By Marco Garbero
Imagine a world of lawyers operating with 100% efficiency, the ability to easily handle dozens of clients simultaneously and unrestrained by time consuming, tedious tasks. If the latest trend in artificial intelligence is any indication, this dream may be closer to reality than previously thought. In the past year, law firms all over the world have been investing in the research of machine intelligence for application in various day to day legal work. Systems such as IBM’s ROSS Intelligence are on the market and have proven to be able to perform legal research, answer questions and even write memorandums. No, this does not mean that lawyers everywhere will be replaced by robots anytime soon, but it is the advent of a new era for legal services. This technology offers hope for those in the profession that are in a constant juggling act to best manage their time and can’t afford to spend hours on end performing document review. Lawyers everywhere should embrace systems like ROSS Intelligence, because if properly utilized, it will allow them to focus their efforts only on the tasks that require their individualized special skillset.
The AI trend has begun in Big Law. Recently one of the top British law firms, Travers Smith, has begun a trial process of artificial intelligence geared towards performing due diligence tasks on their large merger & acquisition deals. If trials like these continue to prove to be successful, no longer will paralegals and associates alike, spend billable hour after billable hour on tedious document review. The image of the associate toiling away over mounds of paperwork in a dark basement may just become a vestige of the past.
Since news of the capabilities and potential of “automated lawyering” has become prevalent, there have been opinions on both the benefits and detriments of such a technology making its way into everyday practice. The development of a technology that is able to successfully navigate discovery tasks in a matter of seconds may mean the elimination of jobs in legal assistance. While firms may be able to allocate associates to tasks that might require greater analytical skills more suited for their training, paralegals who rely on the document review as a source of work may be out of luck. In addition, critics are skeptical at how apt computers would be in solving more complex tasks that require case specific approaches and a strong understanding of context. Advanced software may be able to recognize patterns in legal issues and pull up data pertaining to a particular situation, but the ability to learn from these patterns and apply knowledge to different legal matters still seems to be ahead of the currently available technology.
For example, a famous demonstration of a software’s ability to successfully solve a specific legal problem was created in the fall of 2015, when a computer scientist developed a website aptly named DoNotPay. This website, designed to get individuals out of parking tickets, gives legal advice to the complainants and even manages to file claims and provide for a valid defense. Yet if one were to change the subject and begin asking questions to DoNotPay about a speeding ticket, it is unlikely that the software could quickly apply the same principles without proper input from the computer scientist.
The latest artificial intelligence system, ROSS, an automated lawyer created by IBM has capabilities to integrate knowledge with legal language capabilities. ROSS can better understand the complexity of legal questions in context and offer on point statutes and provide additional reading aids. As a tool for quickly gathering resources, ROSS acts as a wonderful time saver for hours and hours of legal research, but what ROSS lacks is the moral code, and understanding of client care which makes lawyering such a difficult task in the first place. For more hands on tasks with clients the use of ROSS may be inappropriate.
Overall, “automated lawyering” will be a great tool to save firms and lawyers valuable time that could be dedicated to more important analytical tasks and it will eventually bring down costs for clients if more widely utilized. These AI systems will bring praise for revolutionizing the speed at which discovery tasks are processed, and clients will appreciate the greater time afforded to them by their hired advocates. Robots might never be able to replace lawyers, but they will change the way legal services are performed for the foreseeable future.
Student Bio: Marco is a Staff Member of the Journal of High Technology Law. He is currently a 3L at Suffolk Law, Vice President of the Italian-American National Bar Association and enrolled in the Intellectual Property Concentration. He possesses a B.S. in Political Science from Boston University.
Link: http://www.law.com/sites/almstaff/2016/09/22/automated-lawyering-gains-momentum-as-yet-another-top-u-k-firm-signs-artificial-intelligence-deal/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
