Legal professionals feel ‘miserable’ over admin tasks, new 8am report shows
Nearly 40% of legal professionals estimate losing four or more hours of billable work each week because of administrative tasks, according to new data from professional business platform 8am. (Photo from Shutterstock)
Nearly 40% of legal professionals estimate losing four or more hours of billable work each week because of administrative tasks, according to new data from professional business platform 8am.
As part of its 2026 Admin Misery Index, 8am surveyed 400 legal professionals, which included attorneys, paralegals and legal operations staff, to find out how administrative work was affecting them and their law firms.
“What we found is an industry navigating heavy administrative burden, resulting in lost billable hours, delayed client work and missed time that could be spent on strategy and growth,” according to an Aug. 31 8am blog post announcing the survey’s results.
Among 8am’s findings, two-thirds of legal professionals reported that administrative work sometimes interferes with their core responsibilities. Meanwhile, 78% said it has limited their ability to accept new clients or grow their practices.
In assessing the financial impact, 8am additionally showed that 26% of legal professionals estimate that administrative work costs their firm at least $10,000 in revenue each month.
“These findings show why administrative burden can become a hidden tax on professional work,” according to 8am. “Time entry, billing, scheduling, payment collection and information management are essential to running a healthy law firm. The challenge is that without proper tooling and workflows, it’s inefficient, disconnected and predominantly manual.”
8am explored which administrative tasks put the most pressure on legal professionals. According to its data, 44% reported that time tracking is their leading administrative stressor.
As such, when 8am asked legal professionals how artificial intelligence could help with their administrative burdens, the top task from respondents, at 42%, would be the ability to use AI to reduce or eliminate the time that they spend on time tracking. Meanwhile, 36% would use AI to help with billing and invoicing, while 33% would use it for scheduling and managing their calendars.
The 8am 2026 Admin Misery Index includes results from a survey of 1,200 U.S. professionals across corporate, desk-based and professional services environments. As part of this larger survey, 8am found that 73% of professionals reported feeling at least “slightly miserable” because of administrative work, and 80% reported experiencing the “Sunday Scaries” because of awaiting administrative tasks.
An 8am press release with more information is here.
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