Employment / 2 min read
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the rise in every facet of your daily life. Forms of this have been around for years, but now, its practicality and pervasiveness has integrated into nearly every sector. This is no different than in the legal industry. But what does this mean for the legal industry and our clients?
AI's Role in the Legal Process
We can expect that in the near future AI will make the legal process more efficient, as it has begun to already, but will never eliminate judges from the judicial system—thanks to the Constitution's guarantee of an independent judiciary.
Streamlining Legal Tasks
AI is already streamlining document review, legal research, contract analysis and many other aspects of the judicial process. However, with arbitration, since this is a private process, AI has significant upsides to reduce costs and to improve speed which we can expect to be adopted far sooner than in the judicial systems. Private arbitration is particularly ripe for AI adoption because parties can agree to AI-assisted processes without constitutional constraints. Although AI has its benefits, human trust in human judgment to decide the outcome of a dispute is not going away any time soon.
Misuses and Safeguards
There have been misuses of AI in the legal field that cannot be overlooked. By now, we are all aware of headlines where AI, like ChatGPT, has either "hallucinated" (i.e. fabricated) case law or wildly misinterpreted case law. Any tool is only as good as the person using it. A lawyer's judgment cannot be replaced by AI. The rules of ethics and our professional licenses stand as a significant safeguard for proper application of AI tools to supervise AI output and maintain client confidentiality, creating built-in accountability.
Revolutionizing Legal Work
However, with the proper application of safeguards to protect client information, AI stands to revolutionize the way that lawyers work cases for clients and maximize their own output.
The Future of Trials and Lawyers
As the tools and technology change, we must adapt. Are the days of the trial-dog gone? Not in the least. Trials and arbitrations are about effective communication, presentation of evidence, and persuasiveness. But the means and methods to get to trial or final hearing may just begin to look different.
The courtroom crusaders are not obsolete—they're simply upgrading their toolkit. The future belongs to lawyers who can harness AI's efficiency while preserving the human judgment that justice demands.