AI use at Dutch law firms reduces demand for routine legal services
Dutch companies are increasingly using artificial intelligence to handle basic legal tasks. That causes demand for routine work at major law firms to decline, according to a review by the Financieele Dagblad (FD) of six large firms.
Law firms including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, CMS, Houthoff, DLA Piper, NautaDutilh, and Loyens & Loeff say clients are increasingly using AI tools to find answers to straightforward legal questions. The shift is reducing demand for work such as contract management, standard document reviews, and simple compliance tasks.
A Houthoff survey of 67 companies already pointed to this trend late last year. Two-thirds of respondents said they expected to perform more legal work with the help of AI within two to three years. Several major law firms now say that expectation has become reality sooner than expected.
“Clients are making increasingly conscious choices about which legal work they outsource and what they can handle themselves,” Loyens & Loeff stated.
Freshfields’ Saloua Ouchan, a mergers and acquisitions lawyer responsible for innovation at the firm, said the impact is most visible in repetitive legal work. “Think of contract management, standard document review, and simple compliance,” Ouchan told FD.
Despite the decline in routine assignments, law firms have not seen revenue losses so far. Financial results for 2025 show that several major firms instead increased their revenue. Houthoff’s revenue rose from 136 million euros in 2024 to 152 million euros in 2025. The firm attributed the increase partly to higher rates and a stronger focus on complex, high-value cases.
Law firms expect their role to increasingly center on specialized expertise, strategic advice, and complicated legal matters. Loyens & Loeff said cooperation between in-house legal teams and external lawyers will remain important.
The wider use of AI is also changing expectations about legal costs. Houthoff’s research found that two-thirds of companies expect to spend less on law firms in the future. Clients are questioning why legal services do not become cheaper when AI can complete certain tasks faster.
But the law firms are also facing rising costs from their own use of AI tools. Earlier this month, the FD also reported that legal AI subscriptions are becoming more expensive as providers move away from fixed monthly fees toward usage-based pricing.
“I receive various law firms on the phone in a panic, asking how they are still supposed to afford this,” Elgar Weijtmans, former IT lawyer and head of technology at HVG Law, told FD at the time.
Legora, a widely used AI platform for legal professionals, announced it would replace its fixed subscription model for its most advanced product with a system where costs increase based on usage.
