CMS expands Harvey firmwide after 9 in 10 report productivity gains

CMS is rolling out legal AI platform Harvey to all 21 of its member firms, giving more than 7,000 lawyers and staff access to the technology in what it says is the largest law firm deployment of Harvey in EMEA to date.

The move is a big win for Harvey and lands at a time when the company is locked in an increasingly fierce platform race with fast-growing European rival Legora, which has signed a wave of UK-headquartered Big Law firms this year.

A big win for Harvey

CMS was already using Harvey on a limited basis after a 2023 pilot, but the firm has now committed to a full global rollout across more than 50 countries.

Internal analysis shows 93% of CMS users reporting productivity gains, equating to an average of 117.9 hours saved per lawyer per year. Those efficiency gains, CMS says, are already helping reduce write-offs, ease workloads and sharpen price competitiveness.

"The adoption of generative AI tools across the firm has been remarkable," said John Craske, CMS’s chief knowledge and innovation officer. "It speaks volumes about our people’s appetite for innovation."

Harvey CEO Winston Weinberg called CMS a long-standing customer and said the decision to scale the technology firmwide "reflects true leadership in innovation."

CMS managing partner Stephen Millar said the firm was pushing lawyers into higher-value work thanks to the time savings from the technology. "This is a practical, client‑led step that strengthens quality, consistency and value across every matter we handle," he said.

The rollout follows a lengthy testing programme inside CMS, which has evaluated more than a dozen generative AI tools. Harvey had already been widely used across the firm, with more than 1,100 daily active users.

The platform race heats up

The news comes on the heels of Harvey's latest super-sized funding round. Last week, it announced a $160 million raise at an $8 billion valuation, bringing its total funding above $1 billion, and is under pressure to cement its position as the leading AI platform inside Big Law as Legora gains traction across Europe.