Legal professionals lose nearly 18 weeks a year to non-billable work as burnout crisis deepens – LEAP

UK legal professionals spend nearly three hours a day on non-billable tasks – the equivalent of 88 full working days, or nearly 17.5 weeks a year – according to a new industry report from LEAP Legal Software.

Profitability in Law: Global Report 2026, based on a survey of legal professionals across six countries including the UK, paints a picture of a profession caught between mounting commercial pressure and deepening operational strain.

Despite the strain of non-billable work, 69% of legal professionals reported increased profitability over the past 12 months. Yet 93% said their firm had the potential to be more profitable still and 70% rated profit improvement as a top or high priority.

Pricing pressure emerged as the single biggest obstacle to profitability, cited by 51% of respondents, while 41% pointed to the need to reduce expenses. When asked what was preventing their firm from operating more efficiently, 43% blamed too many different systems, 41% pointed to limited AI tools for document review or research, and 40% cited excessive manual administrative work. Just over a quarter (28%) said staff were underutilised.

The operational picture is compounded by a wellbeing crisis. Some 85% of legal professionals said burnout was a problem at their firm, while 84% identified staff turnover as a concern. A further 38% said their firm lacked sufficient staff capacity and 13% reported they did not have enough support staff.

The report’s findings on technology adoption offer some indication of where firms are turning for solutions. Some 79% of legal professionals said their firm was already saving moderate or significant amounts of time through AI, while 33% said they were using it for document review and 26% for drafting and document generation. Some 88% said they trusted legal technology providers to integrate AI tools responsibly and safely.

Yet adoption remains uneven. Only 16% of respondents said their firm had invested in reducing administrative burden, and just 35% had prioritised better technology and tools. Meanwhile, 40% said a lack of AI tools to identify opportunities or automate client outreach remained a barrier to growth. Speed and the ability to verify responses were rated equally important by legal professionals when evaluating AI tools, each cited by 40% of respondents.

Craig Matthews, CEO at LEAP UK, adds: “Nearly 18 weeks a year is lost to non-billable work which poses a real challenge to productivity and profitability for any firm, and these findings show it is far from isolated. What’s encouraging is that the solutions are increasingly within reach. AI tools are already delivering real time savings for the firms that have adopted them – the challenge now is closing the gap between those firms and the ones yet to act.”