AI for Lawyers
Artificial intelligence is the science and engineering of getting computer programs to exhibit intelligent behavior byunderstanding and solving problems without human intervention. Large language models (LLMs) or machine-learning modelscan look at written text or images, understand them, and provide answers in a language readable by humans.
No profession is more resistant to change than the legal profession. Nevertheless, Artificial Intelligence (AI), large language models (LLMs), and machine-learning models are poised to disrupt the profession in the following ways:
- influencing how the courts and attorneys make decisions
- improving the prediction of legal outcomes
- transforming how the public finds an attorney or law firm
- reducing the types of cases in which an attorney is needed to solve a legal problem
- changing how legal services are provided
- generating contracts and other legal documents
- simplifying reviews of contracts and legal documents
- conducting legal research
- writing briefs and memorandums of law
For common legal problems, people might be tempted to use AI tools to analyze the facts, spot issues, perform legal research, or draft legal documents, especially when hiring an attorney is cost-prohibitive.
The extent to which AI tools will replace legal services traditionally provided by lawyers is difficult to predict. AI tools have a long way to go in helping self-represented litigants using ChatGPT-type tools to navigate the American judicial system.
Law firms seeking a competitive edge are scrambling to embrace AI to attract tech-savvy clients and improve their productivity. These tools help attorneys brainstorm ideas, write legal documents, and conduct legal research.Some law firms implement AI tools without fully understanding the problems of maintaining confidentiality and protecting sensitive data.
Attorneys and law school students are beginning to use more AI tools for free. Law schools are slowly incorporating AI and technology courses into their curricula. Law school courses on AI focus on algorithmic explainability,cybersecurity, privacy, ethics, bias,AI personhood, and autonomous operation.
Lawyers are learning about data analytics, machine learning, and the ethical implications of AI through continuing legal education (CLE) programs.
States are starting to implement bar rules or advisory opinions to address AI-created problems in the legal profession.
Legal Chatbots and Virtual Legal Assistants
In 2024, legal chatbots and virtual assistants are becoming commonplace. These AI-powered tools can be used to:
- respond to routine client inquiries
- schedule consultations and appointments
- collect information from the client with online intake forms
- organize the client's documents and other information related to the case
- automate billing for legal services and costs
- perform legal research
- provide predictive analytics for legal outcomes
- draft legal documents from contracts to pleadings
By handling these routine and repetitive tasks, law firms might improve client service and reduce administrative burdens on their staff. Handling these tasks might allow lawyers to engage in the more complex and creative aspects of practicing law.
AI for Drafting Contracts and Other Legal Documents
Some legal problems might be solved without an attorney. Companies like LegalZoom, ZenBusiness, or Rocket Lawyer use generic or boilerplate legal forms and contracts that can be customized by the user. These companies cannot provide legal advice. Instead, only offer document templates and guidance on filling them out.
The forms offered tend to focus on the following types of issues:
- Business Formation and Operations
- Corporation formation documents (Bylaws recommended to be consulted with an attorney)
- Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
- Simple Business Contracts
- Buy-Sell Agreements
- Independent Contractor Agreements
- General Warranty Deeds
- Personal Legal Documents
- Last Will and Testament
- Power of Attorney
- Healthcare Directive
- Living Trust
- Real Estate
- Residential Lease Agreements
- Promissory Notes
Some of these forms might create significant legal problems that could have been avoided by hiring an attorney. AI tools might solve some problems while dramatically compounding others. Read more about AI tools for contract law.
Enhanced Legal Research Using AI
Legal research is one of the most time-consuming tasks for lawyers. By automating routine research tasks, AI might allow lawyers to make better arguments and cite better sources to support those arguments. At the same time, AI might help the attorney counter-arguments made by the other side.
AI tools leverage natural language processing (NLP) to understand the context of legal queries. Although AI might eventually automate routine research tasks by providing accurate and relevant case law, statutes, and legal precedents, it has a long way to go. Companies providing AI-powered legal research tools include:
The time saved conducting legal research can be focused on higher-value activities, such as strategy development and client counseling.
Document Review and Automation in Litigation
AI algorithms can quickly analyze vast amounts of documents, identify relevant information, and organize the data. For this reason, AI promises to revolutionize document review for all types of litigation.
For example, AI-driven contract analysis tools can streamline the contract management process by identifying and extracting key clauses, comparing terms against predefined standards, and suggesting revisions.
