AI Spend & Budget Allocation

As a directional estimate, legal AI budgets roughly double across every firm size between 2024 and 2026, and the gap between segments widens rather than closes. Big Law shows the steepest climb, from 6.8% to a projected 13.2%, while solo practitioners start lowest at 2.1% and reach an estimated 5.5%. On spend allocation, model API costs (35%) and tooling and platforms (28%) still dominate over training and change management (20%) and integration or custom development (17%), suggesting most firms remain in a buy-and-adopt phase rather than building internal capability.