This article has been written by Sathyavathi R pursuing a Personal Branding Program for Corporate Leaders from LawSikho.

This article has been edited and published by Shashwat Kaushik.

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a combination of two fields engineering and science. AI came into our society in the year 1950, “introduced by Prof. John McCarthy.” AI analyses tasks and problems and gives accurate solutions. It thinks and responds as an expert. AI is prevalent all over the fields, e.g., agriculture, production, infrastructure, medical, education, engineering, household, service industries, marketing, finance, legal, etc. Science & technology always take humans to the next level; this was once again proved by AI. The impact of AI has not left the legal field and it is being welcomed with pleasure and reluctance to confront. To understand how AI is used in the legal field, it is essential for legal researchers, attorneys, and legal writers to be aware of its uses. AI helps in drafting textual content by simplifying big case laws and documents within minutes in the form of IRAC. It also assists in text analysis and provides structure to the machine learning algorithms. With AI’s help, lawyers and firms can easily do their jobs without the pressure of spending a lot of time on document reading and case analysis. In the future, AI will become an indispensable part of the legal field, and it is necessary for lawyers and firms to embrace this technological development.

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Advancing AI in law: exploring key conferences and workshops

The IAAL (International Association for Artificial Intelligence and Law) Conference convened with a focus on leveraging AI for legal analysis to address legal challenges and propose solutions. The LTDCA Conference, hosted at the University of San Diego School of Law in 2016, centred on the analysis of legal texts. In 2011, a workshop was conducted to explore the application of human language technology in the realm of law. Similarly, the ICAIL 2015 Workshop delved into the intersection of law and big data.

Numerous international conferences have been organised to advance research at the intersection of AI and law, serving as crucial milestones for the integration of AI into the legal domain. Moreover, the natural learning process encompasses the comprehension of questions, recognition, and sentiment analysis of human emotions. Social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp are analysed for content and comments, providing valuable insights and reviews.

Use of AI in legal text analysis

Text analysis improves the structure of your text as per the wants of clients. It gives in depth analyses of the legal documents. It is used in contract drafting, citation reading, legal research, document analysis, and writing legal articles. It helps in case management, time efficiency, enhanced accuracy in clearing the client’s doubts, satisfying the client by prompt response, cost reduction, decision-making, high quality in providing service, data collection from clients, and alertness for response. Clients’ data privacy is secured by AI.   

Legal analytic tasks speed up the delivery of judgement. LTA provides services to improve legal research. Legal research is not an easy task:it takes more time and effort. But the legal text analysis simplifies the work, and it acts as a human expert. It highlighted the performance. LTA also manages the court and court management. Clients also understand their case status, and position, even if they analyse their winning chance with the help of AI.

The advantages of legal text analysis

  1. Summarise the document: Legal text analysis tools can quickly summarise long and complex legal documents, making it easier for lawyers to understand the main points and identify key issues. This can save time and effort, especially when dealing with large volumes of legal documents.
  2. Rephrase the structure of text: Legal text analysis tools can rephrase the structure of text to make it easier to read and understand. This can be helpful for lawyers who are not familiar with legal jargon or who need to explain legal concepts to clients in a clear and concise way.
  3. Data processing technology: Legal text analysis tools use data processing technology to identify patterns and trends in legal documents. This can help lawyers identify potential legal risks, develop arguments, and predict the outcome of cases.
  4. Predict the result and update the case strategy: Legal text analysis tools can predict the result of cases based on historical data and the analysis of similar cases. This information can help lawyers develop a case strategy and make informed decisions about how to proceed.
  5. Analyse cases with records of court proceedings: Legal text analysis tools can analyse cases with records of court proceedings to identify key issues and arguments. This can help lawyers understand the legal landscape and develop effective strategies for their clients.
  6. Decision-making: Legal text analysis tools can assist lawyers in making decisions by providing them with information about similar cases, relevant laws, and precedents. This can help lawyers make informed decisions that are in the best interests of their clients.
  7. Cost-effective method: Legal text analysis tools can be a cost-effective way for lawyers to research legal issues and develop case strategies. This is because these tools can save time and effort, which can translate into lower costs for clients.
  8. Efficiency of work: Legal text analysis tools can improve the efficiency of lawyers’ work by automating many of the tasks that are typically performed manually. This can free up lawyers’ time so that they can focus on more strategic and high-value work.
  9. Accuracy output in legal research: Legal text analysis tools can help lawyers produce more accurate legal research by identifying relevant laws, cases, and precedents. This can help lawyers avoid errors and omissions in their research, which can lead to better outcomes for their clients.
  10. Case management: Legal text analysis tools can help lawyers manage their cases more effectively by providing them with information about deadlines, court dates, and other important events. This can help lawyers stay organised and avoid missing important deadlines.
  11. Data privacy: Legal text analysis tools can help lawyers to protect their clients’ data by encrypting it and storing it securely. This can help to prevent unauthorised access to confidential information.
  12. Time management with clients: Legal text analysis tools can help lawyers manage their time more effectively with clients by providing them with information about their cases and by automating many of the tasks that are typically performed manually. This can free up lawyers’ time so that they can spend more time communicating with their clients and providing them with the support they need.

