Source: Legal IT Professionals, Author: Ed Boal, Head of Legal at Shieldpay
The legal industry is entering its automation era. This month, Lord Justice Birss shared that he had used ChatGPT to write part of a judgement – the first known use by a British judge. Earlier this year, Allen & Overy introduced an AI chatbot to help draft contracts and a Thomson Reuters Institute survey found that 82% of the lawyers it surveyed said they believe ChatGPT and generative AI can be readily applied to legal work, with 51% saying it should be applied.
Automation, of course, extends beyond AI and has huge potential in increasing the speed, and even accuracy, of traditionally manual tasks, freeing up firms’ time for more important jobs – such as securing new business and growing client relationships. As such, automation adoption could soon become a defining factor of legal success and elevate adoptees above their competitors.
The case for automation is strong. But how it’s implemented is another story. Thanks to the development of technology, there’s a host of new digital tools designed to make lawyers’ lives easier, yet rushing to embrace them all risks innovation saturation. Fall into this trap and firms could smother growth, not fuel it.
How, then, can law firms tread the line between embracing transformative technology and becoming buried by it?
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