How Artificial Intelligence is Affecting the Legal Services Industry
When artificial intelligence began transforming industries years ago, many speculated that legal services industry, a market tied up in language and documentation, was totally insulated from AI’s effects. But as we’ve seen with eDiscovery and Technology Assisted Review (TAR), AI does have a potential in legal services industry.
In fact, researchers at the McKinsey Global Institute estimate 23% of a lawyer’s daily responsibilities could be automated with AI. While there are concerns that AI will eliminate jobs, that isn’t definitively the case. Instead, many agree AI will augment the roles a lawyer can fill by freeing him or her to focus on higher-level tasks.
A Goodbye to Tedium
AI’s presence in the legal industry will have a domino effect. Once one law firm maximizes its potential, others will need to follow suit in order to keep up. In time, those who refuse to adopt AI will likely see themselves elbowed out of business.
Although AI won’t become ubiquitous overnight, its presence is already being felt in certain law firms. As it enters your own office, here are the tasks you can expect it to gradually take over:
1. Due Diligence Reviews
The hours or days spent scouring for litigation issues, key contract clauses, intellectual property, and other information will be reduced to minutes after AI sorts through all of the available information.
2. Contract Preparation
AI will simplify contract creation by allowing users to select a contract typeand then enter a few variables. The result: A quickly customized contract that requires minimal intervention and editing.
3. Legal Spend and Invoicing
In step with the trend towards e-billing, AI will assist in extracting all billable information, such as which services were performed and how those services are normally priced by other firms within the market. This will help you remain competitive within your own pricing.
4. Legal Research and Analysis
This is one area where AI will save countless hours of research. A perfect example: In one case study, AI engines listened to 33,000 hours of audio recordings and consolidated only the most important clips to 140 hours — cutting the human review time needed by 99.6%.
Artificial intelligence will sift through thousands of similar cases to predict how a case will conclude. In addition, AI will page tirelessly through endless databases to find answers to complex legal questions — a task often delegated to first- or second-year lawyers.
5. Connecting Lawyers With the Best Opportunities
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, artificial intelligence will augment the roles a lawyer can fill by freeing him or her to focus on higher-level tasks. Similarly, LexInsight, which is powered by AI, will help law firms quickly connect with the best talent for a project from the biggest community of verified attorneys. The result: While the talent takes care of the bulk of work in projects, firms will be able to focus on building the business. When firms rely on LexInsight, they’ll enjoy a bottomless pool of rich talent that can always provide the perfect solution to resource-related problems in projects.
Instead of being disastrous for legal professionals, artificial intelligence will be an important tool for completing major projects in lesser time. Instead of eliminating jobs as many fear it might, AI will create more opportunities for law firms to serve the clients. As a legal professional, you can grow your career by finding work through LexInsight. After registering, you’ll connect with law firms all over the country looking for talented professionals like you. Get started today!
