Rob Aberdein

It’s an evolutionary leap: software that doesn’t just answer questions or summarise documents, but breaks down complex goals, orchestrates tasks and delivers outcomes much as a human would. Instead of presenting a lawyer with draft text and leaving the rest to them, agentic systems can plan a course of action, undertake research, draft documents, review evidence and return results in a way that feels like working with a colleague rather than using a tool.

Across the global legal sector, the shift is happening. Industry stalwarts such as Thomson Reuters are integrating agentic workflows into their CoCounsel platform, enabling systems to plan and execute complex legal workflows autonomously while remaining grounded in authoritative content. In the UK, LexisNexis has launched ‘Protégé’, an agentic assistant capable of planning, drafting and improving its own work based on user goals, document context and legal precedent. International firms like A&O Shearman are rolling out bespoke agentic agents for high-value tasks such as antitrust analysis, cybersecurity work and loan review.

This isn’t about replacing lawyers. It’s about redefining legal work. For decades, lawyers have shouldered enormous overheads in research, document review and repetitive drafting – which consume time and contribute heavily to costs passed to clients. Agentic AI promises to shoulder much of this burden, freeing legal professionals to focus on judgment, strategy and advocacy – uniquely human elements of the craft.

The transition isn’t without challenges. A recent industry survey found the majority of lawyers have either never heard of agentic AI or not used it professionally. Even among those aware of it, confidence in task performance remains low. This hesitancy stems from deep-seated professional instincts: caution over accuracy, fear of ethical lapses, and the very real risks of unverified or “hallucinated” legal output. Cases have emerged where misuse of generative AI resulted in fabricated case citations, prompting courts to impose restrictions on AI in legal submissions.

These concerns are valid. Legal work isn’t like email marketing or social media copywriting: it carries duties of care, confidentiality and professional accountability. Lawyers cannot outsource liability to machines. What agents can do is operate transparently, with human oversight and accountability at every step.

Progress is under way. Leading agentic systems embed traceable reasoning, human-in-the-loop verification and integration with trusted legal databases. They aren’t standalone oracles, they are partners in professional workflows that augment rather than supplant expert judgment.

For Scottish firms – boutique practices or global players – this shift presents both opportunity and imperative. Clients increasingly expect value, speed and insight. Competitive advantage will belong not to the firm with the biggest logo, but the one that harnesses agentic AI to deliver better outcomes faster and more cost-effectively.

The legal profession has always been rooted in tradition and precedent, literally and figuratively. But just as the printed bound volume of law reports once supplanted the clerk’s handwritten notes, so too will agentic AI become an indispensable part of the modern legal toolkit.

The future isn’t about if AI will transform law. It’s about when and how we choose to lead that transformation – with rigour, with ethics, and above all, responsibility.

Rob Aberdein is group managing director at Simpson & Marwick. This article first appeared in The Scotsman.