AI for Paralegals: How the Role Is Evolving (and Growing)
If you work in or around a law firm, you’ve probably seen the headlines asking whether AI is about to make paralegals obsolete. The worry is understandable. In Thomson Reuters’ 2026 Future of Professionals report, which surveyed more than 1,800 professionals in spring 2026, 74% said they use AI tools every week. AI isn’t coming to law firms. It’s already there.
But the reality is less dramatic than the headlines. AI is taking over certain tasks, and the paralegal’s job is changing around it. Here’s what that looks like, and what it means for firms.
Will AI Replace Paralegals?
Not the role itself, though the numbers deserve an honest look.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts about 404,900 paralegal and legal assistant jobs in 2025 and expects little or no change through 2035. BLS also points to AI as a factor that could hold demand back, since these tools are expected to make paralegals faster at research and document preparation.
So when we say the role is “growing,” we don’t mean more headcount. We mean more responsibility, more skill, and more value per person. Hiring hasn’t stopped either. BLS still projects roughly 40,800 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or moving to other fields. Firms keep having to backfill and add capacity when caseloads climb.
AI can’t answer to a client, stand behind a filing, or take the blame when something slips. That part of the job stays with a person.
How AI Is Changing Day-to-Day Paralegal Work
The biggest change is in the repetitive, document-heavy tasks. EvenUp’s overview of AI in paralegal work describes how tools now handle first-pass document review and pull data from records, leaving more room for case analysis and client communication.
| Task | Before AI | With AI |
|---|---|---|
| Document review | Read and tag every page | AI sorts the first pass; the paralegal checks it |
| Summaries | Written from scratch | AI drafts; the paralegal verifies against the record |
| Legal research | Manual searching | AI surfaces leads; the paralegal confirms the sources |
| Medical records | Sorted by hand | AI organizes; the paralegal catches gaps and conflicts |
Having the tools doesn’t guarantee results, though. Clio’s 2026 report on solo and small firms found that 71% of solo practitioners and 75% of small firms now use AI for legal work, yet fewer than a third have grown revenue because of it. Plenty of firms are finding that software alone doesn’t fix a capacity problem. People and process still do the heavy lifting.
Thomson Reuters found something similar. Where a firm has a clear AI strategy, 66% of professionals say the technology meets or beats expectations. Without a strategy, only 22% say the same.
Where the Paralegal Role Is Growing
Quality control. In a piece for Artificial Lawyer, a paralegal association board member argues that a human has to sit between the AI and the final work product for the foreseeable future, mainly to catch invented details and check outputs. Paralegals often know the file better than anyone, so they’re the natural people to do it.
Prompting and workflow skills. The same author sees paralegals becoming the people who know how to brief legal AI tools well. A vague prompt gets a vague answer, and in law, a vague answer can be costly.
Process ownership. Paralegals tend to understand how a practice actually runs. That puts them in a good position to decide where AI saves time and where it adds risk.
More strategic work. Thomson Reuters’ law firm paper notes that AI may shrink demand for some junior roles while creating more need for hybrid roles that blend legal and tech skills. That’s a good description of where an AI-savvy paralegal fits.
Why Human Review Matters More Than Ever
Courts are seeing the downside of unchecked AI. Researcher Damien Charlotin’s public tracker had logged 1,624 court cases worldwide involving AI-fabricated content as of mid-June 2026, up from a trickle in early 2025.
Another risk sits inside firms themselves. Thomson Reuters found that 34% of professionals use AI tools their employer hasn’t approved, and Clio’s report shows that more than half of solo and small firms have no formal AI policy.
None of this argues against using AI. It argues for having a trained person check every citation, quote, and fact before filing anything.
Do Law Firms Still Use Paralegals?
Yes. About 75% of paralegals work in legal services, and law firms remain the biggest employer.
What’s shifting is how firms organize the work. Many are asking which tasks need someone in the office, which can be done remotely, and which can rely on AI or an outside team.
BLS’s 2025 Occupational Requirements Survey reported that telework is routinely allowed for 58.2% of workers in legal occupations. That covers lawyers, judges, and others, not just paralegals, but it shows how far location-flexible legal work has come.
Remote and Outsourced Paralegal Support
Cloud case management, e-signatures, and secure document storage have made much paralegal work portable. A firm no longer has to hire only within commuting distance.
A common setup now blends in-house staff for work that needs physical presence, AI for first drafts and sorting, and outsourced paralegals for extra capacity. That last piece is especially handy for time-consuming, deadline-driven work like deposition summaries, case summaries, document review, and legal research.
Supervision Doesn’t Go Away
Whether the work comes from AI, a remote paralegal, or an outsourced team, the attorney is still responsible. ABA Model Rule 5.3 covers a lawyer’s duty to supervise nonlawyer assistants, and ABA Formal Opinion 08-451 says a lawyer can outsource support work but stays responsible for competent service.
In practice, that means a clear scope of work, defined review steps, and solid confidentiality safeguards. Rules differ by state, so firms should check what applies where they practice.
Skills That Matter Now
- AI literacy: knowing what the tools do well and where they stumble
- Verification habits: checking every citation, quote, and fact
- Confidentiality awareness: knowing what client data should never go into a tool
- Workflow thinking: spotting what to automate and what to keep human
- Clear communication: flagging issues early and explaining findings plainly
The Bottom Line
AI isn’t pushing paralegals out of the legal team. It’s pushing them toward higher-value work: checking, managing, and improving what the tools produce. Firms that pair AI’s speed with skilled human support will handle more work with fewer mistakes.
AI can draft. Your case still needs a paralegal who gets it right. Eternity Paralegal Services provides experienced virtual paralegal support for deposition summaries, case summaries, legal research, and document review, so your attorneys can focus on strategy instead of the backlog.
Book a free consultation with EPS today.
Meet Jagdeep Chakkal, an accomplished legal professional with a diverse background and unwavering commitment to excellence. His expertise spans pre-litigation and post-litigation phases, showcasing versatility in law. Highly sought after for exceptional legal services, Jagdeep contributes significantly to law firms’ success. His skills include drafting complex contracts, meticulous document review, and critical attorney support, highlighting adaptability in the legal world.