Disadvantages of legal text analysis

  • High cost: Legal text analysis requires the use of AI, which can be expensive to develop and maintain. This cost can be a significant barrier for small law firms and solo practitioners.
  • Over-reliance on AI: There is a risk of over-relying on AI for legal text analysis. This can lead to laziness and a lack of critical thinking. Lawyers may become too reliant on the AI’s output and may not take the time to carefully review and analyse the results.
  • Increased errors: Without the use of AI, lawyers may be more likely to make errors in their legal analysis. This is because AI can help identify potential issues and errors that may not be immediately apparent to a human reviewer.
  • Diminished critical thinking skills: Relying solely on AI for legal text analysis can lead to a decrease in critical thinking skills. Lawyers may become accustomed to letting the AI do the work for them and may not develop the skills necessary to analyse legal texts independently.
  • Difficulty making decisions: Without the help of AI, lawyers may find it more difficult to make decisions. This is because AI can help provide insights and recommendations that can be helpful in the decision-making process.
  • Stifled innovation: In the legal field, new ideas and inventions are not as frequent as in other fields. This is because the law is a complex and conservative field. Over-reliance on AI may further stifle innovation by making it more difficult for new ideas to be heard.
  • Inability to face risk: Lawyers who rely too heavily on AI may become incapable of facing risk or inefficiency in the profession. This is because AI can help identify and mitigate risks, but it cannot completely eliminate them. Lawyers need to be able to assess and manage risk in order to be successful.
  • Lack of emotion and humanity: The court, judiciary, and advocacy involve human emotions. If AI takes over legal text analysis, there may be a lack of emotion and humanity in deciding justice. This could lead to unfair or unjust outcomes.
  • Erosion of legal ethics and principles: Legal ethics, legal principles, morality, and natural justice are essential to the legal field. However, these concepts may be eroded if AI is used to make decisions without human input. This could lead to a decline in the quality of justice.

Uses of AI in the legal field

  • Legal research: AI can assist lawyers in finding relevant information by studying large files, case laws, and acts. This enables lawyers to spend less time searching for information and more time building strong cases.
  • Case analysis: AI can analyse relevant cases, sections, and acts to identify key points and arguments. This helps lawyers better understand the legal landscape and develop more effective strategies for their clients.
  • Document arrangement: AI can help with docket filing and e-filing systems, making it easier for lawyers to organise and manage their legal documents. This can save time and reduce the risk of errors.
  • Drafting assistance: AI can assist lawyers with the drafting process by suggesting language, identifying potential issues, and checking for grammar and spelling errors. This can help lawyers draft more accurate and persuasive documents.
  • Case management system: AI can act as a personal assistant for lawyers, helping them manage their cases more efficiently. This can include tracking deadlines, scheduling appointments, and generating reports.
  • Translation: AI can translate case files into different languages, making it easier for lawyers to work with clients and colleagues from around the world.
  • Draft comparison: AI can analyse different drafts of a document and identify errors, inconsistencies, and potential areas for improvement. This can help lawyers produce more polished and effective documents.

AI uses in language understanding in NLU, NLP, NLG

Natural language understanding (NLU)

Natural Language Understanding (NLU) is a system used to understand human language just like a person would. It involves inputting a question or statement into a computer and then responding with “what it means.” Examples of NLU include chatbots, voice assistants, and automated translation services. 

  1. Chatbots and virtual assistants: AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can be integrated into legal websites and platforms to provide real-time assistance to clients and answer frequently asked questions. These tools can improve customer satisfaction while reducing the burden on legal professionals.
  2. Legal research and precedent identification: AI algorithms can sift through vast legal databases to identify relevant cases, statutes, and precedents based on natural language queries. This can significantly enhance the efficiency of legal research and help lawyers build stronger arguments.
  3. Sentiment analysis: AI-powered sentiment analysis tools can analyse the tone and sentiment of legal documents, providing insights into the opinions and intentions of judges, authors, and parties involved. This can be valuable for predicting the outcome of legal cases and developing litigation strategies.
  4. Translation and localization: AI-powered translation tools can assist in translating legal documents into different languages, enabling lawyers to work across borders and serve international clients more effectively.
  5. Legal document generation: AI systems can generate legal documents, such as contracts, wills, and pleadings, based on provided parameters and templates. This can streamline the document creation process and reduce the workload for legal professionals.

The integration of AI in legal text analysis and NLU has the potential to revolutionise the legal profession by enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and insights. As AI technology continues to evolve, legal professionals who embrace these innovations will have a competitive advantage, delivering exceptional legal services to their clients.

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Natural Language Understanding (NLU) is a subfield of artificial intelligence that deals with the understanding of human language. It enables computers to comprehend and process human language in a meaningful way. While NLU is focused on understanding the intent and meaning of text, Natural Language Processing (NLP) takes it a step further by providing answers and responding to queries in a human-like manner.

NLP has more advanced capabilities than NLU because it not only extracts information and identifies entities from text but also generates informative responses. The natural language process analyses the context and sentiment of the text, taking into account factors such as tone, emotion, and intent. It tracks reviews and feedback from various sources, such as customer surveys, social media posts, and online forums. Based on this analysis, NLP generates responses that are tailored to the specific needs and preferences of the client.

The responses generated by NLP are designed to sound natural and conversational, mimicking the way humans communicate. This makes it possible for NLP systems to engage in meaningful and interactive conversations with users, providing personalised assistance and answering questions in a comprehensive and informative manner.

Natural language generation (NLG)

On the other hand, NLG is even more advanced than NLU and NLP. It can reply like a human and perform tasks for us. We can give instructions to our computer in our regional language and it can respond in the same language that we can easily understand.

AI tools lawyers most use

  • Case text- Textual analysis of legal cases involves swiftly comprehending and identifying key points within case law, statutes, regulations, and Acts.
  • Co-counsel- Legal language understanding.
  • Harvey AI- Contract drafting, litigation, recommendation, prediction.
  • Blue JL & E- Streamline the legal research.
  • Chat Gpt- Popular generative AI tool.
  • Diligen- Review contract, document management.
  • Auto Gpt- This is AI‘s latest version launched in March 2023.
  • Smith.ai- Virtual receptionist, it answers all the calls of lawyers and allot schedules for meetings.
  • Gideon- Answer prospect questions and document automation.
  • Claud- Legal drafting.
  • ROSS- Find case laws.
  • Case Mine- Helps to understand legal principles.
  • Gavel- Legal Document Automation and workflow automation.
  • Legal Robot- Contract and legal brief review.
  • CS Disco- E-discovery solution.
  • DoNotPay- Simplifying legal complexities in documents.
  • Lex Machina- Empower legal departments (evaluate attorney performance, maintain court records).
  • Latch- Contract analyses.
  • Westlaw edge- Legal citations and arguments.
  • Onelaw.AI- Contract law management in drafting.
  • Bigle Legal- Document analyses.
  • Diligen- Review contracts.
  • Ghostwriter legal- Brief contracts legal assistant.
  • leGAl- Predictive analytics for litigation outcome.
  • LawGeex – Review contracts.

These are all some examples of AI tools for lawyers and legal fields.

Conclusion

Artificial intelligence is now being utilised by many fields. However, there is still some uncertainty among many advocates regarding how to use and work with AI in the legal field. Whether it is applicable in the legal field is a million dollar question to many of our lawyers. Many of us doubt and fear whether AI will occupy a lawyer’s place in the future. All these questions can be cleared when we start accepting and using them in our daily lives. Legal work, court work, and office work are all simplified by using AI. It acts as an advocate in the courtroom, and even decides cases as a judge. AI is a welcome addition, but it is important to remember that it cannot replace human emotions and values, which are integral to the field of law. Human brains still work better than AI in many aspects. It is important to note that every scientific & technological revolution is driven by human brains. AI is necessary to improve the legal field for the current generation, and we can choose the AI system that fits our needs. AI is an open platform for all. Everybody knows how to use it. Even the clients are aware of AI and they can now check all the petitions, documents, and contracts and draft everything prepared and filed by the lawyer in the correct manner. Lawyers need to be more advanced than their clients. And many legal start-up companies are using them for the best results in their work. Technology always helps in the development and analysis of future security. AI was created for us and we should use it in the legal field to enlighten our knowledge. 

References

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