In recent years, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the legal profession has been increasing with more development and research. I know that when I hear people talking about AI, I immediately think about robots taking the place of humans and threatening our future jobs. But is this actually the case? Forms of AI have already started to be used in the legal profession such as Kira Systems, Leverton and eBrevia. These systems have been created and utilised to help analyse hundreds of documents a minute with higher degrees of accuracy than human lawyers, for due diligence. AI can process paperwork, forms, bills, check for grammatical errors and sort through the extensive levels of administrative work with ease. To find out more about the actual applications of AI in the legal profession in detail, I would recommend two articles, found here and here.
With AI becoming a useful tool in making lawyers’ work more efficient, to conduct research and bill clients, it could be said that it is replacing the roles of entry level lawyers and paralegals. Currently, in the UK, law firms rely on paralegals to discover and process information, and bill clients. This can be costly and inefficient due to staffing issues and time, especially in comparison to AI. Using AI to fulfil these roles would greatly benefit law firms. Girardi explains that ‘it will give lawyers the information they need to resolve conflicts faster’. This difference in speed and accuracy is enormous, with a US study of lawyer’s vs AI finding that human lawyers achieved an accuracy of 85% in 92 minutes, whilst AI accuracy in the same task was 92% in 26 seconds when asked to error spot.
Will these roles disappear?
What will happen to these roles that AI are filling? Whilst it’s almost certain that these advancements will not directly negatively impact our cohort, future cohorts might find initially entering and progressing into the legal profession a challenge. A Deloitte study has estimated that 100,000 legal roles will be automated by 2036 and claim that legal talent will be required to look very different. The study stated that “on the whole, we expect… fewer traditional lawyers in law firms” (per Deloitte.com).
This sounds like negative news to those of us training to be one of those lawyers. The same report continues to state that automation and the advancement of AI has to date contributed to the loss of 31,000 jobs (such as legal secretaries and paralegals). This suggests that these roles are in fact being replaced by the advances in AI. However, this is combatted by the increase of 80,000 jobs, which are labelled ‘higher skilled’ and non-entry level. It is up to your own opinion on whether this is a good trade off- less ‘lower skilled’ legal jobs for more ‘higher skilled’ jobs. For undergraduates and those that are trying to get into the profession, this may look disheartening in the short term, but in the long term our jobs as lawyers will become more efficient and easier. In fact, Lillquist, co founder of tech company InCloudCounsel, has recently stated for an article that by reducing the volume of less meaningful work, it allows lawyers to focus on the vital, more meaningful work. Some believe AI will replace humans completely but Lillquist does not share this belief and instead sees AI as just a ‘tool’ in the lawyer’s pocket. I would highly recommend giving this article a read. It explores the idea that paralegals might find themselves operating the AI in addition to lessened admin duties, and might discover that law firms are hiring less, as they implement new computerised processes.
However, to say that this need for paralegals and all lawyers will be eradicated is an overstatement. It is hard to picture this profession without human lawyers due to the complexities of the law. A recent article posted on Forbes explained that whilst laws are logical and structured, there are still complexities to applying the law that a machine could not (currently) fulfil such as knowing how to respond to mitigating or aggravating circumstances, facial expressions, loopholes etc. Whilst AI might be able to make the background information collection and processing more efficient, it cannot argue its case or provide human solutions to human problems. Law is complex and not straightforward in all circumstances. Therefore, the role of lawyer cannot be replaced, arguably no matter how advanced they become (according to the article).
The development of AI in the legal profession has been met with controversy, with some lawyers being fearful of what it will mean for their careers, whilst others seem to be embracing the changes and benefits to efficiency. Claire Debney (Director of Legal Strategy at Shire) suggested the reason why lawyers are fearful of AI stems from the desire to feel emotionally connected to what they are doing i.e the human element of the work.) However, as discussed above, for more high skilled legal work, the emotional connection will remain. This is because currently the AI technology only deals with standardised formatting as it required programming to process documents. Dealing with clientele and other firms will (for the foreseeable future) remain the responsibility of human lawyers.
Potential Benefits to Future Graduates
The development of AI has been illustrated to be both positive and negative for future cohorts. However, is the advancement of AI actually a benefit for our generation? Whilst AI has proven itself to be useful, it still requires human lawyers’ input and the ability to use the AI technology to be utilised. Our generation is at the forefront of the technologically literate with everything being computerised etc, which could make us strong candidates for future vacancies. In addition to this, an article argued that AI will change what it means to be a great lawyer. Neil Rose stated that a lawyer of a future will be a ‘is a race car driver, who, thanks to his car, can move much faster than the marathon runner’. This is suggestive of great future benefit to our career.
Food for Thought
Do you think the reduction in lower entry legal jobs and increase of higher entry legal jobs is a good trade off?
Are you personally fearful of the development of AI? Or will you welcome the increased efficiency it is and will continue to bring?
Do you believe that AI will replace all legal services? Or is the human element necessary?
Charlotte is a second-year Law student from Lincolnshire. She is also a member of Newcastle University's Gymnastics Team and has recently completed a course in Forensic Psychology.
References
https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/audit/articles/developing-legal-talent.html
https://legaltechnology.com/deloitte-insight-100000-legal-roles-to-be-automated/
https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/ai-in-law-legal-practice-current-applications/
https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/ai-redefining-what-it-means-to-be-a-great-lawyer
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robtoews/2019/12/19/ai-will-transform-the-field-of-law/#417a75877f01
https://observer.com/2019/10/artificial-intelligence-legal-profession/
https://www.twobirds.com/~/media/lwi-bird--bird-ai-report.pdf
https://www.documentcrunch.com/ai-news-will-a-i-put-lawyers-out-of-business.html
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