The legal industry currently uses AI in many aspects of its work. AI in law firms may not be explicitly noticeable—but it helps lawyers and paralegals do their jobs better. Specifically, AI in law firms helps legal professionals transform their practice by putting clients first in an unprecedented way.
One of the most common ways AI is used in law is during the electronic discovery (e-Discovery) process. During e-Discovery, lawyers identify and organize electronically stored information (ESI) in response to a request for production in a lawsuit or investigation.
AI-generated legal briefs reduce formatting errors and human mistakes. However, AI tools can sometimes "hallucinate" information and generate citations that human lawyers must carefully check. This risk is lower in contract drafting because these tools focus on preset guidelines and criteria.
While it is uncertain how generative AI may impact the legal profession in the long-term, many solicitors and law firms are using and investing in tools as part of their practice, with the aims of improving service provision, reducing costs and meeting new client demands.
Ing to a 2023 survey by the American Bar Association, 35% of law firms now utilize AI-driven tools to enhance their practice, marking a significant increase from just 15% in 2020.
One of the most common ways AI is used in law is during the electronic discovery (e-Discovery) process. During e-Discovery, lawyers identify and organize electronically stored information (ESI) in response to a request for production in a lawsuit or investigation.
AI-driven attacks could allow threat actors to unleash far more advanced and fast-acting malware on the organisations they target. While law firms might use AI themselves to manage, automate and analyse aspects of their security, there is still potential for this security mechanism to be trained by an attacker.
“AI can help analyze and execute final contracts, but it won't do the full job,” said Lavan. “The technology is not at a point where it can handle these tasks unassisted. You still ultimately need a legal professional to review the final contract and ensure it's absolutely correct.”
Darrow's Justice Intelligence Platform uses generative AI, natural language processing, and large language models to analyze and sort publicly-available data to detect potential legal violations that would otherwise go unnoticed.