Leveraging AI for Enhanced Legal Efficiency and Equity
29/02/2024
Each passing day witnesses a multitude of legal breaches slipping by unnoticed. Lawyers, as accountable agents of justice, are humans after all, and cannot possibly detect (let alone litigate) every violation.This means a lot of justice goes unserved, and firms miss out on a significant amount of business. But here, AI offers a transformative potential, enabling lawyers to handle an exponentially greater volume of cases than ever before. From heightened productivity and improved client experiences, AI has the power to assist lawyers across multiple domains, enhancing their capacity to pursue justice effectively.
AI for lawyers, explained
It’s no secret that the mainstream release of ChatGPT and other tools catapulted the entire professional world far into the future. Nowadays, most people have some familiarity with AI.
Still, AI is inherently complex, and operates on intricate algorithms. Despite its complexity, AI’s integration across diverse domains from law to healthcare marks a groundbreaking advancement in technology. Some of the key concepts when it comes to AI include: Machine learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Large Language Models (LLMs); and they all work simultaneously to bring results in the legal tech world.
Machine learning provides the underlying framework for analyzing legal data, natural language processing enables computers to understand and generate human language, and large language models represent the cutting edge in text generation and analysis capabilities. In the context of legal tech, these technologies work together to automate repetitive tasks, enhance legal research and analysis, and improve overall efficiency in legal practice and ensuring that justice prevails.
Applications of AI in legal tech
From e-discovery to detecting legal violations and many other aspects in between, the abilities of AI to partner with attorneys on their mission for justice are astounding.
1. Information storage and retrieval
Finding the right information from an infinite amount of possible documents, typically takes attorneys weeks if not months to find. That’s weeks and months that attorneys are unable to actually bring justice to victims of legal violations. AI driven document management softwares enable lawyers to tag and profile documents such as contracts, case files, case notes, and more, in something we can only describe as an online filing system. When information is stored in an organized manner it is easier to manage and can save lawyers countless hours.
In addition to this revolutionary way of storing documents, AI tools have also transformed the way lawyers are able to retrieve information from legal documents. These capabilities are particularly helpful when it comes to due diligence, which involves reviewing a large number of documents to find relevant information about egregious legal violations. AI-driven tools have the ability to scan massive amounts of documents and retrieve the right information in a matter of minutes. This ability to process information so quickly also allows lawyers to leverage AI for predictive analysis of their cases. Lawyers can gain a better understanding of the viability and value of a case, and ultimately determine whether it is worth taking on – much faster than has ever been possible historically. This new found efficiency means that lawyers’ capacity to take on new cases is much higher than ever before. This is not only good for lawyers but also for society, and those seeking justice. With the help of AI legal services are more available than in the past, and cases are able to move forward and settle or get resolved in court more quickly than ever before.
That said, leveraging AI in this context must be used with caution, as we know AI makes mistakes, known as hallucinations. There are a number of recent cases of lawyers citing fake cases in court as a result of ChatGPT hallucinations. Lawyers will always need to fact check information provided by AI, especially as it is still such new technology. A large part of lawyers’ success is connected to their reputation, and that is why it is so important to make sure all the information related to your case is 100% accurate. However this should not put you off leveraging these transformative technologies. Fact-checking information you get from AI takes significantly less time than doing all your due diligence and predictive analysis from scratch.
Employing AI in this way completely alters the way lawyers can work. The ability to have information at their fingertips means that lawyers can litigate cases more effectively, as well as increase the number of cases they can take on; allowing them to advocate for more victims than ever before. Using AI in this context is truly revolutionary and allows an increase in holding parties accountable for wrongdoing and working towards a better society. With the increased ability of lawyers to take on more cases, fewer violations will go unnoticed – and corporations will no longer “chance” these wrongdoings.
2. E-discovery and legal research
AI is revolutionizing processes like e-discovery and legal research, essential components in the quest for justice by lawyers. E-discovery involves the identification, collection, and analysis of electronically stored information relevant to legal proceedings. Legal research is the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision making. It entails the comprehensive examination of case law, statutes, and legal precedents to support legal arguments and decisions. Traditionally, these tasks were laborious and time-consuming, often involving manually sifting through mountains of documents and legal texts.
Westlaw, a global legal research library, has a new AI-assisted legal research tool that quickly parses vast legal databases to deliver precise, relevant findings. It reduces research time, increases accuracy, and helps lawyers focus on strategy and client needs. Without AI, e-discovery and legal research could consume weeks, if not months, of attorney time. This not only delays the delivery of justice but also results in high legal costs for victims, making legal services inaccessible to certain parts of the population.
AI-powered platforms are able to sift through large amounts of data faster and more efficiently than ever before, pinpointing relevant information with unparalleled speed and accuracy. What once took months can now be accomplished in a fraction of the time, allowing lawyers to focus their efforts on analysis, strategy, and litigating to bring justice for victims of wrongdoing, rather than tedious document review. By leveraging AI in e-discovery and legal research, lawyers can expedite the legal process, facilitate more informed decision-making, and ultimately enhance access to justice for individuals and society as a whole. The integration of AI technologies not only streamlines legal workflows but also underscores the transformative potential of technology in bolstering the effectiveness and fairness of the legal system.
3. Detecting legal violations
One of the key applications of legal AI is its use in uncovering legal violations, marking a significant advancement in the realm of law enforcement, compliance, and of course, justice. One of the most prevalent applications of AI in this domain is the detection of privacy violations. With the exponential growth of digital data and online interactions, privacy breaches have become both increasingly common and in parallel increasingly egregious. Privacy violations have the potential to cause excessive amounts of harm to affected individuals, from financial loss to stress and anxiety, impacting mental health and the quality of day-to-day life.
AI-powered algorithms, such as those we have developed at Darrow, have revolutionized this detection process, enabling the identification of suspicious activities and unauthorized access to sensitive information with remarkable accuracy and efficiency. By analyzing vast datasets and identifying patterns indicative of legal violations, AI systems empower authorities and regulatory bodies to enforce data protection laws and safeguard individuals’ privacy rights more effectively. And these algorithms can also be leveraged to detect a myriad of other legal infractions, including, among others, antitrust, consumer protection, and environmental violations. Many of these violations had previously gone undetected or were challenging to identify using traditional methods due to their complex and often subtle nature. AI algorithms can sift through massive amounts of data from various sources, uncovering subtle anomalies and discrepancies that may indicate potential legal breaches.
The use of AI in the detection of legal violations underscores the transformative potential of technology in upholding the rule of law and protecting American citizens from egregious violations.
Upholding justice in the era of AI
The integration of AI technologies in legal tech has undoubtedly revolutionized the way lawyers navigate complex information, conduct eDiscovery, and detect legal violations. By embracing AI as a complementary resource, lawyers can continue to uphold the principles of justice and serve as guardians of societal integrity.