precision. It understands legal context, adapts to jurisdiction-specific requirements, and integrates with firm workflows, making it ideal for large-scale legal drafting.

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