The Impact of AI on Litigation (Advantages and Disadvantages)

Optimizing Research

Any lawyer practicing during the pre-computer era can tell you just how long it took to research. Without digital repositories, the drudgery of manual research “slowed” all of litigation. “Slowed” is in quotes because that prior pace is only “slow” in retrospect. Given client expectations of the time, litigation’s relatively leisurely pace was of no consequence. Fast forward to emails – purported bastions of time savings – whose efficiency gains were quickly eclipsed by client expectations, causing a new world of immediate demands and, consequently, fast-paced litigation practices. 

So too have the efficiency gains made by digital research repositories been met with heightened client expectations. Memos once expected next week are now expected within the next hour. 

With increasingly capable AI research tools, the process of collecting and filtering research nearly instantaneous. Will these tools save attorneys’ time? Certainly – but that time – those minutes – may soon be weighted by increased client expectations.

Saving Time

AI litigation tools help law firms save significant amounts of time by automating the discovery response process. Tools such as Briefpoint make it much faster to construct the vital documents that law firms need to handle discovery efficiently. According to insights, tools such as Briefpoint can reduce spent time on these documents by as much as 87%.

These types of AI tools don’t just help to save time — they ensure standardization of a law firm’s work product such that firms can trust that every document they generate with Briefpoint meets their high expectations of quality.

AI legal document software essentially takes care of the time-consuming aspects of document creation, but law firms can still add their own objections and responses, ensuring that they’re still quality documents based on their firm’s gold standards.

Reducing Barriers to Legal Assistance

Artificial intelligence software also makes it easier for people who may historically not have had access to legal support to get the help they need. There are many instances where people are unable to pursue legal avenues because of a lack of capital or know-how. 

AI software has allowed people from these groups to begin the process of pursuing legal damages with a few clicks of a button. For instance, there are tools that will instantly generate a personalized lawsuit against robocall companies. 

This aspect of AI litigation is still in development, but it’s expected to grow significantly in the coming years. While broadly positive, the downside could be that courts are overwhelmed by quickly generated lawsuits even when the grounds for the lawsuit are relatively thin. 

Skill Development for Legal Professionals

AI litigation tools are just beginning to infiltrate the legal system, but in the coming years, they’ll be widespread. To make the most of these advanced tools, lawyers and law firm workers will need to upskill to learn how to leverage the impact of the software that’s available. As with all industries, AI isn’t designed to take over from law professionals; they’re there to supplement.

Legal professionals will need to learn how to select the right tool for the job, use the tools effectively, and generally stay up to date with new developments to stay ahead of the curve and ensure that they’re getting the most from these powerful tools. 

Better Decision Making

Though the technology to help lawyers enhance their decision-making processes is still in its infancy, it’s anticipated to become more advanced and widely available in the coming years. 

Lawyers will be able to use these tools to get valuable insights into the predicted outcome of a case, analyze similar cases from the past, and all-around have a deeper understanding of the broader context of their case. This will help law firms to plan their strategy more effectively and make better, more informed decisions. 

Customer Service

Customer service is paramount in all industries, but especially in the legal field when customers have a more significant emotional stake than in other sectors. AI-powered chatbots can make it easier for law firms to manage customer requests and questions, often resolving the issue without human intervention. 

Even if a human response is required, the information gathered by an AI chatbot can help to reduce the amount of time the professional spends crafting a response since it will already have gathered the necessary information. 

How AI Will Impact the Future of Law?

We’re still at the beginning of the AI journey. The tools that law firms currently have access to are powerful and can have a transformative impact on operations, and that’s expected to only develop further in the coming years. 

It would have been unthinkable to believe that the current crop of AI software tools would have existed just a few years ago, so it’s impossible to say what type of tools will be available in the next decade or so. 

Are Humans Still Superior? 

It’s important to note that while AI tools are getting a lot of attention, and are increasingly popular, they won’t replace trained professionals anytime soon. While popular, they lack the capacity to weigh up all the myriad factors that contribute to making a valuable, informed decision. 

That only comes with experience and expertise. So while they will certainly have a place in the legal field, it’ll still be the skilled professionals at the heart of the legal industry that play the biggest role. It’s also unclear whether AI will impact the roles of less-skilled jobs within the legal sector, such as legal assistants. 

New Case Areas

So far, we’ve talked about how litigators and law firms may use AI software tools to enhance their operations. However, there’s another side to AI litigation, too — the law cases lodged because of AI. 

This is a growing area of the law industry that is largely without precedence. We’re already seeing some high-profile cases, including instances of artists claiming that AI companies are stealing their work or celebrities claiming that they’re using their likeness. 

There’s been a string of household names who have denounced marketing companies for using AI-generated videos and images featuring the individual in their marketing campaigns. 

Legal Aspects AI May Influence

The cases involving artificial intelligence we’ve outlined above are just the beginning of what could be a tsunami of AI-connected lawsuits and legal matters. Some legal frameworks that AI tools may influence include:

Privacy Matters

Privacy is a hot topic, but some AI tools, by nature, rely on individuals’ information to function correctly. Those types of tools may face legal scrutiny and lawsuits if they don’t integrate data protection into their services.

Antitrust

The race to be the leader in the AI field may lead to antitrust investigations if it appears that one company is edging towards a monopoly. 

Liability

AI tools will cause incidents in the future, especially in the case of self-driving cars. It’s unclear, as it stands, who will be liable for such instances. This is likely to be a developing legal aspect that is drafted in response to incidents. 

Discrimination

AI systems are trained by humans, and if the data inputted into the systems leads to discrimination, even involuntarily, then there may be a raft of discrimination-based lawsuits. This is possible in fields such as criminal justice and employment. 

AI Overview in the Legal Industry

Artificial intelligence is on the rise in the legal industry, and that’s exciting news for law firms, which can save significant amounts of time while benefiting from enhanced outcomes. The other side of AI in the legal sector is that it will prompt new lawsuits based on AI tools, such as copyright infringement and privacy concerns. 

How Briefpoint AI Can Help You

Discovery responses cost firms $23,240, per year, per attorney. The $23,240 estimate assumes an associate attorney salary of $150,000 (including benefits – or $83 an hour), 20 cases per year/per associate, 4 discovery sets per case, 30 questions per set, 3.5 hours spent responding to each set, and 1800 hours of billable hours per year.

Under these assumptions, you save $19,465 using Briefpoint, per year, per attorney.

Test Briefpoint yourself by scheduling a demo here.