Using Technology and AI in Legal Practice

In recent years, technology has become an integral part of nearly every profession, including the legal sector. From the release of ChatGPT in late 2022 to speculation of mainstream artificial intelligence (AI) powered assistants releasing next year and OpenAI’s recent 500 million dollar investment from SoftBank, AI is expected to revolutionise the operation of law firms by introducing more efficient approaches to traditional methods of working.

However, increased reliance on AI raises important questions regarding the use of technology within legal practice, particularly regarding data privacy issues, security concerns, and the legal implications of using such technology. 

This article explores the various ways AI is being integrated into legal practice, outlining its benefits and challenges.

Applying AI in Law

AI is a technology that enables computers and machines to mimic human learning, comprehension, problem-solving, decision-making, creativity and autonomy, according to IBM. From this definition alone, the potential for transformative changes through AI integration in the legal workplace is evident.

From a practical perspective, AI introduces a more streamlined process when dealing with traditional practices. Tasks that legal practitioners typically perform can now be aided by machine learning algorithms, a subset of AI. One example of this is the process of legal research; using AI to scan through large volumes of legal documents and identify relevant statutes speeds up the process, allowing lawyers to focus their time on more strategic and complex tasks. 

Another example is the process of contract reviews. Legal contracts are agreements that create obligations and are enforceable by the law. For a contract to be legally recognised, all aspects must be thoroughly reviewed. Documents must be examined for a multitude of reasons, such as ensuring they include all the agreed elements, removing ambiguous language, and assessing critical clauses. 

Contract review is often quite time-consuming, sometimes taking weeks to complete depending on the complexity of the contract and the lawyers’ workload. However, with the integration of AI, this timeline could be reduced from weeks to just a few days. AI-powered contract review platforms can swiftly analyse and extract key clauses and terms, significantly accelerating the process.

The future application of AI in law firms will innovate the way they operate, introducing opportunities for a higher quality of legal services at a more efficient rate. However, these technological advancements also bring challenges. 

Challenges

The integration of AI into the legal workplace presents various issues and challenges which must be addressed if society is to move forward with implementing AI in legal practice. 

One issue could be upholding data privacy and security when using AI. As mentioned earlier, the possibility of using AI to review contracts raises significant concerns. Contracts contain confidential or sensitive legal information, including personal data, and the handling of this information must be controlled and stored safely. Employing AI during this process may introduce several problems, such as data breaches, as AI-powered platforms process and store data on third-party systems. 

Another concern is the biases in AI algorithms. AI utilises data from numerous sources, including public datasets and websites, as noted by icom.ai. However, this data often contains inherent biases and unfairness. Using technology that acquires information from prejudiced sources can perpetuate these biases, leading to unfair outcomes in decision-making. 

As stated before, AI is expected to increase efficiency and productivity within law firms. Along with this, AI makes the law more accessible to the general public by removing traditional barriers that once hindered access to qualified legal help. Although this change is seemingly positive, there may be pushback from some legal professionals. Paralegals, for instance, have many responsibilities, including preparing legal research and documents, tasks that AI could potentially perform more quickly. This may lead to a reduction in the number of legal roles needed in the future and may have a ripple effect and reduce the number of law firms required.

The Path Forward

As reported by the Financial Times Briefing, AI startups are generating revenue more quickly than any other technology that has come before. Whilst this does not guarantee long-term economic benefit or profitability, AI’s potential to enhance legal practice through increased efficiency and improved access to justice is apparent. Nonetheless, there are significant challenges and risks, such as job losses, security concerns and other obstacles that must be addressed. 

AI will not eliminate the need for lawyers and other legal professionals. However, firms will need to adjust and learn how to collaborate with the inevitable integration of upcoming technology to ensure that AI benefits both legal professionals and society as a whole.