Lito and the Language of Agentic AI: A Smarter Future for Legal Work
As firms experiment with next‑generation tools, conversations about agentic AI - AI that orchestrates, adapts, and executes actions autonomously - are intensifying. But amid the hype, it’s essential to use the right language and set realistic expectations, especially in a profession where accuracy, ethics, and client trust are paramount.
Stats That Matter
- AI adoption in firms rose from 19% (2023) to 79% (2024), with nearly half of lawyers now using AI weekly.
- Legal AI has already surpassed human lawyers in areas like document Q&A (94.8% accuracy vs. 70.1%) and transcript analysis, and performed these tasks 80x faster.
Setting Expectations: AI Is Just a Tool
As agentic AI rises, a troubling trend has emerged: anthropomorphizing AI systems. Some vendors position their tools as if they were a “partner” or “teammate.” This framing risks:
- Misinformation and misplaced trust: Users may assume the AI is more reliable than it is
- False expectations: Creating a belief that the tool has judgment or intent
- Ethical concerns: Especially if lawyers treat AI as a decision‑maker rather than a decision‑support system
- Potential manipulation: When human‑like framing obscures the tool’s real limitations
The risks aren’t abstract. AI hallucinations and inaccuracies have already led to lawyers being reprimanded in court - with fake case citations entered into filings and reputational harm that can linger long after the error. These are reminders that AI must be handled with rigor.
For law firms, the lesson is clear: AI isn’t a colleague, it’s a tool. Treating it like a co-worker invites misplaced trust and greater risk. Treating it as what it is, a powerful but fallible system, enables responsible adoption.
This isn’t just about professionalism, it’s about protecting clients, credibility, and compliance. Use AI for what it is, not what you wish it to be. And be mindful of how you speak about it:
- Set realistic expectations so lawyers don’t assume more than the system can deliver.
- Emphasize support over substitution, keeping human judgment at the center.
- Ensure your teams and your clients understand exactly what the technology can and cannot do.
The bottom line: AI can accelerate your work, but only if you anchor it in transparency and discipline.
The Future Is Agentic AI: A Knowledge Economy, Not a Novelty
Forrester notes that agentic AI will reforge businesses that embrace it by reasoning through complex scenarios and adapting to achieve goals. And while that is an exciting future, crucially agentic AI is not magic - it’s advanced mathematics and orchestration. In legal, that means the ability to:
- Reason across complex matters and client contexts
- Adapt recommendations as deal points, precedent, and client needs evolve
- Orchestrate tasks across multiple tools, from drafting and reviewing in Word to surfacing insights from firm databases
Where Lito Fits Today
According to Forrester’s “Agentic Evolution” model, agentic AI advances through:
- Complex flow agentic – capable of handling multifaceted scenarios
- Multi-flow agentic – orchestrating across multiple tasks and systems
- Any flow agentic – broad orchestration with near‑universal applicability
Lito is already positioned in the multiflow agentic category, embedding deeply in Litera One to support drafting, reviewing, and managing matters in context. Orchestrating skills across not only multiple tasks (from drafting to precedent review to risk mitigation, etc.), but also surfacing data and worfklows from trusted systems (Litera products), Lito is designed for legal work and powered by 30 years of Litera expertise in legal technology.
Lito’s Real Strength: Amplifying the Tools You Already Know
The power of Lito isn’t just in what it generates, it’s in how it amplifies the tools your lawyers already use:
- With Compare: Every change is pinpointed for faster, more accurate reviews and redlining
- With Foundation: Client, matter, and deal intelligence are surfaced directly in context
- With Foundation Insights: Negotiated terms are benchmarked against firm precedent and market standards
With more integrations to come and several to start, this isn’t theoretical. Unlike other solutions that are largely wrappers around large language models (LLMs) with limited orchestration, Lito is taking the systems your lawyers already trust and supercharging them with agentic capabilities.
Choosing the Right Language, Choosing the Right Future
The legal AI landscape is evolving quickly, and firms can’t afford to invest in tools that overpromise and underdeliver. As law firms increasingly evaluate agentic AI, they must avoid anthropomorphizing, set clear expectations, and adopt solutions that amplify, not replace, their existing strengths.
Lito is the clear choice: not a wrapper, not a gimmick, but a purpose‑built, agentic AI embedded in the tools your lawyers already use. It’s about giving your firm the smartest, most reliable tool to deliver better outcomes for clients.
Be the first to experience Lito and join the waitlist today.
