Career Explorer Law
Grows with AI
Lawyers
Represent clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, or manage or advise clients on legal transactions. May specialize in a single area or may practice broadly in many areas of law.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 29% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is high (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it very high), and US jobs are projected to change by +4.7% by 2035, faster than average. The work leans on creative vision and ethical judgement.
AI can help with many of the tasks, and demand is still growing. Being fluent with AI is the edge here.
- Median pay (2025)
- $159,670
- Job growth to 2035
- +4.7%
- Openings a year
- 28,700
- People doing it (2025)
- 864,000
- Usual route in
- Doctorate or professional degree
Where people already use AI for this work
- Research laws, precedents, or other legal data
- Advise others on legal or regulatory matters
- Consult legal materials or public records
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Present information in legal proceedings
- Interview people to obtain information
- Prepare legal or regulatory documents
What the work looks like
- Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
- Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents.
- Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case.
- Present and summarize cases to judges and juries.
- Represent clients in court or before government agencies.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Industrial-organizational psychologistsGrows with AI, Index 39, +6.5%
- Clinical and counseling psychologistsGrows with AI, Index 63, +11.7%
- Speech-language pathologistsGrows with AI, Index 77, +16.6%
- NeurologistsGrows with AI, Index 76, +6.4%
Also known as: Attorney, Attorney General, Counsel, Lawyer, Attorney at Law, County Attorney, District Attorney, General Counsel.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.