Law Firms Assign AI To Research, Drudgery.

"Big law firms, known for their grueling hours and workloads, are experimenting with artificial-intelligence tools that can handle the drudgery typically delegated to entry-level lawyers and simplify complex work that bogs down even top firm leaders.

Law firms, as well as legal departments inside companies, now have access to software that can perform writing and research tasks such as drafting documents and reading contracts. Some tools can quickly perform legal research that normally takes hours, sifting through thousands of pages of case law in just minutes.

The new products use GPT-4, an advanced version of the commercially available ChatGPT developed by Open-AI. Known as large-language models, these tools can recognize patterns, make predictions and create content by processing enormous quantities of text, images and audio.

Large-language models will likely be a game-changer for white-collar occupations because of their ability to engage in sophisticated writing and research, said John Villasenor, a professor and co-director of the University of California, Los Angeles's Institute for Technology, Law and Policy.

"It has the capacity to reshape the practice of law," Mr. Villasenor said.

Previous waves of automation mostly affected blue-collar jobs in industries such as manufacturing, or back-office roles that required many calculations, such as accounting or mortgage processing.

Rapid developments in AI could pose threats to the type of work performed in white-collar professions, like the practice of law. AI could also change the financial dynamics of the legal business, which bills high rates for the many hours spent on complex, time-consuming tasks.

A March report by Goldman Sachs predicted that 44% of legal work can be automated using emerging AI tools. The same month, a paper by researchers at Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York University found that the industries most exposed to occupational change from generative AI were legal services and securities, commodities and investments.

"A lawyer's brain is basically a massive database of cases and precedents," said Min-Kyu Jung, a former practicing attorney who co-founded a firm called Latch, which uses GPT-4 to simplify the contract review and redlining process for lawyers. "It's something a computer can do much more effectively than a human could."

Latch launched in April and already has a wait list of more than 80 companies, including law firms and in-house counsel, Mr. Jung said.

Global firm Allen & Overy says thousands of lawyers are now using another tool using GPT-4 technology called Harvey for tasks such as legal research, drafting documents and contract analysis.

The firm's attorneys report spending less time locating hard-to-find case law, completing analyses and answering questions clearly and succinctly. Harvey hasn't replaced the work of lawyers, but instead provides a head start, they say. One partner described the impact as "having an extra junior resource available to you at any time of the day."

Will it mean fewer billable hours, the basis of a law firm's income stream? "Yes, it's a possibility," said David Lucking, a partner at the firm. Still, the adoption of AI at Allen & Overy doesn't necessarily "mean there would be less need for a human element," he said.

Clients are still wary about uploading sensitive information into cloud-based products, some law firm leaders say. Prospective AI customers also worry about transferring too much responsibility to software that is opaque to most people. "Some people say, the last thing I want to do is outsource my judgment to AI," said Latch's Mr. Jung.

LexisNexis, which has long provided information and analytics to the legal industry, said last week it created a platform using GPT technology, as well. The company said it teamed up with some of the country's largest firms, Baker McKenzie, Reed Smith and Foley & Lardner." [1]

1. Law Firms Assign AI To Research, Drudgery. Mulvaney, Erin;
Weber, Lauren. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 12 May 2023: B.2.