Industry Trends: AI in the Legal World

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the words Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the past six months, I'd be able to fund my future law school tuition and probably get a building named after me at my alma mater, Georgia Tech.

Since the release of ChatGPT, AI has been the hot topic in the tech world. All major industries are trying to explore the benefits of AI assistance.

Historically, the legal industry has moved at a snail’s pace to implement technological advancements, but the transformative developments through AI have been refreshing to see. Paying attention to the evolving legal landscape will help you understand how these technologies can specifically benefit you and your workflows.

It is okay to not be familiar with every intricacy of AI right now. You may find yourself in a position where you don’t fully understand how AI works or how to use it to its maximum potential and still reap the benefits! The last few months have showcased only the tip of the iceberg for this budding technology’s capabilities. What is crucial is to understand the impact of AI in the legal field so you can make well-educated decisions.

These considerations can help you do just that:

1. What role is AI playing in the legal industry?
2. How is this being achieved?
3. What are the concerns involving AI?
4. Which AI technology will best optimize my practice?
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Let’s dive into these pressing questions.

1. The Role of AI - Automation

For law firms of all sizes, AI tools promise to automate laborious tasks like case review, contract analysis, due diligence, and litigation preparation, including gathering and reviewing evidence, creating questions to interview witnesses and experts, researching legal precedents, drafting legal documents like pleadings and motions, developing a case strategy, and preparing for depositions, settlement discussions, and trial. The possibilities are endless!

Prior to starting my role at Khawaja Partners, I worked at a mediation firm, a personal injury firm, and the Department of Justice. These diverse opportunities provided me with a wealth of knowledge and a treasure trove of invaluable practical experience. I have spent more time than I’d like to admit guessing how much time those companies would save if they implemented AI.  Despite the burden of paperwork and administrative workflows in my past roles, it prepared me well. Now, I effectively leverage AI in handling similar tasks at KP.

AI is not only making these processes more efficient but is also capable of generating valuable insights, recommendations, and predictions based on harnessing the power of computational data. Many attorneys I've spoken with report spending most of their time reviewing and drafting. However, AI's ability to handle voluminous amounts of case information, relevant laws, and evidence has made mountains of data far more manageable.

2. How does AI work?

This feat is being achieved by leveraging large language models (LLMs) (such as GPT-4 and Llama 2), fine-tuning those models for specific use cases, and prompt engineering in collaboration with attorneys. In the coming days, we’re excited to share parts of our own systems that include contemporary ways to match candidates to roles and to save our team precious time by automating traditional processes that most recruiting firms are still performing manually today.

Utilizing deep retrieval features (the ability to generate responses by searching for specific information with user-provided information) that we’ve internally developed, the ability to augment and create dialogue (Q&A) is just the beginning. Check out this blog from Zahid Khawaja, KP’s co-founder and head AI engineer, detailing backend work on how Khawaja Partners creates their own AI tools.

3. Concerns involving AI

While AI has many benefits, there are also several concerns associated with its use:

• Data Privacy: AI systems often input/output large amounts of data, which can include confidential information. Make sure you trust the cloud platforms and infrastructure that your AI tool uses to run their services. AI tools should be transparent about how they protect your data. At Khawaja Partners, we prioritize the safety and confidentiality of your data and use secure cloud providers such as Microsoft Azure - with the option to run models on-premise or even offline.
• Bias: AI systems can inadvertently perpetuate and even amplify human biases if the data they're trained on is biased. As more AI tools shift from prototype to production, it is important to understand how they are being developed, specifically being aware of what kind of data the developer is using to train the model. Based on that initial training, the model will pick up patterns and relationships that will later effect every output.
• Approvals: Every byproduct of AI needs human supervision and refinement; these tools are meant to enhance workflow efficiency, not overtake individual judgments, discretion, or limit your decision-making skills. While there is much speculation, even fear-mongering, about AI’s ability to replace or overrule human decision-making, the fact is that this concern is outsized, and while AI may be able to help replace your grunt work in the drafting stages, qualified human reviewers of this output are not going anywhere anytime soon.
• Legal and Regulatory Concerns: Current legal and regulatory frameworks are non-existent or lagging behind the reality of AI; they are insufficient to address the unique challenges posed by AI. From artists’ rights to the long-lasting effects of deepfakes, certain jurisdictions and liabilities are not as well defined today as they will need to be in the future.

4. Which AI tool will best optimize my practice?

The question is not whether AI has a place in the legal industry, but rather, when will your firm or practice embrace it and how?

While considering AI integration, think about individual workflows and start with the time your firm spends on tasks that AI could automate, like document analysis and data retrieval. Even at the prototype stage for many legal AI tools, the efficiency and competitive edge AI provides are undeniable.

If you haven’t yet integrated AI into your practice, don’t fret! At Khawaja Partners, our team is comprised of engineers and both current and formerly practicing attorneys. We consult with individual firms to help create AI solutions that can become your most valuable legal assistant.  We have helped law firms prototype various workflows already and look forward to combining the best of our tech and legal industry experience to help lead the charge. Check out our LinkedIn post detailing Khawaja Partner’s participation at Stanford Law school’s AI hackathon to see how we’re just getting started!