Law firms and AI: the perfect partnership?
Although artificial intelligence is creating controversy in many industries because of its disruptive potential to make jobs obsolete, the legal sector is largely embracing AI as a powerful tool to assist — not replace — humans.
As actors and writers strike against the potentially “terrifying subtext” of AI, art creators say their very culture is a stake and writers the world over nod knowingly when they read text clearly auto-generated by ChatGPT, there is one sector that is cautiously optimistic about the benefits of generative artificial intelligence.
Law is a complicated collection of domestic statutes and case history, international recommendations, regulations and directives. The process varies from country to country, but wording is open to interpretation, courts of differing hierarchies can reach opposing decisions and the process is laborious and expensive.
With AI, law firms have the potential to drastically cut down the research into these myriad options and outcomes and instead generate the required information with a simple command.
The human touch
“Models such as ChatGPT make lawyers reflect on how they can transform the profession and will have a significant impact on legal services in research, writing, customer service and how lawyers are trained and educated,” says Esade professor Eugenia Navarro.
However, while artists strike because AI threatens to replace them, Navarro says that the complexities of law will always require human judgment.
“Technology requires interpretation, the application of human knowledge and experience, as well as ethical and legal considerations,” she explains. “We are entering a fascinating era in the legal sector in which technology will create challenges and new areas of law without replacing the lawyer.”
Laia Moncosí, CEO of Lawyers for Projects, agrees. Speaking to Navarro during an Esade round-table panel event, she remarked: “Generative Artificial Intelligence will not replace lawyers as a general rule. It will only do so with those who do not know how to integrate it into their daily lives.
“In this sense, the potential loss of jobs is one of the main challenges we will face after their arrival. However, it can also generate new job opportunities and contribute to improving the efficiency in the development of the profession, or even provide more universal access to justice.”
The future is now
These applications of AI in the legal sector aren’t speculative or experimental: they’re happening now.
María de la O Martínez, head of innovation at the Lefebvre Sarrut Group, explains: “The application of AI in legal services is already a reality. In our case we have combined generative AI, hybrid search algorithms and Lefebvre's unique content.
“This makes it possible to offer precise and up-to-date answers, and the professional has at their fingertips a new way of defining, specifying and broadening the search for legal content. This is the first layer of development; we are already seeing an infinite number of applications and specific use cases for legal firms and consultancies.”
And it’s not just established firms that are utilizing the benefits. According to Navarro, a new sub-sector of legal help is growing thanks to AI.
“There is no doubt that legal tech has encouraged the flourishing of new business models in the legal profession,” she says. “Now there are platforms to find lawyers and marketplaces that make it easy to generate quotes that fit the client's needs, something unthinkable a few years ago."
Too much knowledge can be a dangerous thing
However, for some lawyers the news is not all good. While AI can source cases and statutes in a fraction of the time of a team of paralegals, without the expert knowledge of experienced legal professionals the knowledge has huge potential to be used incorrectly.
“We see practical advantages in drafting and reviewing contracts, as well as studying the possibility of adopting automated legal advice for those services that involve less added value that, however, require the use of many resources,” acknowledged Juan A de Rueda, vice president of legal of the Iberia Business Unit at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners during the Esade debate.
“On the other hand, we must take into account that the use of this technology will be especially used by the first lines of business, and the real challenge for legal consultancies and law firms will be knowing how to mitigate the risks that derive from this use.”
The complexities of conscience
Identifying accurate, current and relevant information is essential in the legal field.
But what’s more important is its interpretation. In both civil and criminal law, the nuance applied to a single word, or the significance of a clause when assessed alongside the unique facts of a case, can be the subject of protracted legal arguments and multiple appeals to courts of increasing superiority.
And for this, the judgment of humans can never be replaced.