Predictive Analytics for Legal Outcomes
Predictive analytics is another area where AI is making a significant impact. By analyzing historical case data, AI can predict the likely outcomes of legal proceedings.
This information is invaluable for lawyers advising clients on whether to settle or proceed to trial. Predictive analytics can also help law firms better allocate resources by prioritizing cases with higher chances of success during complex litigation.
AI in Litigation and E-Discovery
AI can help with E-discovery, the process of identifying, collecting, and producing electronically stored information (ESI) for litigation, by quickly sifting through large volumes of ESI, identifying relevant documents, and uncovering hidden patterns that might be crucial for a case.
In addition, AI-powered tools can assist in trial preparation by analyzing courtroom data, identifying trends in judicial behavior, and suggesting optimal strategies for presenting a case.
Ethical Considerations and Challenges
Despite the benefits of using AI in the legal profession, ethical considerations and challenges must be examined. For example, AI algorithms can potentially compound existing problems with bias and unfairness.
For example, if the data used to train AI systems is biased, the outcomes generated by these systems can also be biased. To help guard against this bias, AI tools should be transparent and regularly audited.
Problems with AI in the Legal Profession
The biggest problems for AI in the legal profession revolve around ensuring data privacy and security. AI systems require access to sensitive and confidential information, and lawyers will have difficulty implementing security measures to protect this data. Regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) currently provide little protection.
Pending legislation includes "SB 1047: Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act" which requires that a developer, before training a model, comply with various requirements, including implementing the capability to promptly enact a "full shutdown," and implement a written and separate safety and security protocol.
SB 942, the California AI Transparency Act, requires AI-generated content to have a visible disclosure that it was created by AI and include provenance information to verify its authenticity. The pending AI legislation in California also requires developers to provide tools that allow users to detect AI-generated content.
Other problems will arise in the courtroom. The advent and increased availability of image-generating artificial intelligence (AI) present unique challenges in authenticating videos and photographs, which are susceptible to alteration before they are submitted into evidence to be relied on by the court or a jury.
ABA's Formal Opinion 512 on "Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools" for Lawyers
On July 29, 2024, the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility at the American Bar Association (ABA) published Formal Opinion 512 on "Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools." The opinion concludes:
"To ensure clients are protected, lawyers using generative artificial intelligence tools must fullyconsider their applicable ethical obligations, including their duties to provide competent legal representation, to protect client information, to communicate with clients, to supervise their employees and agents, to advance only meritorious claims and contentions, to ensure candor toward the tribunal, and to charge reasonable fees."
Bar Rules for Attorneys Using AI
The procedural rules in most states require that legal pleadings, motions, and other documents must be signed by a pro se litigant or at least one attorney of record. By signing the pleadings, the self-represented litigant or attorney certifies that existing law warrants the claims and defenses and that the factual contentions have evidentiary support.
Self-represented litigants or attorneys must use caution when submitting legal pleadings, motions, and other documents drafted using generative artificial intelligence. The submission should be checked for accuracy by traditional means. Violating those rules might lead to sanctions, including nonmonetary directives, a penalty payable to the court, or payment to the opposing party of attorney's fees and expenses directly resulting from the violation.
Some states have begun implementing bar rules or advisory opinions on attorneys and law firms using artificial intelligence (AI). For example, on January 19, 2024, the Florida Bar issued Ethics Opinion 24-1. While the advisory ethics opinion is not binding, it recognizes that lawyers may use generative artificial intelligence in the practice of law while still complying with the bar rules.
The opinion explains that to comply with Florida Bar rules, attorneys using AI must:
- develop policies and practices to verify that the use of generative AI is consistent with the lawyer’s ethical obligations
- ensure that the confidentiality of client information is protected when using generative AI
- researching the program’s policies on data retention, data sharing, and self-learning
- remain responsible for their work product and professional judgment
- provide accurate and competent services
- avoid improper billing practices such as double-billing
- comply with applicable restrictions on lawyer advertising, including whenGenerative AI chatbots communicate with clients or third parties
- include a disclaimer indicating that the chatbot is an AI program and not a lawyer or employee of the law firm
- maintain technological competence in the field of AI
- educate themselves regarding the risks and benefits of new AI technology
Attorneys using AI in legal filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawai'i must submit a declaration that:
- discloses their reliance on AI; and
- verify they have confirmed that the materials generated are not fictitious.
See United States District Court for the District of Hawai'i, General Order 23-1, In Re: Use of Unverified Sources (Nov. 14, 2023).
This article was last updated on Friday, August 23, 2024.
