Throughout the last year, AI technologies and platforms like ChatGPT have made global headlines (read more about this here) here) and have since started restructuring their legal workflow.
While there's still a little time left occupational fear The rise of such technology is The beginning of the end for lawyersthe client is seek efficiency Now more than ever – and recent reports Dye & Durham researchers recently revealed that in 2024, companies will increasingly turn to AI to retain talent and drive efficiency.
Especially as these emerging technologies become more commonplace in legal settings. Companies that effectively utilize AI Increased competitiveness against rival companies.
Caryn Sandler, partner and chief innovation officer at Gilbert & Tobin, said in a conversation with Lawyers Weekly that integrating AI into daily workflows within BigLaw firms is still in its infancy. .
“Relatively basic forms of AI have existed in workflow tools for many years. These tools are useful, for example, when simplifying and standardizing routine processes or facilitating the smart delivery of knowledge management resources. “It gives you a competitive advantage when you do that,” she explained.
“Strategic use of AI in e-discovery, contract review processes, and due diligence are other examples of how AI has enhanced legal delivery at BigLaw firms. Leveraging these technologies to reduce large document sets Focusing on reviews frees up time and energy, allowing lawyers to work more efficiently and focus on complex areas of law.
“The integration of GenAI into BigLaw workflows is still in its early stages. However, we are beginning to realize its potential in finding relevant knowledge resources, evaluating internal policy requirements and procedures, reviewing and critiquing communications, and contributing to marketing efforts. We already know that when used properly, GenAI has the potential to provide competitive advantages in service delivery times, service consistency, and compliance, and provide valuable market insights.”
Dalvin Chen, a partner at Mills Oakley who works in information and communications technology and digital law, said AI is having an even greater impact on workflows in a variety of other practice areas, including M&A and litigation. Ta.
“Understanding the underlying technology and simply commenting based on my experience as a technology lawyer, for high-volume mechanical tasks, leveraging AI technology can make the process more efficient, and in some cases It can reduce the impact of human error, which is more common in areas such as discovery work in litigation and mergers and acquisitions, which tend to be large volumes, and can be used to classify data that is relatively simple. , in some cases requiring the completion of forms,” he said.
“Using generative AI technology to complete these tasks frees up lawyers to focus on performing legal analysis and helps young lawyers develop more analytical legal skills early in their careers. can do.”
This is something that legal technology providers also acknowledge. In a recent episode of LawTech Talks, Produced in partnership with LexisNexis, At LexisNexis, Jeff Reihl, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Jamie Buckley, executive vice president and chief product officer, and Greg Dickason, managing director of Asia Pacific, agree that generative AI similar to ChatGPT is He said it was a “game changer”.
“As soon as ChatGPT launched, it was a game changer in generative AI. So we immediately started experimenting and positioning the company for that. One of the first things we did was One was to talk to a lot of customers to better understand how generative AI could help them, and we also had a lot of one-on-one conversations with them. After doing extensive research, we found that there are four main areas where GenAI can really help,” Buckley explained.
“One is asking complex legal research questions, and the other is around legal document creation, which means you can create the first draft of a complex legal document from just a simple prompt. Another scenario that's very good is about summarization, so you have a lot of long legal documents, like content sets, and GenAI is great at summarizing them very concisely. , allowing attorneys to upload their documents and ask questions about them.”
Practical use of AI in legal settings
For law firms, implementing this type of tool can bring significant benefits to workflow and efficiency.
“If you're a lawyer, you go into your office and do research work, and you often have to go through a lot of cases and content. Now you can ask the tool to summarize it for you. We want to create a draft for the customer that will take several hours in advance,” Dickason says.
“Now, that first draft is not the final draft, but that first draft is completed within a minute or two. That base-level knowledge work is automated and very effectively transformative.”
“Many of them say that the work of junior associates in law firms is probably going to change, because a lot of that initial research, this large-scale language model created that first draft, and it's going to happen. Because they are providing reference material that they are looking at from a large-scale language model. So the different types of work that different law firms do and who does that work will have to evolve, but all law firms are very excited about it. [generative AI]”
The use of AI for document filing, basic research work, and other less “sexy” legal tasks is also becoming more common, giving lawyers more room to try new things. key skills.
“If you reduce the large number of tasks traditionally performed by humans, it will inevitably take less time to do that particular type of work, and this is true of any new technology. As lawyers become more entrenched in our legal environment, new opportunities and different types of 'jobs' are emerging for lawyers,” Chien added.
“Having practiced exclusively in this field for over 20 years in various guises including in-house, government, academia, and private practice (currently in a leadership position), I have seen a lot of confusion in the area. In the context of automation, generative AI today, Web 4.0 in the next five years, and generative AI in the next 10 years. It will be a combination of Web 4.0 and quantum advances.
“It is important to get the basics right and identify the areas of law that impact these and the new areas of law that will be developed in the future. and subsequent emerging areas of disruptive technology.”
Additionally, Sandler said, AI can leverage a firm's established processes and knowledge banks to provide additional benefits for lawyers and clients.
“This means that AI brings more value to lawyers and their work when it contributes to existing business processes, rather than replacing them. It works when you act as a virtual assistant or colleague, helping you draft documents based on existing case law and helping you modify them to suit the circumstances of the transaction, either in whole or in part. You can also draft the entire document.
“The opportunities that AI can offer our legal staff in terms of improving the way they work, freeing them from routine and time-consuming tasks and allowing them to focus on other ‘high-value’ aspects of customer service.” ,” she added.
“And because the performance of AI tools depends on their underlying models, lawyers can evaluate the output of these tools on issues such as hallucinations and apply legal experience and reasoning to complex legal problems. AI technology cannot yet be replicated.”
How AI will continue to impact future legal workflows is likely to see more innovation in the legal world than ever before, as discussed in LawTech Talks.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. ChatGPT was launched only 18 months ago, but look at how far things have already come. New models come out literally every day, so keep up with it. That's what we're working on full-time,” Reil said.
“We already have some in our lab looking at some of these new models and what the capabilities of those new models are and how we can leverage those capabilities and integrate them into our products. But there's going to be a lot of innovation.”
Dickason agreed, emphasizing that for this technology to have a positive impact on legal workflows, lawyers and businesses need to “lean in” and actually leverage it more and more.
“If you're a lawyer, it's definitely going to shape the profession. The profession is changing. Lawyers are able to serve more people and actually make a difference in society. I'm really looking forward to it because it's going to have a big impact. It's not a zero-sum game where AI takes away some of your work. I think it expands what you can do.” said.
“But I think the people who use AI, the people who use GenAI, are going to compete with the people who don't. That's the really big thing. I don't think lawyers are going to go away. I think it's going to be great for the profession. But I think we need to lean in and use it because we can be more effective and efficient.”
