By profession

AI Tools for Lawyers (2026)

4 tools tracked · 3 active · 1 dead or at risk · Updated August 3, 2026

Legal is the highest-stakes vertical for AI adoption, and it is also the one where a single hallucinated citation has already cost practitioners sanctions. The tools that have succeeded here did so by grounding output in a verifiable corpus rather than relying on a general model's memory.

The category is small and consolidating. One of its best-known research products was acquired by a legacy legal publisher, and the leading firm-facing platform has raised at valuations that imply enormous expectations.

Below, each tool carries its verified status. Whatever you adopt, the non-negotiables are the same: confirm every citation, and confirm in writing that client material is not used for training.

Still Active

Harvey AI

🟢Active

Best firm-facing legal AI platform

Harvey launched in 2022 with a GPT-4-based product for case research, drafting, and document review tailored to elite law firms. Allen & Overy and PwC became flagship customers. By mid-2025 Harvey had raised over $500M across Sequoia, Kleiner, GV, and OpenAI's Startup Fund at a $5B+ valuation and counted most of the AmLaw 100 as customers. The product, team, and roadmap continue to grow.

research

Read the Harvey AI status page or Harvey AI alternatives, best tools like Harvey AI, is Harvey AI dead?, what happened to Harvey AI and why Harvey AI failed.

Claude

🟢Active

Best for long-document review under supervision

Anthropic's AI assistant known for being helpful, harmless, and honest.

Chatbot

Read the Claude status page or Claude alternatives, best tools like Claude, is Claude dead?, what happened to Claude and why Claude failed.

ChatGPT

🟢Active

Best for first drafts and summarisation

OpenAI's conversational AI assistant that sparked the generative AI revolution.

Chatbot

Read the ChatGPT status page or ChatGPT alternatives, best tools like ChatGPT, is ChatGPT dead?, what happened to ChatGPT and why ChatGPT failed.

Dead or At Risk

These have shut down, been abandoned, or been absorbed into another company. Check before you renew.

Casetext

🟡Acquired / Merged

Acquired by Thomson Reuters

Casetext launched CoCounsel in March 2023, a GPT-4-powered legal assistant for case analysis, contract review, and deposition prep. The product gained traction with AmLaw 100 firms and Thomson Reuters announced a $650M cash acquisition in June 2023, closing in August. CoCounsel was rebranded as a Thomson Reuters product line and integrated with Westlaw. The standalone Casetext site is gone.

research

Read the Casetext status page or Casetext alternatives, best tools like Casetext and is Casetext dead?.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Tool	Status	Category	Best for	Deep dive
Harvey AI	Active	research	Best firm-facing legal AI platform	Harvey AI alternatives
Claude	Active	Chatbot	Best for long-document review under supervision	Claude alternatives
ChatGPT	Active	Chatbot	Best for first drafts and summarisation	ChatGPT alternatives
Casetext	Acquired / Merged	research	Acquired by Thomson Reuters	Casetext alternatives

How to Choose

→Is client data excluded from training, contractually and by default?
→Does every output cite to a checkable primary source?
→Is it covered by your firm's confidentiality and conflicts obligations?
→Does it retain a defensible audit trail of what was generated and when?

Frequently Asked Questions

What AI tools do law firms use in 2026?

Harvey is the leading firm-facing platform for drafting and research workflows, while general models such as Claude and ChatGPT are used for summarisation and first drafts under strict review.

Was any legal AI tool acquired?

Yes. Casetext, known for its legal research assistant, was acquired by Thomson Reuters. Its status and timeline are recorded on this page.

Can AI be trusted for legal citations?

No tool should be trusted unverified. Courts have already sanctioned filings containing fabricated citations. Every citation must be independently confirmed in a primary source.

Keep Reading: Status Checks and Alternatives

Deeper research on the tools above — shutdown reports, death-signal checks, and replacement shortlists.

Related Collections

AI Tools for Writing Blog Posts AI Tools for Transcription and Meeting Notes AI Tools for Image Generation AI Tools for Video Editing AI Tools for Coding and Code Review AI Tools for Presentations and Slide Decks