Law firms are slow to adopt AI in their business models; perhaps they are too aware of the risks, particularly in a profession where keeping secrets –concerning individuals or businesses — is of constant focus.
A just-published joint study by Sales-Force and Litify surveyed law firms of various sizes and practice areas about their AI use. While it is recognized that some day AI will be widely utilized in the provision of legal services, a palpable majority of lawyers reported that the industry was just not ready to tackle the AI revolution. Reasons included risk to privacy of information and lack of staff capability to use AI effectively or safely.
It seems that, in fact, many lawyers already are using AI without specific focus on that fact, and seemingly in areas that may or may not implicate data security. Amount of usage increases with size of the law firm, suggesting that larger practices must coordinate more people and information and apply more budget to AI solutions. But that does not suggest that larger firms in fact use AI significantly in providing actual advice or legal documentation. For those firms focusing on their actual AI use, 95% do report some savings in time.
Interestingly, in-house legal teams are ahead of outside counsel in use of AI, perhaps because the corporate setting is more used to installing new technologies and more comfortable funding that effort.
Overall, AI seems most applicable to document preparation and for reviewing or summarizing documents or evidence. There is awareness that AI can hallucinate and invent laws or court cases, so that is one area where lawyers are moving most cautiously; there is one famous case where a lawyer ws held accountable when he filed a litigation brief citing court decisions that simply did not exist. Seems using AI as a tool requires the human touch at the end to keep the process honest.
Ultimately it seems inevitable that AI will improve, controls as to accuracy and security will become more robust, and law firms will find themselves deep into AI dependence, as indeed it is likely the lot of all of commerce. Prospectively, the report does show optimism that in certain areas of the practice AI ultimately will be a major contributor to accuracy, reduction of legal costs,. and affording access to legal services.
This practitioner will not live to see your company’s law robot appear in court and cross-examine an adverse witness, and I cannot imagine how a judge could find a robot in contempt of court for asking too many leading questions, but technology is sort of like a leaking basement: pretty soon it finds its way into every corner.