AI in Law: What should you know?
A college student’s look into how AI is currently being implemented in the legal field, and ways it could be implemented in the future.
How is AI currently being used by lawyers?
Currently, there are many ways that lawyers are already utilizing AI to assist them with their work. I will be discussing a few of the most popular ones.
- Legal Research
Legal research is probably one of the most popular AI uses in the legal field, considering it can be the most time-consuming. Without AI, legal research can take hours, or even days or weeks, depending on the scope of it, the lawyer’s familiarity with the topic, the depth of their analysis, and other factors. Because of this, it makes sense that lawyers are looking to AI to do it for them. With AI, lawyers are able to ask a question for their legal research and get an answer within seconds, based on every law, statute, and precedent you can imagine. A drawback of this could be a lawyer needing to fact-check everything they find, as AI can make mistakes, but I think overall it would be faster to do that than to do the research completely themselves.
2. Document Review
Document review does not take as long as legal research, but it can be time-consuming depending on the volume of documents, the complexity of the case, and the deadline. Deadlines are a major influence on lawyers looking to use AI. Because of the volume of cases they have at a time, with all of them having sometimes strict deadlines, it is no surprise that lawyers are looking for other sources to make their work easier and faster.
AI can help lawyers with document review in many ways. One way is by classifying documents based on criteria, such as the document type and how relevant it is to their case. By making this automated with AI, it makes the most relevant documents more easily accessible. This can also be used to have AI categorize documents based on that criteria as well, which would show patterns in the case. Another way AI could be used by lawyers for document review is by using an AI search to scan the documents for keywords or concepts that they are looking for in a case. The main use that lawyers utilize is summarizing documents. AI can summarize a long document and give the highlights within seconds, so it’s very logical for lawyers to utilize that function.
3. Contract Analysis
Just like the other sections, contract analysis also can take a good amount of time, depending on the complexity and length of the contract, the scope of the analysis, and how experienced the lawyer is with the subject matter.
Similar to document review, AI can assist lawyers with contract analysis in a multitude of ways. One of the most helpful ways is to identify risks and analyze the performance of the contract. Basically, the AI scans the contract and points out where there are inconsistencies or other issues that could be risks, and it gauges how well the contract does what it is supposed to do. Another use is similar to the other sections in that it can scan a contract for keywords and clauses. Additionally, in terms of clauses, it can pick out the clauses in a contract and compare the language of it to language other lawyers have used for the same or a similar clause. This helps lawyers by knowing if they are wording things right, or if there is a better way to word something to benefit their client.
4. Predicting Outcomes
One very unique way lawyers can use AI is by having it help them predict outcomes. This happens through actually predicting the outcome of a decision, and, although this is a great tool, lawyers should still think about the specifics of their case when predicting the outcome. Overall, the prediction tool assists lawyers with predicting outcomes themselves by making useful resources more accessible to them.
AI can now actually predict the outcome of a legal decision. It does this by taking into account past cases, court decisions, and judicial rulings and applying those to a lawyer’s current case. Lawyers can use these predictions to better argue their case, more readily prepare themselves for litigation, and be more knowledgeable when approaching a settlement. However, only a human lawyer can account for the nuance and intricacies in each individual case that could sway an outcome, so it is important to keep in mind that actual lawyers are still needed.
AI can also give lawyers relevant information to help them predict the outcome of a case themselves, which can be done in a couple of ways. One of the ways is by analyzing different things, such as how complex a case is or a certain judge’s preference, to give lawyers a leg up in litigation. AI does this by predicting different outcomes, which allows the lawyer to consider what the best strategies will be. Another way AI can help lawyers is by predicting whether a dispute will end in a settlement or not. It does this by analyzing many factors in the case, such as potential outcomes and legal costs for each side. This assists lawyers by giving them information to more readily prepare them to negotiate a settlement.
