How is Agentic AI Transforming the Legal Ecosystem?

Before diving into how agentic AI could reshape the legal landscape, let’s first understand what it is.

What is agentic AI?

Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can autonomously perform tasks and make decisions on behalf of users.  Unlike traditional AI tools that require step-by-step human prompts or focus on content generation, agentic AI is characterised by its ability to set goals and take actions.

In practice, this means that an agentic AI can:

• Perceive: Gather and process data (e.g., legal databases, polices, contracts, etc).
• Reason: Analyse tasks, contextualise legal information, and generate plans or solutions.
• Act: Execute tasks like research, drafting documents, filing with minimal human intervention.
• Learn: Adapt based on feedback. 

How is this different from traditional AI? (Yes, it seems wild that the pace of development is so fast that we are already distinguishing between old gen and new gen AI!)

Traditional legal AI tools often fall into two categories: extractive AI (which mines and summarises information) and generative AI (which produces content like text or images based on prompts). Agentic AI, however, goes further by independently carrying out tasks.

For a contextual example from the legal domain, imagine an AI that doesn’t just identify risks in NDAs but also reviews terms, suggests revisions, and escalates only the high-risk clauses to legal teams—ensuring compliance while reducing manual workload. This level of autonomy and iterative self-checking sets agentic AI apart from earlier legal tech tools..

What’s the current state of agentic AI within the legal space?

Agentic AI is still a relatively new phenomenon and emerging technology in the legal sector. Many users are in the testing and piloting phases. For example:

• Legal Research: Agentic AI can perform multi-step legal research. For example, it might identify a legal issue, search multiple databases for cases/statutes, extract key points, and compile a research memo. 
• High Volume Legal Tasks Automation: Agentic AI shows promise in automating time-consuming routine tasks such as contract reviews, filling out questionnaires, facilitating legal query intake and triage, answering repetitive legal queries, assisting in deal negotiation. This is exactly where Flank’s AI-powered agents excel - helping legal teams automate high-volume, repetitive work while ensuring compliance and efficiency.
• Document Review: Quickly sifting through discovery documents to find relevant information or privileged material.

Whilst today, truly agentic AI in law is mostly in experimental stages or limited deployments, there are innovative solution providers, like Flank,who are leading the way in making AI colleagues mainstream for legal teams. 

AI predictions: what are the tech gurus saying?

Given the capabilities we’ve just run through, it’s fairly understandable that experts are predicting a total overhaul of the legal ecosystem with agentic AI. 

• End-to-End Legal Workflows: We’re looking at the automation of entire legal workflows. Instead of just answering queries, agentic AI brings the possibility for AI to independently draft contracts, conduct negotiations, and even manage compliance within set parameters.
• AI in Legislation Drafting: AI is already playing a role in legislative processes, assisting human drafters in writing laws. Experts predict this will expand further as agentic AI could draft entire bills or regulations based on policy goals set by lawmakers. 
  Some even predict AI might generate complex laws to address niche issues faster than human drafters, potentially shifting power towards the legislative branch by reducing reliance on executive rule-making.
  
• AI “Judges” and Legal Proceedings: A bold forecast is AI conducting aspects of legal proceedings. We have early experiments (and hype) like robot mediators settling disputes online and proposals for AI to adjudicate small claims (e.g., Estonia’s pilot “robot judge” for claims under €7,000, where an AI would issue decisions appealable to a human judge).
  Experts diverge on how far this will go: some envision AI handling routine court decisions or acting as a virtual judge in simple cases, whereas others insist human judges remain vital for fairness and legitimacy.
• Replacing Certain Legal Roles: You’ve likely heard the adage “AI won’t replace lawyers, but lawyers who use AI will replace those who don’t” ad nauseum by now. Some predictions go further, predicting that entry-level legal jobs (like junior attorneys or paralegals doing repetitive work) are likely going to be eliminated or replaced altogether.
  Personally, I think that there’s scope for giving entry-level legal workers access to much higher quality work. This could then provide a faster track to growth and development, by transforming the nature of these roles and associated opportunities for both impact and personal growth. 
• Fully Autonomous AI Lawyers: Looking further ahead, some imagine a scenario where an agentic AI could act almost like a virtual lawyer. Such an AI might interact with clients directly (via chat or voice), research and argue cases in simulations, or even appear in court through authorised channels.
  While today this faces legal barriers (unauthorised practice of law rules), futurists debate whether those rules might adapt if AI proved consistently competent.
  A notorious 2023 experiment to have an AI “lawyer” (via the DoNotPay app) whisper defense arguments to a defendant via an earpiece in traffic court highlighted both the potential and the resistance – the attempt was halted due to unauthorised practice concerns and even threats of jail for the human collaborator.
  In the long term, however, if agentic AI systems gain trust, we might see limited rights of audience granted to AI in specialised tribunals (for example, consumer arbitrations or small claims mediation).

