Smokeball’s State of Law Report: AI Adoption Nearly Doubles Among Small Law Firms

CHICAGO—March 17, 2025 — Smokeball, the industry-leading legal practice management software platform, has released its 2025 State of Law Report, revealing significant technology adoption trends shaping the future of legal services. The report finds that 53% of small firms and solo practitioners have now integrated AI into their workflows, a dramatic increase from 27% of firms using AI tools in 2023, as they seek to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and enhance client service.

“AI is no longer a buzzword in legal circles, but a competitive necessity,” said Hunter Steele, CEO of Smokeball. "What's most encouraging is seeing small firms and solo practitioners leading this technological step forward. They're discovering that AI is amplifying their capabilities, allowing them to focus on the strategic work that requires their human expertise while technology handles administrative tasks.”

Familiarity with AI has grown to 80% among legal professionals (up from 74% in 2023), and 69% of respondents are willing to invest time in learning AI tools.

The data indicates legal research, document creation and eDiscovery will be the three areas most significantly impacted by AI in the next one to five years. While adoption accelerates, challenges remain: 53% of respondents express ethical concerns about AI and nearly half remain unsure about AI regulations, underlining the need for clearer guidance.

Other key findings from the report include:

• Work-life balance remains critical: If given more hours in their day, half of lawyers would prioritize family time, with burnout contributing significantly to talent attrition.
• Digital marketing gains importance: While 85% of firms cite referrals as their primary growth channel, 43% now identify digital marketing as key to client acquisition.
• Cybersecurity concerns escalate: Incidents doubled from 5% to 10% in 2024, prompting 37% of firms to increase security investments.
• Return to office accelerates: A 10% year-on-year increase in firms operating fully in-office reflects a growing preference for in-person collaboration.

Based on the findings, Smokeball recommends firms adopt AI with repetitive tasks, refine digital marketing while maintaining referral networks and implement automated time tracking to capture more billable hours.

“Without a doubt, we were missing out on billable hours before using Smokeball," said Thomas Rockwell, Managing Partner at Rockwell & Kaufman. "You get busy and forget to record small things—and that adds up. We're capturing so much more time than we were previously. Smokeball was key to our growth and will definitely be part of our future.”

To download Smokeball’s 2025 State of Law Report, visit www.smokeball.com/state-of-law.

About Smokeball

Smokeball is your partner to drive your law firm into the future. As the industry's leading cloud-based legal practice management software, Smokeball empowers you to run your firm specific to your area of law. Our platform gives you all the insights and tools you need to work smarter, not harder: automatic time tracking and invoicing, streamlined workflows for your specific practice area, a library of over 20,000 standard legal forms and documents, and actionable reports. Smokeball is a member benefit of over 20 US bar associations. Learn how to run your best firm at smokeball.com.