Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already had a profound impact on our society, and in many ways, this technology is still in its infancy. You might think that attorneys are exempt from the effects of Artificial Intelligence, but this is not the case.
AI tools have already been impacting the way attorneys do their jobs. While many people fear that the automation of low-level tasks will lead to job loss, automation of these tasks will lead to new job creation. For example, by automating laborious, repetitive tasks lawyers and their staff can spend more time working on complex problems, interacting with clients, and law firm marketing.
Let’s look at some of the critical ways attorneys can put Artificial Intelligence tools to use today.
Key Ways AI Can Be Used by Attorneys
App development projects are constantly finding new, effective ways to put AI to use. We’re not close to the point where true AI can speak, think, and make decisions for itself in the same manner that humans do, but AI has many practical applications, especially in the legal field. AI can be used to help:
- Perform research
- Review documents
- Manage contracts
- Predict the outcome of litigation
Perform Research
Legal research is an essential part of the law. Lawyers need to be able to review previous cases and the precedents set by the courts in order to present a compelling case. However, searching for applicable case law is a very tedious process. Even with the aid of online legal research tools, you could still have thousands of cases to review in order to find the precedent you are looking for.
Artificial Intelligence can be used to narrow the scope from thousands of cases to potentially a handful. Plus, once the initial results have been returned, a lawyer can have AI tools continue to search through case law.
Review Documents
Lawyers have to handle an immense amount of paperwork. Whether you are working in business litigation or criminal cases, you cannot avoid the mountain of paperwork that comes with legal proceedings.
Attorneys are obligated to review any documents that are sent to them regarding their case. This task chews up a lot of time and often requires a lot of late nights. Firms can put AI to use here by teaching these tools how they review documents. Once criteria have been set for the Artificial Intelligence tool, it can review all the documents and highlight which ones it thinks are the most important based on the criteria entered.
Manage Contracts
Managing a large volume of contracts can be a real challenge. Artificial Intelligence tools can help attorneys organize their contracts, track their outcomes, and in some cases, even aid in negotiations. The more data the AI tool can gather, the more effective it will be in future contract negotiations. These tools can also help lawyers gain valuable insights into their contract strategies.
Besides managing contracts, AI tools can also be used to predict how long it will take a contract to be accepted. While this may not seem like a big deal on the surface, if you have an accurate idea of when a contract will be accepted, this information can have a monumental impact on the strategy a business chooses to take.
Predict the Outcome of Litigation
Predicting outcomes of litigation is a skill that attorneys develop over years of practice and studying law. It is important to know if you have a winnable case. Having an idea about the potential outcome of your case has a major impact on settlement negotiations and whether plea deals are accepted.
Nobody wants to take a case to court and lose. AI can be used to analyze previous cases with similar facts and circumstances. These tools can then provide attorneys with a statistical analysis of the likely outcomes of the litigation. Having this information allows an attorney to give their clients better advice about their case.
AI Equals More Time
Artificial Intelligence provides people with more time to focus on other tasks. In the case of lawyers, there are a number of tasks that they could be focusing their energies on if they had AI tools to aid them in some of the laborious tasks mentioned above.
Some of the tasks that lawyers can spend more time doing thanks to the power of AI are:
- Taking on more clients
- Spending more time with clients
- Doing complex analysis
- Strategic planning
- Writing briefs
Final Thoughts
While Artificial Intelligence is becoming more commonplace, many people still think that it can’t be effectively used in the legal field. They are wrong. Not only are AI tools already helping lawyers around the world, but AI tools are getting more adept at handling complex analyses.
Law firms should take a good look at the different AI tools available to them. This technology can make law firms more efficient and even more profitable. Artificial Intelligence will never replace a skilled attorney, but it can make their job and the job of their staff much easier.
