The legal industry is at a technological crossroads. According to Thomson Reuters, 77% now believe AI will have a transformational or high impact in the next five years. However, almost one-third (32%) of all respondents said they were still considering whether or not to use GenAI at work, while 45% said they had no plans to use at this time.
There seems to be a disconnect between understanding the potential and doing something about it. And, that’s where our latest eBook, The Essential Guide to Law Firm Marketing and Business Development in the Age of AI: How to Keep and Win More Clients comes in.
It’s a deep dive into how AI is transforming the way legal marketing and business development teams work. It’s the ultimate guide to overcoming typical challenges for business development and marketing teams, winning more clients, and future-proofing your firm in a rapidly evolving industry.
Legal Services Industry: The Pressure to Perform
The U.S. legal services market size checked in at USD 292.08 billion in 2024 and is projected to be worth around USD 466.42 billion by 2034, growing at a CAGR of 4.79% from 2025 to 2034. While the large firm segment generated over 39% of the market share in 2024, it’s the small law firms’ segment that is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR over the projected period.
The landscape is shifting, as the legal services market grows and competition becomes even fiercer, the demand for efficiency has never been higher. Business development and marketing professionals are feeling the pressure to land more clients, win more proposals, and drive revenue like never before.
But there’s a problem with landing those lucrative deals: the traditional methods of responding to RFPs, crafting pitches, and developing proposals are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and often overwhelmingly slow. Add to that an unpredictable economy and tightening budgets, and you have a perfect storm that can stress out even the most seasoned professionals.
AI RFP Software: Legal Services’ Secret Revenue Weapon
So, what’s the solution? AI-driven technology. Yet as the stats suggest, the legal services industry is barely dipping in a toe, let alone diving in.
The Essential Guide to Law Firm Marketing and Business Development in the Age of AI: How to Keep and Win More Clients outlines the Top 10 key challenges facing marketing and business development teams, including how to scale without increasing staff. Expanding business development efforts with no additional human resources is an ongoing struggle.
The solution lies in AI. Machine learning algorithms can help optimize content, ensuring that firms can scale their marketing and business development without burnout.
McKinsey notes that sales and marketing are two key areas that can particularly benefit from AI, and says that “generative AI and other technologies have the potential to automate work activities that absorb 60 to 70 percent of employees’ time today.”
(Get the guide to explore all 10 challenges and their solutions.)
Understand the Risks
Perhaps one of the reasons for the slower uptake of AI in the legal profession is that the industry is inherently risk adverse. However, understanding the risks—data security, compliance and privacy concerns; data quality; and potentially generic responses—is essential to creating high-quality content and protecting your firm’s reputation.
Probably one of the biggest concerns is privacy. Especially as Microsoft, Google, and Meta continue to train their AI models using user-generated content like conversations, payment and other personal details, documents, and photos. (The lawsuits are ramping up and there are worries about private LinkedIn messages also being used as AI fodder!)
It’s necessary to understand the difference between public-facing and private generative AI tools. If you feed confidential data into a public AI tool like ChatGPT, that information may be stored, used for further training, and—depending on the tool’s policies—potentially accessible in ways you didn’t intend. If you are using public AI, there are some ways to limit the data you share like using a temporary chat or disabling model training.
The key takeaway? Know your AI tools and what kind of data you’re sharing with them. Not all AI platforms operate the same way, and blindly entering sensitive information could put your company at risk. It’s a good idea to always review the security and compliance guidelines of any prospective proposal management software provider.
How to Capitalize on Opportunities
Opportunities – whether they are in the form of an RFP, pitch or proposal – have a direct impact on the revenue trajectory of your firm. The Essential Guide to Law Firm Marketing and Business Development in the Age of AI: How to Keep and Win More Clients outlines five tactics to lay the groundwork for ensuring that the proposals that go out the door reflect beautifully on your legal firm and outshine your competitors’.
While all five tactics are solid, proven strategies, one of them can be a real game-changer. Personalization is the secret sauce that transforms a standard proposal into a compelling, client-focused pitch. By tailoring your content to your potential client, you are demonstrating that you have a deep understanding of their most pressing issues, the industry experience needed to solve those issues and have a track record of success.
To help seal the deal use data from previous interactions, client feedback, and industry research to craft a proposal that speaks directly to their needs—not just what your firm wants to say. And, always follow the golden rule of talking more about the client than your law firm.
Ready to Transform Your Marketing & Business Development Strategy?
Want to learn how to harness AI for your firm’s business development success? Download our free eBook and discover how to win more clients with less effort.
