The legal industry is rapidly changing due to the rise of artificial intelligence.
AI tools are currently being applied to a host of legal tasks such as research, e-discovery, due diligence, litigation prediction analytics, contract review/drafting, and other document generation and management.
While it is unlikely that AI will completely replace lawyers anytime soon, it is clear that the technology will have a major impact on the legal profession. AI is likely to automate many of the routine and repetitive tasks that lawyers currently perform, freeing them up to focus on more strategic work.
Benefits of AI for legal professionals
- Help legal professionals streamline and automate tasks and processes.
- Reduce costs and errors.
- Increase productivity and quality of work.
- Enhance client service and satisfaction.
- Create new business opportunities and value propositions .
Concerns and risks regarding AI for the legal profession
- One example of the ethical risks of using AI in legal practice is the incident of two lawyers who relied on ChatGPT to produce a legal document, only to discover later that ChatGPT had referenced six non-existent court cases — a type of AI-error called “hallucinations.” Besides hallucinations, AI models can also suffer from problems of bias and discrimination, incomplete or erroneous data, lack of reproducibility, and lack of transparency.
- Another important ethical issue related to AI in the legal field is that of client confidentiality and data security. AI has developed to its current state because of its ability to access and learn from huge amounts of information. This naturally raises questions about what data an AI tool can access/store and how that data will be safeguarded. This is especially relevant if the data is stored by a third-party AI platform that is not under the control of the lawyer and potentially accessible to others.
- Potential disruption and displacement of some legal jobs. As AI becomes more sophisticated, it is possible that some legal jobs will be automated. This could lead to job displacement for lawyers, especially those who are engaged in routine tasks that can be automated.
Given these liability issues, AI will still need a lot of human supervision and intervention to be effective. But if AI can really replace 44% of legal work, then it’s worth reconsidering the value that human lawyers will bring to the table and how the legal industry will have to adjust.
Popular AI Legal Tools
Here are five popular AI tools used in the legal industry:
- CARA by Casetext: This AI tool analyzes citations and returns a list of relevant suggested cases not cited specifically in the document.
- Westlaw Edge: This is a legal research product that offers broader coverage of all federal and state courts. It uses advanced AI to generate a “probability of enactment” score for particular bills in legislature.
- Atlas by Workland: This platform employs an algorithm to generate a percentage-based compatibility score between the employer and each applicant.
- Lawgeex: This company applies AI to contract creation and vetting.
- LexCheck: Similar to Lawgeex, LexCheck also uses AI for contract creation and vetting.
These tools help automate various tasks in the legal industry, such as legal research, document review, contract management, and more. However, it’s important to note that the effectiveness of these tools can vary depending on the specific needs of the law firm or legal department.
Source:
AI in Law and Legal Practice – Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research. https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/ai-in-law-legal-practice-current-applications/.
Generative AI in the Legal Profession – Harvard Law School. https://clp.law.harvard.edu/knowledge-hub/magazine/issues/generative-ai-in-the-legal-profession/.
AI’s Growing Impact on Marketing in the Legal Industry – Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/ais-growing-impact-on-marketing-in-the-legal-industry/453550.
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