81% of CLOs Say GenAI Accelerates Legal Work, Can Help Their Teams Demonstrate Value, But Lack the Metrics to Prove it ACC/Everlaw Survey Finds

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 17, 2025--

Everlaw, the cloud-native litigation and investigation platform, in partnership with the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) today released The Role of Generative AI in Proving Corporate Law Department Value report. According to the findings, in-house legal professionals are nearly unanimous in their view that GenAI can help them demonstrate their value to the enterprise—with all but 4% agreeing—while 81% of legal leaders cite greater speed of legal support and matter resolution as top benefits, underscoring how efficiency is driving adoption. Yet if GenAI promises to help teams show their value, most remain under-equipped to prove it: only 12% of in-house teams track technology return on investment, and just 16% track outcomes relative to cost.

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From Cost Center to Strategic Business Partner

As legal departments embrace GenAI, the function is evolving from a focus on cost control to one centered on measurable business impact and enterprise value. While 83% of respondents track outside counsel spend, few are measuring outcomes such as time-to-resolution or legal’s contribution to growth. GenAI is beginning to change that dynamic.

Despite these promises, legal teams cite a lack of infrastructure as the main roadblock to effectively measuring and reporting about their business impact.

“Efficiency wins are real, but the next phase is about proof and capturing results with the same rigor the rest of the enterprise expects,” said Chuck Kellner, Strategic Discovery Advisor at Everlaw. “Closing that gap will require strategic investment in reporting technology, strong governance around data security, and targeted upskilling in AI-driven analysis, so legal teams can move from testing GenAI’s potential to systematically measuring performance and demonstrating impact across the business.”

“In many organizations, the legal function has long been categorized as a cost center–an essential but reactive support team focused on managing risk and controlling expenses. Today, that perception is being challenged,” said Jason L. Brown, ACC president and CEO. “This research shows that generative AI is accelerating legal’s evolution from a support function to a strategic, data-driven partner in business decision-making.“

Context

The Role of Generative AI in Proving Corporate Law Department Value report, based on survey data from 284 chief legal officers, general counsel, and legal operations professionals worldwide, explores how corporate legal departments are adopting and adapting to generative AI. It examines the metrics legal teams are using to measure performance, track ROI, and redefine their strategic role within the business and the role GenAI plays in bolstering their visibility as strategic partners to the business. The full report is available at: https://www.everlaw.com/resources/acc-gen-ai-proving-value-survey-2025/.

About Everlaw

Everlaw helps legal teams navigate the increasingly complex ediscovery landscape to chart a straighter path to the truth. Trusted by Fortune 100 corporate counsel, 91 of the Am Law 200, and all state attorneys general, Everlaw's combination of intuitive experience, advanced technology, and partnership with customers empowers organizations to tackle the most pressing technological challenges—and transform their approach to discovery and litigation in the process. Founded in 2010 and based in Oakland, Calif., Everlaw is funded by top-tier investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, CapitalG, HIG Growth Partners, K9 Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and TPG Growth. Follow us on LinkedIn.

About ACC

The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) is the premier global legal association that promotes the common professional and business interests of in-house counsel who work for corporations, associations and other organizations, through information, education, networking, and advocacy. For more than 40 years, ACC has set the standard for in-house counsel and raised awareness regarding the value of the chief legal officer in the C-suite and boardroom. With nearly 50,000 members employed by over 12,000 organizations spanning 100+ countries, ACC connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel® remains the foundation for ACC’s market leadership. For more information, visit www.acc.com and follow ACC on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook.

A new survey conducted by Everlaw and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) found that a majority (96%) of survey respondents said GenAI technology can help them demonstrate the legal team’s value to the business — but many will need to overcome a metrics gap that reflects their focus on cost control and efficiency, rather than outcomes-based indicators tied to business impact. Based on a survey of 284 CLOs, GCs, and legal operations professionals worldwide, The Role of Generative AI in Proving Corporate Law Department Value survey is part two of the 2025 GenAI Strategic Value for Corporate Law Departments report by the ACC in partnership with Everlaw.

BAGHDAD (AP) — An American journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad had tried to cross from Syria into Iraq three weeks earlier and was initially turned back, an Iraqi official said Wednesday.

U.S. and Iraqi officials said Shelly Renee Kittleson had also been warned of threats against her in the days before her abduction. A freelance journalist who has worked for years in Iraq and Syria, Kittleson was kidnapped from a street in the Iraqi capital Tuesday and remains missing.

Hussein Alawi, an adviser to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said Kittleson had sought to enter via the al-Qaim crossing from Syria on March 9 but was turned back because she did not have a press work permit and because security concerns due to “the escalation of the war and aerial projectiles over Iraqi airspace as a result of the war on Iran.”

She later entered the country after obtaining a single-entry visa to Iraq valid for 60 days issued to allow foreign citizens stranded in neighboring countries to “transit through Iraq to reach their home countries via available transport routes,” he said.

Kittleson entered Baghdad a few days before she was kidnapped and was staying in a hotel in the capital, he said.

“The incident is being followed closely by Iraqi security and intelligence agencies under the supervision of” al-Sudani, Alawi said. He noted that one suspect believed to be involved in the kidnapping plot has been arrested and is being interrogated.

Iraqi security forces gave chase to her captors and arrested one suspect after the car he was driving crashed, but other kidnappers were able to escape with the journalist in a second car.

An Iraqi intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, said Iraqi authorities believe she is being held in Baghdad and are trying to locate her and secure her release. He said authorities “have information about the abducting party” but declined to give more details.

U.S. officials have alleged that Kittleson was taken by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-linked Iraqi militia that has been implicated in previous kidnappings of foreigners. The group has not claimed the kidnapping and the Iraqi government has not publicly said anything about the kidnappers' affiliation.

The Iraqi intelligence official said that prior to Kittleson's abduction, Iraqis had contacted U.S. officials to notify them that there was a specific kidnapping threat against her by Iran-affiliated militias.

Dylan Johnson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for public affairs, said on X Tuesday that the “State Department previously fulfilled our duty to warn this individual of threats against them.”

A U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said, “She was contacted multiple times with warnings of the threats against her," including as late as the night before the kidnapping.

Surveillance footage that was obtained by The Associated Press shows what seems to be the moment the journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad. It shows two men approaching a person standing on a street corner and ushering the person into the back of a car. There appears to be a brief struggle to shut the car door before the men get into the vehicle and it drives away.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have launched regular attacks on U.S. facilities in the country since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

A street view shows the street corner in central Baghdad's Saadoun Street where U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1 2026. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)

A street view shows the street corner in central Baghdad's Saadoun Street where U.S. journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in central Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1 2026. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban)