Role Of Artificial Intelligence In Transforming Legal Profession
Author: LawSphereX
Category: Technology, Cyber & Privacy
Published:
Updated:
ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN
TRANSFORMING LEGAL PROFESSION
Debdeep Giri, Xavier Law School, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata
ABSTRACT
Artificial Intelligence (A. I. ), the intelligence exhibited by machines that helps them to mimic human behaviours has significantly transformed the legal profession in its entirety. This article critically investigates the diverse techniques through which A. I. has transformed the legal profession. It highlights the positive impacts of A. I. on the legal profession such as simplification of legal research, creating as well as reviewing legal documents, gaining access to vast legal databases as well as justice, resolving disputes effortlessly, predicting outcomes of cases, serving as an artificial assistant for legal professionals and so on. It also discusses the potential drawbacks of A. I. in transforming the legal profession, particularly its tendency to foster blind reliance on A. I.
-generated results based on the unpredictable nature of human beings, and the looming threat of job displacement for numerous legal professionals. The article further provides solutions to these challenges, emphasizing the importance of verifying A. I. - generated results and the need for legal professionals to adapt to A. I. technology. It finally concludes by arguing how the numerous benefits of A. I. in transforming the legal profession outweigh its negligible drawbacks impelling the integration of A. I. into the legal profession which will lead to a more efficient, cost-effective, and accessible legal system, benefiting legal professionals and improving access to justice for all. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence
(A.I.),
Legal Professional, Transformation, Impact, Justice
INTRODUCTION:
In an era marked by advancements in various technological fields, Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has made a name for itself by transforming entire conventions of innumerable professions, the legal profession not being an exception to it. The impact of A.I. on the legal profession in the 21st century is extensively huge and cannot be underestimated. It has not only ameliorated the working conditions of legal professionals all over the world but has also made access to justice easier. This article explores the profound impact of AI on the legal profession, highlighting its positive contributions, acknowledging potential drawbacks, and ultimately arguing that the benefits of AI outweigh its challenges.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (A.I.):
Before delving further, let us first briefly understand what Artificial Intelligence (A. I. ) means. A. I. refers to the intelligent behavior exhibited by machines which are programmed to think and solve problems like humans. A. I. mimics various human behaviors such as learning, analyzing, decision-making and so on thus, constructing itself to provide feasible solutions to complex problems in a matter of few seconds with minimum human interventions. It has been a stepping stone for the entire human race as a whole and now it is up to us to use it wisely after studying it else there might come a time when humans will not remain the dominant species on the planet anymore and might become extinct or obsolete just like dinosaurs.
This can be rightly understood from Mark Cuban’s statement, "Artificial intelligence, deep learning, machine learning — whatever you’re doing if you don’t understand it — learn it. Because otherwise, you’re going to be a dinosaur within 3 years. "1
POSITIVE IMPACTS OF A.I. IN TRANSFORMING LEGAL PROFESSION:
Artificial intelligence has positively impacted the legal profession in several ways. It has simplified the process of legal research, creating as well as reviewing legal documents, gaining access to vast legal databases as well as justice, and resolving disputes effortlessly. It also helps in predicting the outcome of cases after considering various elements such as circumstances of the case, facts of the case, previous decisions in similar cases and so on. Last but not the least, 1 Mark Suster, Mark Cuban on Why You Need to Study Artificial Intelligence or You’ll be a Dinosaur in 3 Years, BOTH SIDES OF THE TABLE (Feb. 8, 2017), https://bothsidesofthetable.com/mark-cuban-on-why-you-needto-study-artificial-intelligence-or-youll-be-a-dinosaur-in-3-years-db3447bea1b4.
it also serves as an artificial assistant by creating effective schedules for legal professionals thus allowing them to focus their time effectively on the greater issues at hand. Let us dig deeper into these. In terms of legal research, AI has greatly simplified the process. It uses various keywords input by researchers, running them through sophisticated algorithms to sift through vast amounts of legal data available online. After analyzing the data, it provides relevant statutes, legislation, cases, and laws, significantly enhancing the quality of research. These cases can then be used by lawyers as precedents, strengthening their arguments and helping convince judges to rule in their favor. Furthermore, AI allows researchers to spend more time refining the quality of their research material rather than wasting time searching for it.
