Dutch companies are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to handle basic legal tasks. According to a survey of six large law firms conducted by Financiere Dagblad (FD), this has led to a decline in demand for day-to-day work at large law firms.
Law firms such as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, CMS, Housthoff, DLA Piper, NautaDutilh, and Loyens & Loeff say their clients are increasingly using AI tools to find answers to simple legal questions. This change has reduced the demand for tasks such as contract management, standard document reviews, and simple compliance tasks.
A Horthoff survey of 67 companies pointed to this trend as early as late last year. Two-thirds of respondents said they expect to perform even more legal work with the help of AI within two to three years. Several major law firms now say their hopes have become reality sooner than expected.
“Clients are increasingly making conscious choices about which legal tasks they outsource and what they can handle themselves,” Loyens & Loev said.
Sarua Auchan, an M&A lawyer who focuses on innovation at Freshfields, said the impact would be most visible in repetitive legal work. “Think about contract management, standard document reviews, and simple compliance,” Auchan told FD.
Despite the decline in day-to-day operations, law firms have so far not experienced any loss in revenue. Financial results for 2025 show that several major companies increased their revenue instead. Horthoff’s revenue increased from 136 million euros in 2024 to 152 million euros in 2025. The firm attributes some of this increase to higher interest rates and a greater focus on complex, high-value cases.
Law firms expect their roles to increasingly focus on expertise, strategic advice, and complex legal issues. Loyens & Loeff said collaboration between its in-house legal team and outside lawyers will continue to be important.
The growing use of AI is also changing expectations about litigation costs. According to Horthoff’s research, two-thirds of companies expect to reduce spending on law firms in the future. Clients are wondering why legal services aren’t cheaper if AI can complete certain tasks faster.
But law firms also face rising costs from using their AI tools. Earlier this month, FD also reported that legal AI subscriptions are becoming more expensive as providers move from fixed monthly fees to pay-as-you-go pricing structures.
Elgar Wightmans, a former IT lawyer and head of technology at HVG Law, told FD at the time: “We were getting calls from various panicked law firms asking how they were going to cover this cost.”
Legora, a widely used AI platform for legal professionals, has announced that it will replace its cutting-edge product’s fixed subscription model with a system that increases costs based on usage.