I appreciate that some of these predictions are pretty radical. Let’s remember that the law is a very conservative field and changes (especially those that could potentially affect rights and livelihoods) will not be brought in lightly and change across the board will be slow.  Nonetheless, even skeptical experts acknowledge that agentic AI will significantly augment legal services. Many see 2025–2030 as a period of “steady, measured progress” with AI becoming a normal part of legal work rather than a dramatic overnight replacement.

But, what could go wrong?

There are lots of things to bear in mind when assessing the risk vs opportunity of leveraging agentic AI within the legal field. Efficiency is part of the story but there’s also a lot of consideration given to mitigating risk, ensuring compliance, and maintaining ethical oversight:

• Regulatory Compliance: AI must align with data privacy laws and industry-specific regulations.
• Ethical Safeguards: AI should operate within a “human-in-the-loop” model to maintain professional and ethical standards required in the law domain.
• Governance and Risk Management: Companies should establish AI policies to oversee its use and ensure accountability.

While agentic AI offers efficiency and capability gains, it introduces serious risks. Ethically and legally, the key is to ensure these systems are transparent, fair, secure, and always subject to human oversight, especially in critical decisions affecting rights or livelihoods. Striking the right balance between innovation and regulation will be key in shaping how agentic AI integrates into legal practice.

How are governments tackling AI regulation in the EU, US and UK?

Different jurisdictions are taking varied approaches to AI regulation, reflecting their priorities in balancing innovation and risk. Below is a very high-level overview of the differing approaches to AI regulation across various geographies:

• The EU = “regulate first”, especially for any AI that could impact legal decisions or rights (high-risk, detailed compliance).
• The US = “use existing laws + targeted new ones”, encourage innovation but ensure ethical lawyering, with emerging state-level regulations for high-risk AI.
• The UK = “principle-based guidance & innovation”, allowing AI experimentation under human oversight, aiming for global leadership in responsible AI use without stifling tech development.

Where does this leave us?

I strongly believe that agentic AI stands to bring a paradigm shift in law. As with all things, we need to consider the opportunity with a balanced view. Agentic AI promises unprecedented efficiency and accessibility, but also poses ethical and professional challenges that require careful management. 

The ideal future is possibly one where human expertise and tech are woven together to increase impact, efficiency and quality without compromising the deeply human values at the heart of the legal profession. 

More articles on the future of legal and AI on our blog.

Curious about how Flank can help your legal team become AI-empowered? Book a call with our team today to find out.

Sources:

1. Thomson Reuters Institute – Agentic AI in legal: What it is and why it may appear in law firms soon 
2. National Law Review – The Intersection of Agentic AI and Emerging Legal Frameworks (Howell & Liederman, 2024).
3. LexisNexis (Madison Johnson, Esq.) – The Future of Agentic AI: Navigating Ethical and Societal Implications.
4. Pinsent Masons – Guide to high-risk AI systems under the EU AI Act.
5. NatLawReview – 65 Expert Predictions on 2025 AI Legal Tech, Regulation 
6. Lawfare (Sanders & Schneier) – AI Will Write Complex Laws.
7. ABA (Margaret Reetz) – Update on AI Policies for Lawyers.
8. Smithsonian Magazine – The First ‘A.I. Lawyer’ Will Help Defendants Fight Speeding Tickets.
9. The Law Society (UK) – Press release: Legal sector’s role in AI regulation.
10. Thomson Reuters (SEA) – What can agentic AI do for professionals?.