This reduction in workload is not limited to lawyers alone; the judiciary has also integrated AI into daily functioning. For example, the Supreme Court of India has adopted AI technology for translating judicial documents, conducting legal research, automating processes, and even transcribing oral arguments in Constitution Bench matters. 2 By providing direct access to extensive legal databases, AI has made it easier for both lawyers and judges to handle complex legal tasks more efficiently. One of the most important contributions of A. I. to the legal profession is its effectiveness in creating and reviewing legal documents. A. I.
helps in drafting numerous important legal documents by organizing and improving the language of the documents by considering the exact tone and style of the language required for these documents taking reference from the available similar documents on the internet. In simpler words, A. I. provides the templates based on which these documents can be further updated based on the specific circumstances of the case. As far as reviewing is concerned, A. I. helps in reviewing the legal documents efficiently by analyzing the given data and sorting them based on their contents. It helps in identifying the potential risks or matters of importance that requires immediate attention thus, allowing the legal professionals to manage time effectively. Thus, A. I.
not only helps in creating legal documents effortlessly based on previous templates but also helps in reviewing them identifying potential risks which a prudent legal professional might have missed.
2 PIB Delhi, Artificial Intelligence in Judiciary, PIB (Aug. 09, 2024, 12:39 PM),
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2043476#:~:text=The%20Supreme%20Court%20of%20 India,research%20and%20process%20automation%20etc.
A. I. also ameliorates access to justice for people belonging to all sections and classes of the society. It gives basic legal advice to people at affordable rates especially in areas where there is a shortage of legal professionals, thus making people aware of the various provisions and remedies available to them. It goes a long way in educating and improving the conditions of people making them self-resilient as well as confident about various aspects of the legal world. The complex and jargonized legal language which people of ordinary prudence find difficult to understand is explained in simpler words to the public using A. I. It also protects people from being exploited, as using A. I. , they too gain a basic idea about the procedures to be followed in a court of law. Therefore, A. I.
has opened the gates of justice for all individuals without entertaining any kind of discrimination based on caste, creed, sex, religion and so on. However, as most A. I. chat boxes always suggest at the end of any legal search, one should contact legal professionals for better understanding of the exact procedures to be followed, A. I. just provides a basic idea about the same. Moreover, Artificial Intelligence aids in resolving disputes amicably and in a straightforward manner without too many complexities especially using the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods such as mediation, arbitration and so on. 3 It helps in analyzing the facts, arguments, evidences, and the available legal data before arriving at a proper conclusion.
It suggests accurate as well as practical solutions which are suitable and attainable by all the parties involved without favoring any of the parties at hand. This reduces the expenses incurred and the time take to arrive at such solutions which would not have been possible if the traditional methods of dispute resolution such as litigation were followed. This shows how A. I. has transformed the legal world making the procedures less time-consuming and more costeffective. One of the lesser-known facts about A. I. is its power to predict the outcomes of certain events based on the statistical data available to it. In the legal industry, lawyers can use A. I. to predict the outcomes of their cases. A. I.
uses the data available to it such as the facts as well as circumstances of the case, the previous rulings in similar cases, the previous rulings of the specific judge or judges in similar cases, by analyzing them to predict the possible outcomes 3 M. Saleem Shaheen, The Role of AI in Enhancing ADR: How AI is transforming dispute resolution processes? , LINKEDIN (Nov. 17, 2023), https://www. linkedin. com/pulse/role-ai-enhancing-adr-how-transforming-disputesaleem-shaheen-sj8sf/.
of the case. This helps lawyers and clients alike in making informed decisions about the case, preventing possible losses, and avoiding potential risks. A. I. can also serve as an artificial assistant to legal professionals allowing them to allocate their time and resources efficiently to ensure maximum productivity. It not only develops a schedule that manages the limited time available to legal professionals based on the priority of issues at hand but also makes them aware of any recent changes in laws or regulations thus, reducing the potential risks faced by them as ignorance of law is not considered to be a valid defense to escape liability. The Latin maxim “ignorantia juris non-excusat” meaning “ignorance of the law is no excuse” is a valid portrayal of the previous statement. Therefore, we can conclude that A. I.
can assist all legal professionals in a manner that improves their efficiency as well as productiveness.
POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS OF A.I. IN TRANSFORMING LEGAL PROFESSION
AND THEIR SOLUTIONS:
Now that we have discussed some of the benefits of A. I. in the legal profession, we must remember that just like how a coin has two sides, A. I. also has certain drawbacks. With each passing day, legal professionals are becoming more and more dependent on A. I. for doing their tasks. Even though the fact that A. I. has greatly improved the lives of legal professionals is true, one must not take it for granted as often the results provided by A. I. are not accurate leading to severe problems. Legal professionals have now started believing the results provided by A. I. blindly. They have stopped verifying whether the results are correct. Several instances can be found over the internet where fake cases have been generated by A. I. chat boxes which when used by legal professionals without proper verification have led them to lose their jobs.
However, nowadays, this problem is slowly being countered by using specialized A. I. supplied with proper legal data as mentioned by Professor David B. Wilkins, director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School in his interview with Harvard Law Today. 4 According to him, “The industry is moving from non-specialized AI to AI trained on legal materials, designed to tackle specific, complex legal problems. ” This, in turn, makes the results obtained from law trained
4 Jeff Neal, The legal profession in 2024: AI, HARVARD LAW TODAY (Feb. 14, 2024),
https://hls.harvard.edu/today/harvard-law-expert-explains-how-ai-may-transform-the-legal-profession-in-2024/.
A. I. chat boxes more reliable. He further adds, “Of course, a lawyer will still have to review it — just as any good senior lawyer will review the work of their juniors before sending it out into the world — but when you think about the relative cost of AI versus a first-year associate, you can begin to see the transformative potential. ” This highlights the importance of reviewing the results provided by A. I. before utilizing it in real world scenarios in the same way senior lawyers review the works of their juniors. It also showcases a comparison between A. I. and a first-year associate portraying how A. I. is more cost-effective than the other, posing a potential threat to their jobs. Moreover, Artificial Intelligence (A. I. ) cannot always predict the outcomes of cases accurately as the human mind is completely unpredictable.
They cannot consider human emotions like empathy, intuition and so on. These very emotions unknowingly tend to influence the decisions of the judges. This belief is quite identical to that mentioned by Professor Lon L. Fuller in his book, “The Morality of Law. ”5 Hence, it is strongly advised against placing blind trust in A. I. predictions; it is wise to have a contingency plan ready for unforeseen circumstances. There is also a panicking apprehension among the legal professionals that A. I. will soon take over their jobs and they will be left to fend for themselves. However, this claim is not substantiated. A. I. is the future and one cannot stop the inevitable, the only thing one can do to survive better is to adapt to it. Therefore, Krish Ramineni’s statement, "AI isn't here to take your job, but help you work better,"6 is completely justified.
Just like how once, people were against the use of computers and now they are used everywhere leading to new advancements each day, use of A. I. too will spread everywhere soon. Legal professionals should understand the importance and learn how to use A. I. to their advantage else there will come a time when they will be replaced by ones who know how to utilize them. Thus, as rightly stated by James Clough, "Lawyers who use AI are going to replace lawyers who don’t, rather than AI replacing all lawyers. "7
5 LON LUVOIS FULLER, THE MORALITY OF LAW (Yale University Press 1965).
6 Krish Ramineni, AI isn't here to take your job, but help you work better, THE ECONOMIC TIMES (Feb. 08, 2024, 05:03 PM), https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/mid-career/ai-isnt-here-to-take-your-job-but-helpyou-work-better/articleshow/107526595.cms?from=mdr.
7 PYMNTS, Lawyers Who Use AI Will Replace Those Who Don’t, PYMNTS (Jan. 12, 2024),
https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2024/lawyers-who-use-ai-will-replace-those-who-dont/.
CONCLUSION:
We now have gained an extensive idea about the role of artificial intelligence in transforming the legal profession in its entirety. It has both positive and negative impacts. However, we can conclude that the benefits of A.I. in the legal profession outweigh its drawbacks. Thus, legal professionals should look at A.I. and use it in a positive sense rather than being worried about it taking over their jobs. The integration of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) into the legal industry will greatly benefit the legal professionals as well as make access to the legal system easier for everyone.