Legal AI and Your Firm Strategy
Chantal McNaught
Revolutionising law with technology | PhD Candidate | Advocating for lawyer wellbeing & legal service accessibility @ LEAP
As more and more jurisdictions across the world develop guidelines for lawyers to adapt to this world in which Generative AI is all around us, it's worth taking note how these considerations impact law firm strategy.
Technology has always had some influence over how law firms operate. With modern computing, the 6-minute unit solidified itself as the predominant way lawyers valued themselves and charged clients. eDiscovery has also arguably changed the nature of the litigation approach law firms take, and the types of advice they deliver to their clients.
Therefore, Generative AI is likely to have impact on law firm strategy. The question is - in what way?
In this edition, I explore Guidance notes and commentaries published by the New Zealand Law Society, Australian Law Council, Queensland Law Society, the Law Society of New South Wales and the Law Institute of Victoria.
Opportunities
Whilst the topic of Generative AI in law can feel overwhelming, it's important to start off positively. The technology has lots of potential and is growing in its practical application in law.
According to 微软 , 75% of the world's knowledge workers are using AI . Most of these (78%) are using their own AI logins or tools. Think ChatGPT or Bing. The opportunity here is that knowledge workers, including lawyers, are already starting to build their AI skills and are seeing the positive benefits of these tools in their workplaces.
Specifically for lawyers, the benefits are already being realised. As the NZLS points out:
The Australian Law Council acknowledges the broader opportunities of AI; "machine learning and other forms of automated decision-making offer important benefits, including the potential to contribute to strengthening the economy, increasing the cohesion and inclusiveness of society, supporting sustainability and the efficient use of resources, and increasing human wellbeing."
AI opportunities in your law firm
As the majority of legal services are delivered by firms with fewer than 50 staff, having a robust business strategy which incorporates Legal AI tools is a must for 2024 and beyond.
Placing these opportunities from the broader context to your law firm business can seem daunting. In many ways, it feels like this is a bigger thing to deal with than just on the law firm level. However, the reality is that the effectiveness of Australia's and New Zealand's legal systems is predicated on the success of small firms.
As the majority of legal services are delivered by firms with fewer than 50 staff, having a robust business strategy which incorporates Legal AI tools is a must for 2024 and beyond.
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Translating these system-wide opportunities into law firm and lawyer-level ones is part of the law firm business strategy process. What they mean for one firm would be different to another. But here's a list to get you and your team started:
Risks
As an eternal optimist, I focused on the opportunities primarily because almost every source there is a deep focus on the risks. I shouldn't be surprised, risk identification and mitigation is the currency of modern lawyering.
In this case, I'm going to keep this section short and if you want to read deeper into the risks of Legal AI in practice, you can refer to the references at the end of this article. Some of the risks identified are:
Then there is the question of legal practice ethics in this era of AI. Some suggest that now is a great time to review everything. As someone not content on the reason, "this is the way we have always done it" to do something, I encourage all law firms to start asking themselves of the benefits of doing anything in particular ways.
A Checklist?
The NZLS Guidance has an adapted Law Society of England and Wales checklist. Meanwhile, the Australian law societies are yet to make public a practical checklist. The closest is the Queensland Law Society's Guidance Statement No 37 , with reference (but no link) to material providing implementation and risk management information. New South Wales has a general Ethics Policy for all businesses, not just law. What these resources have in common is setting up guiding principles in these key areas:
This is the area of the article most prone to the rapid changes in this area. If you are aware of resources and materials for law practice business planning around AI policies, please leave a comment and link. I hope to update this article as more information and guidance becomes available.
References:
If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing with a friend or colleague. If you're inspired and want to discuss, I'm open to all sorts of conversations around law, lawyering, technology and wellness.
? Loan and Lease Management Software ? ex Financiers Association of Australia Industry Representative to Government
5 个月Interesting summation but there's one area that seems to be consistently overlooked. If you dispense with much of the legal work and leave it to AI, that means the number of entrants will diminish rapidly. Law firms will seek to use AI to reduce their head count and expenses. Existing lawyers will possibly have a lot less work to do aside from vetting the AI 'answer'. So, with that in mind, where is the succession planning for barristers and other positions going to come from? As many companies have found to their cost when they downsized, fewer workers means loss of knowledge and in many cases, less customer choice. Whilst many extol the benefits of AI, I've seen little commentary on the damage it may do to economies. Less people means less tax paid. I've yet to see one AI company champion the imposition of the user paying the equivalent tax, annually, that would be payable for each employee replaced by AI so that these employees can effectively not work. Perhaps you can include this with your PhD.
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5 个月Great info Chantal. Thanks for sharing.