The legal profession is changing, and artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a significant role. AI has the potential to revolutionize every aspect of the law. It can help automate tedious tasks that lawyers do manually, tell them what cases they should work on next, or even predict how a court case might play out based on past decisions.
While many people worry about being replaced by machines in the workplace, AI offers opportunities for lawyers who want to make their jobs more efficient and allow them more time with clients. AI will allow lawyers to focus on more complex cases, leaving the simple ones for computers. Let’s dive into the areas in which AI is impacting the legal profession.
1. AI is being used in legal research and drafting
AI can scan through a pile of documents and quickly find the relevant ones to their case. This saves time for lawyers, who would otherwise have to go through all those papers themselves. It allows them to focus on more complex or creative tasks instead of doing grunt work like document review.
2. Lawyers can use AI to predict the outcome of a case
AI systems can “learn” from past cases. They would be able to predict how a court case might play out based on past decisions.
3. Law firms are using chatbots as an alternative way to reach clients
A Miami-based law firm created an online chatbot called Ross that helps people get divorces without talking over video or wait months before getting papers signed at their local courthouse. Once someone selects an option on the website, Ross generates a digital form that needs to be printed out and filled in. The chatbot then guides users through the process of sending their completed forms back via e-mail or fax.
The company’s founder says she was motivated by her own divorce five years ago from an abusive husband who didn’t want to go through with it. “I wanted something easy for people like me,” said Lindsey Partnow about why she created Ross.
Lawyers themselves are turning towards using bots in their work due to the increased demand for services. One lawyer said he uses his own AI bot to clean up data from websites to be used in court. Legal Analytics, a company that helps law firms manage their data, has recently released the Lawbot for lawyers. Tech savvy law firms use chatbot APIs to design their own custom made chatbots.
AI also provides alerts on relevant case law and legislation. AI will be able to provide legal services for the underserved population in developing countries. In those areas where lawyers are few or expensive, AI offers an opportunity for people without access to attorneys to get help online from bots like Ross.
4. Legal Insights
AI also provides insights into what judges are looking for in court cases” so that you can create a strategy for your case and you can craft your argument before going to court.
5.Contract Review
Contract review, which can take up to 20 hours for a human lawyer to complete, takes just 15 minutes with the help of AI. A strong suit of this system is that it seeks loopholes and other possible issues within contracts. Contract review is a significant part of legal work, so anything that reduces time and improves accuracy will be welcomed by many lawyers. This not only lowers costs but also provides better service.
AI is revolutionizing the legal profession by making it more efficient and accessible to people in developing countries while at the same time offering an opportunity for those without access to attorneys.
However, AI is “not necessarily” good for lawyers because it may cause more people to lose their jobs. In some countries, this has led to unemployment rates among lawyers rising.
Final Thoughts
In the future, attorneys could turn into managers who oversee a team of robots. With AI technology improving every day, machines will likely take over even more aspects of legal work in the coming years. In most cases, this won’t be traumatic because what’s being automated are repetitive tasks (e-discovery) or jobs where humans don’t need much training (e-filing). AI is a formidable force to be reckoned with for the legal industry, increasing the productivity, customer loyalty and the revenues of law firms around the world.
Image Credit: Photo by Iñaki del Olmo on Unsplash
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Source: https://datafloq.com/read/how-ai-revolutionizing-legal-profession/15129
