AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Lawyers?

Task-level automation exposure for Lawyers: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

40% weighted task index

22 of 22 tasks scored

Median Salary

$159,670 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Very High

754,500 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

+4.7% employment change

28,700 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 53 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$91,690 – $207,860

Highest medians

New York $207,860

District of Columbia $195,190

California $195,080

Massachusetts $176,680

Delaware $173,510

Lowest medians

Mississippi $91,690

Arkansas $98,880

Wyoming $100,130

Kentucky $101,550

South Dakota $102,040

State figures come from the 23-1011 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 40%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 0%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 49%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 13%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 50/100 High

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 29%

6 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 29%

6 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 42%

10 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#3774 · Core · 40% automatable

Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.

decision support — Legal advice carries licensure and liability; human owns

Provide legal advice to clients.

#3775 · Core · 62% automatable

Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents.

information retrieval — Precedent analysis; attorney owns legal judgment

Identify implications for cases from legal precedents or other legal information.

#3778 · Core · 30% automatable

Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case.

interpersonal — Claimant interviews require human assessment

Interview claimants to get information related to legal proceedings.

#3779 · Core · 12% automatable

Represent clients in court or before government agencies.

interpersonal — Legal representation is accountability-bearing human advocacy

Represent the interests of clients in legal proceedings.

#3777 · Core · 62% automatable

Evaluate findings and develop strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases.

information retrieval — Precedent analysis; attorney owns legal judgment

Identify implications for cases from legal precedents or other legal information.

#3773 · Core · 40% automatable

Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations.

decision support — Legal advice carries licensure and liability; human owns

Provide legal advice to clients.

#3780 · Core · 64% automatable

Examine legal data to determine advisability of defending or prosecuting lawsuit.

information retrieval — Legal research strong, decision human

Research relevant legal materials to aid decision making. Identify implications for cases from legal precedents or other legal information.

#20877 · Core · 58% automatable

Prepare, draft, and review legal documents, such as wills, deeds, patent applications, mortgages, leases, and contracts.

text generation — Draft legal documents; attorney owns final

Prepare legal documents.

#3783 · Core · 64% automatable

Study Constitution, statutes, decisions, regulations, and ordinances of quasi-judicial bodies to determine ramifications for cases.

information retrieval — Legal research strong, decision human

Research relevant legal materials to aid decision making. Identify implications for cases from legal precedents or other legal information.

#3786 · Core · 22% automatable

Negotiate settlements of civil disputes.

decision support — Arbitration carries legal authority and judgment

Arbitrate disputes between parties to resolve legal conflicts.

#3789 · Core · 28% automatable

Supervise legal assistants.

interpersonal — Legal personnel supervision carries accountability and judgment

Supervise activities of other legal personnel.

#23992 · Core · 37% automatable

Negotiate contractual agreements.

interpersonal — Purchase negotiation needs live bargaining authority

Negotiate purchases or contracts. Negotiate contracts with clients or service providers.

#3787 · Core · 30% automatable

Confer with colleagues with specialties in appropriate areas of legal issue to establish and verify bases for legal proceedings.

interpersonal — Legal-process meetings carry accountability and live presence

Meet with individuals involved in legal processes to provide information and clarify issues.

#3788 · Core · 62% automatable

Search for and examine public and other legal records to write opinions or establish ownership.

information retrieval — Legal record evaluation aided, human decides

Evaluate information related to legal matters in public or personal records.

#3790 · Core · 47% automatable

Perform administrative and management functions related to the practice of law.

text generation — Broad clerical tasks partly automatable, human oversees exceptions

Manage operations, research, or logistics projects. Direct organizational operations, projects, or services. Perform administrative or clerical tasks.

#3776 · Supplemental · 12% automatable

Present and summarize cases to judges and juries.

interpersonal — Legal representation is accountability-bearing human advocacy

Represent the interests of clients in legal proceedings.

#3781 · Supplemental · 24% automatable

Select jurors, argue motions, meet with judges, and question witnesses during the course of a trial.

interpersonal — Claimant interviews require human assessment

Interview claimants to get information related to legal proceedings. Meet with individuals involved in legal processes to provide information and clarify issues. Represent the interests of clients in legal proceedings.

#3782 · Supplemental · 12% automatable

Present evidence to defend clients or prosecute defendants in criminal or civil litigation.

interpersonal — Legal representation is accountability-bearing human advocacy

Represent the interests of clients in legal proceedings.

#3792 · Supplemental · 26% automatable

Probate wills and represent and advise executors and administrators of estates.

decision support — Legal advice carries licensure and liability; human owns

Represent the interests of clients in legal proceedings. Provide legal advice to clients.

#3785 · Supplemental · 65% automatable

Prepare legal briefs and opinions, and file appeals in state and federal courts of appeal.

text generation — Procedural documentation drafted; human verifies accuracy

Prepare documentation of legal proceedings. Prepare legal documents.

#3791 · Supplemental · 12% automatable

Act as agent, trustee, guardian, or executor for businesses or individuals.

interpersonal — Legal representation is accountability-bearing human advocacy

Represent the interests of clients in legal proceedings.

#3793 · Supplemental · 40% automatable

Help develop federal and state programs, draft and interpret laws and legislation, and establish enforcement procedures.

decision support — AI drafts text; legislative authority is human

Draft legislation or regulations.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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