Why Artificial Intelligence in Law is the next big thing!

“The truth is, lawyers are not always the gold standard. In some cases, the gold standard is lawyers plus AI.”

- Robert Ambrogi, Lawyer and Media & Technology professional

Introduction

Our understanding of “Artificial Intelligence (AI)” is largely guided by the world of fantasy fiction presented to us via books or movie. If that is the case then we need to take a huge step back because we have not yet reached a time where robots can run rogue after committing murder. However, the development of AI has in fact reached a level where you can just not ignore it.

Every person with a digital footprint has experienced AI at some level. For example the e-commerce site you visit uses Machine Learning (which is one type of AI) to predict what you may like to buy next and show those products to you. Video streaming sites like NetFlix use AI to predict what you want to watch next. So whether one realises it or not, AI is already being used widely across many areas. This article, however, wishes to limit the discussion to application of Artificial Intelligence to the field of law.

What is artificial intelligence?

A machine (term used loosely) that exhibits characteristics which we associate with intelligent behaviour in human beings, that is a machine which can do that which would require intelligence if done by humans, lies in the realm of artificial intelligence.[2] Simply put, artificial intelligence is the application of technology to mimic human intelligence - the ability to understand, reason and learn, improving with each interaction. AI provides meaningful insights from large amounts of structured or unstructured data.

Conceptually AI is a machine capable of applying normative standards to factually defined problems. Thus emulating the problem solving process utilized by lawyers to suggest a range of solutions[3] to the problem presented, or, perhaps more importantly, recognize when the problem is beyond its emulation capability and suggest why. The development of a functional law machine compels a high degree of precision in the articulation of theories about the legal process to deliver a mechanism or tool for analysis and objective conclusions, thus ensuring accuracy.[4]

It has been consistently documented by study upon study, that algorithms are far more accurate than humans in identifying relevant documents.[5] Technology-assisted review programs can examine large sets of documents, identify and prioritize the most relevant data, substantially reduce both the time and cost of review, and, in the process, achieve greater accuracy than lawyers working manually.

How is it changing the provision of legal services?

AI enables law firms to be faster, stronger, smarter, more strategic, more accurate and less expensive. As discussed above, of the tasks involved in the construction of a law machine or AI-based legal software, perhaps the most important is the identification and articulation of the intelligent activity to be emulated.[6] In this case, it is the process of legal reasoning. Meldman, an early investigator in the realm of law machine development, distinguished legal reasoning from legal analysis, defining legal analysis as ' 'the logical derivation of a legal conclusion from a particular factual situation in the light of some body of legal doctrine."[7] He defines legal reasoning, however, in a more expansive manner as "the process by which judges decide cases.” As we shall see, the product must be concerned with more than merely the logical derivation of a legal conclusion from facts. While the end result may be a system capable of providing computer assisted analysis, the process emulated is more in the nature of reasoning than it is mere analysis. This is a primary distinguishing feature of AI, setting it a  class apart from the existing tools that assist law professionals.

With AI applications such as Neota Logic, firms, like Foley & Lardner and Akerman, use AI for client intake and document automation. Tools like this use information input directly by the client or prospective client to pre-screen prospective clients, prep for meetings, open new matters and generate various legal documents, such as contracts, NDAs, compliance documents, pre-merger notifications, requests and employee handbooks.

Lex Machina and Ravel mine litigation data about judges, lawyers, parties and relevant topics to provide invaluable litigation strategies and tactics in order to win lawsuits. In this application of AI, lawyers are armed with what’s most important to their case, why, and what is the most effective and persuasive way to present that information. Duane Morris, White & Case and Akin Gump are among the firms already tapping into this competitive edge.

Artificial intelligence allows mundane and repetitive tasks to be replaced with tools, like ROSS, an AI application for legal research that uses cognitive computing to comb through a vast legal database for answers to any legal question. Lawyers can ask ROSS questions in normal language, as you would ask the weather of Siri or Alexa, and receive answers within seconds, saving time for the attorney and money for the client. Firms such as Dentons, Bryan Cave, Latham & Watkins and BakerHostetler are already benefitting from having ROSS on their team.

Products like Vaultedge Software, Kira Systems and Seal Software make contract review faster while simultaneously mitigating risk of errors and unexpected liabilities. With AI, contractual obligations are tracked and opportunities to reclaim revenue or eliminate costs are identified. AI tools such as these bring unprecedented accuracy and efficiency to due diligence in mergers and acquisitions, real estate leases, financial deals and contracts at risk of noncompliance with various regulatory bodies. 

