AI experts in law firms - the new standard?

AI experts in law firms - the new standard?

Everyone has probably heard by now about the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including in law.

AI is becoming a tool that is being used more and more frequently and willingly in the legal industry, which creates, among others, the possibility of expediting data analysis or contract preparation.

Popular tools such as ChatGPT do not yet offer either the expected results or sufficient competitive advantages, and the trends in the use of new technologies are set by the US market. Although the expectations of law firms' clients continue to soar, meeting these expectations does not necessarily entail additional work for the lawyers themselves.

On the contrary, law firms are no longer looking for more lawyers, but for experts in artificial intelligence, including data analysts and software engineers.[i] They are the ones who are supposed to support lawyers not only in the use of already available IT tools, but also in the design of new software, customised and tailored to meet the law firm's individual needs.

These trends are also reaching Europe.

At the beginning of 2023, a UK law firm, from the so-named “magic circle”, Allen & Overy, announced the introduction of a chatbot that supports lawyers in their daily work, including the drafting of contracts.

The main purpose of the tool is to create drafts of basic documents for lawyers to use as a starting point for editing, improving or completing.

Chatbot Harvey can “work” in multiple languages, in different practice areas and is used by lawyers in 43 Allen & Overy offices worldwide.[ii]

Other high-profile UK law firms such as Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, Macfarlanes and Weightmans are also following in the same footsteps and are setting industry trends.

The need for change has become so conspicuous that law departments at the UK universities are changing their curricula. The University of Liverpool, among others, now offers modules under which students are taught to interact with legal tech tools.

Universities in Poland also notice that modern technology is becoming an important tool in a lawyer's work, and so the first postgraduate Legal Tech course in Poland opened in 2021 at SWPS University.

Although experts reassure that lawyers will not be replaced by artificial intelligence, some of their work will probably be taken over by IT specialists and programmers.

Observation of the foreign legal market thus leads to the conclusion that the use of AI tools may prove to be not only a convenience in the daily work of lawyers, but a new standard and a must-have to remain competitive in the market.

Nevertheless, let us remember that the rules of safe use of such tools and the liability for the consequences of such use are still open issues, the process of regulating is underway.