The term “artificial intelligence” is not a comforting phrase. Maybe it is because the term “intelligence,” when partnered with “artificial,” feels synonymous with human evolution. Maybe it is the potential of surpassing human intelligence or the potential loss of human connection. Or maybe it’s movies like movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” Ex Machina, or The Creator (to name a few) that run through our head as they began generating legal and ethical discussions that the legal world has not begun to fully grasp. Who knows? But wherever that discomfort stems from, technology is evolving at a rapid pace and is changing the landscape of how lawyers practice today and in the future. So as the title of this article suggests, we must embrace the change that is already here and evolving daily.
Today, artificial intelligence, or AI, has automated routine tasks such as legal research, contract review, e-discovery, predictive analytics, and document generation, analysis, and management. This has allowed lawyers to spend more time focusing on strategic and complex legal matters. AI has allowed lawyers to increase their efficiency, improve accuracy, and provide enhanced client service. However, with these benefits comes risks such as bias in algorithms, data privacy concerns, and various ethical considerations, none of which have been fully understood or evaluated by the legal community at large. And as AI constantly changes, these risks constantly change as well. So how can lawyers begin to embrace AI especially considering that lawyers are naturally wary of new avenues that bring along unknown risks? Let’s start with the data.
According to Clio’s Legal Trends 2024 Report, AI usage among legal professionals jumped to 79%, up 19% in 2023, as evidence that legal work is being reshaped. Law firms are boosting tech spending by 20% annually with solo practitioners leading with a 56% increase. Additional key highlights to note within the report are as follows:
- AI could make law firms more effective in working with clients—as a result, they may need to invest more in marketing to attract an increased client pipeline. The ability to handle more clients will require a stronger emphasis on marketing strategies to sustain the workload and grow the business.
- The number of legal professionals using AI has surged, marking a significant shift in how law firms are integrating AI into their daily operations.
- Nearly three-quarters of a law firm’s hourly billable tasks are exposed to AI automation, with 81% of legal secretaries’ and administrative assistants’ tasks being automatable, compared to 57% of lawyers’ tasks.
Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, lawyers regularly work 45-55 hours/week at small or mid-sized firms and possibly as many as 80 hours/week at larger firms. However, these hours are relative as the demanding hours are dependent on practice areas, geographical location, and firm size. With these demanding hours, it begs the question … can AI provide more of a work-life balance for lawyers? Possibly. With the use of AI, lawyers may be able to produce faster drafts of pleadings with fewer mistakes, expedite administrative tasks, focus attention on strategy based on predictive analysis, and achieve higher client satisfaction with faster results at lower costs all while meeting the professional and ethical standards attorneys must abide by. Based on the evidentiary data provided by the Clio Legal Trends Report, AI is being adopted by attorneys at an increasing rate to improve their efficiency, productivity, and to achieve more of a work-life balance. But if attorneys are slow to embrace the change, they may be left behind and may lack the technological competence to continue practice in this new age.
The fact is that lawyers cannot ignore the evolution of AI and cannot escape the use of it. AI will not replace lawyers as the public will continue to need their services to advocate and assist, but lawyers will need to change. Certain practice areas may not need lawyers, administration assistance may not be required as regularly, and how lawyers generally practice will have to evolve. This may seem daunting considering that lawyers have practiced in their niche areas for years or even decades.
Lawyers are not widely known for their easy acceptance of change. We deal with laws written in the books from the 1800s, case law from a century ago, and advocating practices within the courtroom that have barely changed since its inception. However, we are also one of the fields that dealt heavily in person-to-person interactions and then overnight had to work virtually during a pandemic. We continued to advocate for our clients, draft pleadings, research, analyze, and strategize all while working in a virtual world. We were still needed then and will continue to be needed in the future but just in a different way. The legal field has shown it can change within minutes based on the environment around us. It is how we use AI that will generate trust with our clients and acceptance to change.
What we are seeing now is just the beginning stages of how AI is disrupting the natural fabric of the legal field. For example, the practice of billable hours is starting to change to more of a flat fee practice as AI reduces the need for long hours. Per Clio’s Legal Trend Report, law firms are charging 34% more of their cases on a flat-fee basis compared to 2016. Law firms have found that flat fees enable them to capture the value of their services without being limited by time-based billing constraints.5 Further, virtual receptionists are taking over for legal in-person receptionists and legal AI research and drafting is taking on the work of paralegals.
Lawyers must remain relevant to their clients by embracing and engaging with new technology. Otherwise, clients will not see a need to incur legal fees when AI may seemingly answer their questions for free or at a lower cost; thus, it is imperative that lawyers be able to identify and communicate the benefits that only lawyers can provide over AI and demonstrate that the cost to hire a lawyer is reasonable and warranted.
While continued legal education is necessary to remain competent in our fields, it will not be sufficient; continued technological information and training will also be paramount. Lawyers will need to rely on their state bars and sections more than ever as a resource, especially considering the daily change we see not only in technology but also in the analysis throughout the country of how AI should be used from state to state. Resources and training in practice management will be essential to understand how lawyers may use AI in a responsible way when serving their clients and the public. With all the aforementioned technological advancements, lawyers must also consider cybersecurity like never before.
Lawyers must ensure, both prior to the use of AI and as they continue to use AI in their daily practice, that they protect sensitive client data by implementing strong cybersecurity practices, adhering to data privacy laws, and understanding the legal implications of cyber breaches. According to Astra, cybersecurity statistics indicate that there are 2,200 cyberattacks per day, with a cyberattack happening every 39 seconds on average and the U.S. being the most attacked country since 2004. There are several cybersecurity practices that lawyers should consider to protect their firms:
- Routine Risk Assessments
- Defend the Network Perimeter
- Restrict Access to Data
- Manage Passwords and User Privileges
- Backup System
- Conduct Security Awareness Training for Employees
- Conduct Inventory of Data
- Use Encryption for Transmitting Sensitive Data
- Third-Party Vendor Management
- Establish an Incident Response Plan and Team … Train and Test
- Purchase a Standalone Cyber Liability Insurance Policy
Lawyers must have confidence in the tools they use and choosing a product takes time and diligence. As AI continues to move through law practices and the courts, guidelines and requirements may need to be set in place to ensure the lawyers, the clients, and the public are safeguarded. The use of AI must not be kept at arm’s length but used with “caution and humility.”
State bars will need to enhance their practice management resource centers to ensure that lawyers’ demand of knowledge on how to use these tools appropriately is timely provided. Ethics departments will need to review rules of professional conduct and judicial canons, legislation will need to be monitored and potentially drafted, court rules may need further amendments, access to justice will need to analyze how AI can assist in providing services for the public, and unauthorized practice of law (UPL) will need to determine how UPL is defined in the new age of AI. Further, partner programs through state bars will play a crucial role in the development of technology through legal practices as state bars will need to research whether the benefit program will provide the basic and necessary protection for lawyers to inquire more into the use of the system. This is why state bars providing information and resources to its members is at a crucial point.
AI is revolutionizing the way lawyers work and think. The potential benefits are endless, but the risks must not be overlooked. Commitment to securing data and using technology in a safe manner while not allowing it to supplement the lawyer’s judgement is essential for lawyers to maintain competence and the success of their legal practice.