In an acquisition, lawyers need to review many contracts. Wrangling the contracts, assigning them for review, and preparing reports on them is time consuming. Today, Vaultedge and competing products make this process much easier.

The applications of AI are endless, and this list is only the tip of the iceberg. It results in cost savings, increased efficiency and winning results for the clients’, reduction in time spent by attorneys on monotonous and arduous task which can successfully be replaced by more satisfying client interaction all the while increasing efficiency and accuracy.

There remains no reason to shun this likely evolution because AI is a tool. A tool that we control. It is a tool that can make us more effective and efficient at what we do to help us deliver our services more quickly and at lower cost. It is a tool that can help Lawyers serve more clients and serve them better by enhancing the delivery of legal services and that can help to close the yawning justice gap. It is a tool for good, not for evil.[9] 

Conclusion

On a concluding note, it would not be superfluous to reminisce Alan Turing, renowned for his invention of the Turing machines to crack the Enigma Code during the World War II, who returned to his academic work after the war and continued to make major contributions to the development of computers. He is famous, at least within academic circles, for writing a paper, published in 1950, in which he posed the question 'Can Machines Think?'. A lot of the paper is spent debating the meaning of the words 'machine' and 'think', but, suffice to say, Turing believed machines would reach the point where they could convincingly imitate human thought. His insight was that machines could very quickly do the work of an army of humans.

While we are well used to the idea that robots can perform many formerly labour-intensive manual and skilled tasks, for example in car assembly or warehousing, many of us have thought that professional work, such as law and medicine, would be beyond the reach of automation. Chris Boyd, a leader in the field of Knowledge Management and Professional Development in the legal arena is of the opinion that Legal practitioners should embrace AI to deliver more value to current clients and to serve under- or un- served markets.[10] It has been highlighted that the Market is stagnant as demonstrated in the 2016 Altman Weil Survey[11]. Same survey found that firms with stronger financial performance used more technologies and so should we because there remains no reason to not jump on this bandwagon driving towards success.

---

[1] Reuters, Thompson, 2017. Ready Or Not: Artificial Intelligence And Corporate Legal Departments. Legal Department 2025, [Online]./. Available at: http://static.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/static/pdf/S045344_final.pdf [Accessed 7 November 2017].

[2]The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence 3, (A. Barr & E. Feigenbaum eds. 1981); Boden, Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man 4 (1977)

[3] The range of options presented by the SLM is necessarily influenced by the designer's perception and understanding of the legal problem solving process. Thus, the range of options presented by the SLM with respect to any given problem certainly cannot be regarded as the only possible range of options.

[4] 5McCarty, Reflections on TAXMAN: An Experiment in Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning, 90 Harv. L. Rev. 837, 840 (1977).

[5] TOWARD A SIMPLE LAW MACHINE Author(s): David R. Warner Jr. Source: Jurimetrics, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Summer 1989), pp. 451-467 Published by: American Bar Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29762145 Accessed: 07-11-2017 05:49 UTC

[6] Gruner, Thinking like a Lawyer: Expert Systems for Legal Analysis, 1 High Tech. L. J. 259, 283, 293 (1986)

[7] Meldman, A Structural Model for Computer-Aided Legal Analysis, 6 J. Computers & L. 27, 30(1977).

[8] Chris Boyd, Amy L. Halverson, 2017. Artificial Intelligence in the Law Firm: Implications for Professional Development Priorities and Practices. PD Quarterly, [Online]. August, 2017, 1-8. Available at: https://www.wsgr.com/attorneys/BIOS/PDFs/boyd-0817.pdf [Accessed 7 November 2017].

[9] https://abovethelaw.com/2017/10/fear-not-lawyers-ai-is-not-your-enemy/?rf=1   Robert Ambrogi is a Massachusetts lawyer and journalist who has been covering legal technology and the web for more than 20 years, primarily through his blog LawSites.com. Former editor-in-chief of several legal newspapers, he is a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and an inaugural Fastcase 50 honoree. He can be reached at ambrogi@gmail.com.

[10] Chris Boyd, Amy L. Halverson, 2017. Artificial Intelligence in the Law Firm: Implications for Professional Development Priorities and Practices. PD Quarterly, [Online]. August, 2017, 1-8. Available at: https://www.wsgr.com/attorneys/BIOS/PDFs/boyd-0817.pdf [Accessed 7 November 2017].

[11] Altman Weil, Inc. 2017. http://www.altmanweil.com//dir_docs/resource/95e9df8e-9551-49da-9e25-2cd868319447_document.pdf. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.altmanweil.com. [Accessed 7 November 2017].