Articial Intelligence and Robotics

Legal rms unleash oce automatons

Articial intelligence is relieving junior lawyers of time-consuming tasks

Articial intelligence will automate routine legal tasks so lawyers can focus on more complex work Dreamstime
MAY 16, 2016 5:44 PM

by: By Jane Croft

LinklatersandPinsentMasonshavebecomethelatestlawfirmstoinvestinartificial
intelligence,asthelegalprofessiontriestoautomatethemundanetasksthathave
traditionallybeenthepreserveofjuniorlawyers.
LinklatershasdevelopedVerifi,acomputerprogrammethatcansiftthrough14UK
andEuropeanregulatoryregisterstocheckclientnamesforbanks.Thecompany
saiditcouldprocessthousandsofnamesovernight.
EdwardChan,bankingpartneratLinklaters,said:Previouslyitwouldhavetakena
trainedjuniorlawyeranaverageof12minutestosearchasinglecustomername.
AIisanindispensibletoolforcopingwiththeevergrowingamountsofdatawhich
lawyershavetohandleinrunningcomplexmatters.Ourlawyersarenotengineersor
datascientists.Goodsolidlegalskillsremainwhatwelookforinourlawyers.

PinsentMasonshasdevelopedaprogrammethatreadsandanalysesclausesinloan
agreements.ItsTermFramesystemalsohelpsguidelawyersthroughtransactions
andpointthemtowardsthecorrectprecedentsateachstageofaprocess.
Anotherlawfirm,Dentons,hassetupNextLawLabs,avirtualcompanywhichlooks
attheapplicationoftechnologywiththelaw.IthasinvestedinROSS,anIBM
Watsonpoweredlegaladviserappthatstreamlineslegalresearch,savinglawyers
timeandclientsmoney.ROSSiscurrentlybeingpilottestedatDentonsand
approximately20otherlawfirms.
Hodge,Jones&Allen,alawfirm,hasworkedwithacademicsfromUniversity
CollegeLondontocreatesoftwarethatassessesthemeritsofpersonalinjurycases.
ProfessorRichardSusskind,atechnologyadvisertotheLordChiefJustice,has
predictedradicalchangeinthelegalsector(http://next.ft.com/content/d936ea425a
c711e5a28b50226830d644),pointingoutthatintelligentsearchsystemscould
nowoutperformjuniorlawyersandparalegalsinreviewinglargesetsofdocuments
andselectingthemostrelevant.
Hetoldalegalconferencelastmonththatthelegalprofessionhadfiveyearsto
reinventitselffrombeinglegaladviserstolegaltechnologistsandcriticisedlaw
schoolsforchurningout20thcenturylawyers.
ArecentstudybyDeloittesuggestedthattechnologyhasalreadycontributedtoa
reduction(http://next.ft.com/content/c8ef3f62ea9c11e5888e2eadd5fbc4a4)of
about31,000jobsinthelegalsector,includingrolessuchaslegalsecretariesanda
further39percentofjobswereathighriskofbeingmaderedundantbymachines
inthenexttwodecades.
TherehasbeenspeculationthatlawisripeforUberisation(http://next.ft.com/cont
ent/c3a9347efdb411e5b5f5070dca6d0a0d),becomingthenexttargetof
technologicaldisruption.
Onesmallerfirm,RiverviewLaw,haspartneredwiththecomputerscience
departmentatLiverpoolUniversitytoworkonartificalintelligenceproducts.
Riverviewissettingupaseparatetechnologybusinesstoexploititssoftwareandthe
intellectualpropertythatithasandiscreating.Ithaslaunchedavirtualassistant
Kimdesignedtohelplegalteamsmakequickerandbetterdecisions.

KarlChapman,chiefexecutiveofRiverview,saidKimhasthreevaryinglevelsof
complexityincludingonelevelwherealawyercanaskittosuggestthebestorderto
renegotiateaseriesofcorporatecontracts.
ManybelievethatAIwillsimplyautomatemoreroutinepartsoflegalworksothat
lawyersfocusonmorecomplex,highvalueareasofclientwork.
Iwouldlikenittomathematicianscalculatingsumsonsliderulersbefore
computers.Computersdidntdoawaywithmathematicianswhoareprobablymore
highlyvaluednowthantheywerebefore,saidOrlandoConetta,acomputer
scientistandheadofresearchanddevelopmentatPinsents.
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