Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents.

“Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents.” is a core task performed by Paralegals and Legal Assistants. Among the occupation's 12 rated tasks, workers place it 7th by importance (#6 most important). About 85% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Consult legal materials or public records. in Getting Information

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E2. Exposure with tools — software built on top of a language model (not the model alone) could cut the time by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.50. Automation potential label: T3.

How AI is actually used on this kind of task

The Anthropic Economic Index observes how people actually use AI on tasks like this one across millions of real conversations.

• 0.003% share of AI-use records mapped to this task
• 57% of that use is work-related
• Most common interaction: directive
• Average autonomy of the AI: 2.8 (1–5; higher = more autonomous)
• 89% of interactions still needed a human in the loop

Observed AI use describes people choosing to use AI as a tool on this kind of task today. It is augmentation and assistance, not a measure of jobs replaced.

Working with AI vs. handing it off

Of the AI conversations mapped to this task, the split between people working alongside AI and people delegating the task to it.

How people interact with AI on this task

Other tasks in this occupation

• Prepare affidavits or other documents, such as legal correspondence, and organize and maintain documents in paper or electronic filing system. · importance 4.4
• Investigate facts and law of cases and search pertinent sources, such as public records and internet sources, to determine causes of action and to prepare cases. · importance 4.1
• Prepare for trial by performing tasks such as organizing exhibits. · importance 4.0
• Meet with clients and other professionals to discuss details of case. · importance 3.9
• File pleadings with court clerk. · importance 3.9
• Direct and coordinate law office activity, including delivery of subpoenas. · importance 3.3
• Call upon witnesses to testify at hearing. · importance 3.0
• Arbitrate disputes between parties and assist in the real estate closing process, such as by reviewing title searches. · importance 3.0
• Appraise and inventory real and personal property for estate planning. · importance 2.9
• Keep and monitor legal volumes to ensure that law library is up-to-date. · importance 2.7
• Prepare legal documents, including briefs, pleadings, appeals, wills, contracts, and real estate closing statements.

See all tasks on the Paralegals and Legal Assistants page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-1636,
  title  = {Gather and analyze research data, such as statutes, decisions, and legal articles, codes, and documents.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-1636}
}