Law firms prep for a deeper AI integration in 2026 as it enters workflows

Dear reader, as 2025, a year of global tumult and volatility, rolls by, Mint's reporters and columnists look around the corner on what is coming in 2026—to help you know what to expect and prepare for it. Tell us what you think at [email protected].After a year of testing the waters, India’s top law firms are heading into 2026 facing a decisive question: can artificial intelligence (AI) move from a promising pilot to everyday legal infrastructure? What began as cautious experimentation in 2025 is now shifting toward deeper, workflow-level integration, even as firms remain measured about governance, client confidentiality and the impact on pricing.

And the transition is unfolding alongside growing judicial scrutiny, with a Supreme Court panel examining guardrails for AI use in legal processes.Senior partners at the law firms say AI is increasingly being deployed across research, knowledge management, due diligence, drafting and dispute preparation, though adoption remains practice-specific, rather than uniform across firms.The focus for 2026, the firms say, is not about adding more tools but redesigning legal workflows where technology can consistently improve speed, accuracy and predictability.Some firms are already scaling aggressively. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas says it has moved decisively beyond pilots.

“In 2025, we moved from experimentation to full adoption, and today over 80% of our total headcount actively uses AI,” said Cyril Shroff, managing partner. “Our priority for 2026 is to take this to 90% plus, and shift the focus from adoption to intelligent automation.”Shroff said the firm’s strategy is to deploy technology practice group by practice group, rather than rely on generic solutions.