5. Client Correspondence
Although client correspondence takes the least time out of this list, lawyers are still looking to AI to make these tasks easier. One way AI can be used for this is by automating routine correspondences with clients, such as scheduling appointments and giving tailored answers to legal questions. This allows lawyers to focus on more complicated issues. However, these functions are usually done by a legal assistant or secretary, so a drawback of this could be a decrease in their pay or even a loss of their job altogether. Another way AI can be used is to manage a lawyer’s email inbox by filtering incoming emails, organizing them, emphasizing urgent ones, and giving suggested responses based on past correspondences. Similar to the previous function, this would allow lawyers to put more time into their work, and it helps lawyers stay on top of what they need to do the most. Along with these seemingly mundane tools, lawyers can also use AI for drafting more complex client correspondences, such as informative letters and updates on a client’s case. This saves lawyers time because AI gives them templates and potential language to use. Although all of these functions save lawyers time, and therefore money, lawyers need to make sure they are still making their clients’ experience personal. Otherwise, clients may start feeling like they hired a “robot AI” to do their legal work for them.
I have reviewed two popular AI legal assistants, Casetext and Lexis+ AI, that can do some of the functions described above. If you haven’t already read them, here are the links:
How could AI impact human relationships in this field?
I think AI could positively and negatively impact human relationships in law in two ways: with clients and among those in the field. But, I think whether the impact is positive or negative depends on how much lawyers use AI and what they use it for.
What are the implications of AI in relationships with clients?
With clients, I think there would be positive and negative implications of AI, depending on the scope of the use. If lawyers use it for the majority of their client correspondence, then they are taking a risk that they may lose their clients. Suppose someone is looking to hire a lawyer and every single interaction they have with them or their office is through an AI chatbot or an automated or routine response. In that case, they are not going to be inclined to hire that lawyer over one that has a human answering phones or sending personal responses. Especially when thinking about the older generation that does not understand technology, they will not even know how to contact a lawyer if their initial step to hiring them is to have an AI chat with them. Additionally, even if they do understand enough to complete the initial step, if they do not at least have their second correspondence with a human, then they are going to feel like the whole process is automated and impersonal, and they’ll look elsewhere. However, if a lawyer only uses AI minimally, or still ensures that there is a personal aspect to their client correspondence, then it could be a great tool to maximize efficiency, as discussed in my section above on this.
What are the implications of AI in relationships among those in the field?
Similar to clients, among those in the field, I think there would be positive and negative implications, also depending on the scope of the use of AI. Multiple different relationships could be impacted by the use of AI, such as between lawyers themselves, between lawyers and their office staff, and between lawyers and pre-law or law students.
For relationships between lawyers themselves, if AI is used for the majority of the correspondence with other lawyers, there will be no true professional relationship because the responses would be AI-generated and have no personal element to them. Lawyers are regular people (surprising, I know) who need to see even a bit of personality to be able to form a relationship with someone, even a professional relationship. But, if lawyers only use AI to help them write and not write for them, while still adding in a personal element, then it could be a great tool to make them more efficient, while still maintaining relationships with colleagues.
For relationships between lawyers and their office staff, AI could completely eliminate this relationship altogether if a lawyer uses it to do tasks that office staff and paralegals normally do. However, another side of this is that a lawyer who cannot afford to hire a human person to do those things for them could pay for an AI, making legal assistance more accessible. Limited use of AI could potentially help office staff get things done easier and faster, but, as I mentioned in my Client Correspondence section above, this could result in reduced pay, reduced hours, or loss of their job. This also ties into how AI could impact relationships between lawyers and pre-law or law students. These students primarily do legal assistant or paralegal work to get experience before graduating from law school. If the tasks of a legal assistant or paralegal are replaced by AI, then they will not be given the vital opportunity to hone their skills before becoming actual lawyers. This also prevents students from networking and making connections with potential future employers and colleagues. This relationship between lawyers and pre-law or law students is the only relationship that I do not think has any positive aspects to AI being implemented into it. Overall, it deprives students of essential experience in the law field and keeps them from forming relationships with those who are most important to their careers.
In all, AI is currently being implemented in the legal field, and, as AI advances, its implementation will continue to grow. It currently is being used by lawyers to help them with many tasks, such as legal research, document review, contract analysis, predicting outcomes, client correspondence, and many others not covered in this article. This assistance from AI makes lawyers more efficient, which most struggle with considering their work without AI is very time-consuming. Although there are many upsides to utilizing AI in the field of law, there are also many downsides to consider, such as the human relationships that would be impacted. Overall, if lawyers ensure they are not overusing AI, and replacing people with it, then it could be a great resource for them to make their job easier.