An Overview of the Role of AI in Law
The emergence and evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and its rapid adoption in the legal field can be traced back to the late 1950s. Early applications of AI technology spanned the classification of court cases to predicting the verdicts in trials, but as costs plummeted, its use expanded into all parts of law practice. As AI continues to reshape its landscape, the availability and diversity of AI technology increases and it is this ongoing evolution that lawyers should appreciate and understand. For instance, the practice management platform Clio has now incorporated AI transcription into their software. AI technology now helps lawyers save time while improving their productivity; automating the drafting process is becoming part of the drafting process itself.
The legal tech sector includes AI technology focusing on law firm operations such as document assembly, contract analysis, research, discovery and due diligence automation among many others. The expertise required to work with or build these technologies is at the core of the AI legal jobs market. AI is often seen as a set of tools that are created by one profession and used by others. This is true for AI legal jobs, but what makes them different is that the core role is an integrated partnership between two distinct professions , technology and law. These roles are also important: IT proficiency is now an essential competency for all lawyers and legal professionals. It has also been asserted that the technology is faster, cheaper, better and more efficient than lawyers are at certain tasks, to the extent these tasks can be described as formulaic or rule-based. These types of AI legal jobs are becoming increasingly available as more technology is developed to replace these narrow and repetitive tasks. Paralegals and clerks may be the paralegal-replacement AI legal jobs; robotic process automation (RPA) is the technology underlying this phenomenon; the performance of repetitive analytical tasks is now being assigned to program robots. As most paralegals in Canada have much more sophisticated functions than these, and lawyers generally play much more strategic roles, other AI legal jobs are likely to be available for paralegals to shift toward, or to evolve into technology or legal-tech professionals. The evolution of these occupations has already occurred: Experienced paralegals have become experts in legal project management and practice management using sophisticated software to manage, streamline, and improve service delivery at law firms. Paralegals have also become experts in teaching other paralegals and lawyers about the use of technology. Is there value for law firms in maintaining paralegals who evolve into technology and AI experts? In an information-driven economy, the answer is an inevitable yes.
Specific AI Legal Positions and Duties
AI legal occupations can take on a number of forms depending on the focus of the company. The core of these occupations is in-house legal roles, such as an AI legal analyst, an AI compliance specialist, and an AI ethicist.
AI legal analyst
The AI legal analyst’s role is very similar to that of a traditional legal analyst or paralegal, defined by researching issues, drafting documents, and assisting senior company lawyers with complex issues and cases, but the AI analyst is increasingly becoming involved with addressing larger questions arising from the impact, both positive and negative, that AI has. An AI legal analyst is expected to have some technological knowledge, as they will have to understand how the technologies underpinning AI systems work, as well as being able to apply traditional aspects of the law and legal analysis.
AI compliance specialist
The AI compliance specialist’s role is very similar to the AI legal analyst’s, except that their primary focus is on compliance, both at the business and the regulation levels. The AI compliance specialist will have knowledge both of various business processes and of the laws and regulations that apply to how a business controls its risks in its operations. In doing so, an AI compliance specialist identifies, analyzes, and ultimately mitigates risks, so their sphere of business focus is narrower than that of an AI legal analyst. An AI compliance specialist is expected to have some scientific knowledge of the underlying technologies of the AI systems to which the laws and regulations applied.
AI ethicist
AI ethics is a rapidly growing field of research that ranges from the philosophical to the experiential and technical, but legal academics are beginning to define the relationship between law and AI ethics. The AI ethicist is not expected to work as a traditional legal analyst or compliance specialist, but rather to work independently, travel, and interface with scientists, engineers, lawyers, philosophers, and other business and academic professionals. This is a huge departure from how corporate lawyers have traditionally worked, and the AI ethicist is expected to work in tandem with philosophers, psychologists, and even neuroscientists to contribute to the understanding of the existence and impact of AI in humans’ daily lives. The AI ethicist’s role is not likely to exist in the short term for businesses, but is much more likely to exist in the near future at academic institutions.
Qualifications for AI Positions in Law
While the future is unknown, the skills needed for any professional working with technology are likely to grow at a rapid pace. This means professionals such as lawyers, paralegals and technologists must hone new skills and learn to strategize as opportunities come to the forefront. As AI technology continues to develop professionals in the legal arena must have technical proficiency across a variety of AI tools such as eDiscovery software and project management tools. These technological tools must be complemented by a thorough understanding of the frameworks within which you are operating. In addition to understanding the law, you must have the analytical skills which will allow you to develop solutions which can be implemented successfully. A willingness to continuously learn and hone your skills is now essential as all sectors begin to apply technology to their workstreams. It is now more important than ever to engage with thought leaders and industry experts to assess how they have used technology effectively in their work. Finding ways to apply such insights to your own practice will help you further drive your career within and beyond the legal field.
Education and Licensure for AI Legal Professionals
For those looking to enter the field of AI law, the educational background necessary to qualify for such positions can vary. Most importantly, beyond the expected educational accomplishments for legal professionals, strong problem-solving ability and a continuous thirst for knowledge are critical. Most, if not all, positions for AI lawyers will require a Juris Doctor (JD) degree. As previously discussed, many traditional law programs in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States offer LLM programs in technology law. As well, students at a law school that does not offer an LLM in technology law can consider enrolling in specialist courses, such as computer science, criminal psychology, digital ethics, and technology-related credits. Some AI lawyers may also have undergraduate or certificate degrees in science or engineering. Such programs can be particularly beneficial to those looking to specialize in data protection and privacy law. This is especially true as knowledge of statistics is likely to play a growing central role in AI law. Some AI lawyers will also have backgrounds in philosophy, linguistics (e.g., computational linguistics), social sciences, and computer science. Many AI lawyers also have strong writing and communication skills, in addition to capabilities in quantitative analytics. As legal issues relating to AI are often not straightforward, and legal principles evolve rapidly, continuing legal education is also critical for most AI lawyers.
How AI is Transforming Conventional Legal Positions
The traditional role of paralegals is also being profoundly affected by AI. The increasing power of AI forces paralegals and junior attorneys to focus on their uniquely human strengths such as analytical tasks that require day-to-day interaction with clients. Paralegals are also expected to clarify and correct the frequent errors in AI generated work. Such work may be tedious but it is necessary until such time that AI is able to fully replace the human element.
The inescapable progress of AI will continue to intrude into areas that have traditionally been reserved for lawyers. For instance, case analysis has been performed by highly-trained human lawyers who would evaluate the probability of success of a suit or defense. AI based algorithms can now make these predictions for whatever case data they are fed. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it is. In many ways this type of legal research is similar to legal research performed by freshman law students who search through various forms of legal databases to find similar cases to support their arguments. Eventually AI may be able to accomplish this task in seconds rather than the hours or days that a first year student takes to do the same work. And since an AI trained chatbot generates the actual writing based on the data provided to it by the attorney , it can also reduce the demand for first year associates to do legal writing.
Another AI impact affecting lawyers will be seen in commercial and corporate litigation. Similar to the advertising sector, the legal profession is sensitive to economic changes. Over the last ten years, the globalizing market has increased international trade and consequently increased the vast number of contracts that are being generated. What was once an arduous task requiring an army of junior lawyers pouring over thousands of contracts is now being handled by AI trained algorithms that consume massive amounts of contracts and their codified terms.
The legal profession is in a state of upheaval as it fights to understand, keep pace with, and control the AI tsunami that has already begun. AI will steadily chip away at the traditional turf of lawyers and paralegals, forcing them to find more creative and demanding roles to execute. While this may be disconcerting for many, it should be understood as just another facet of the ever-evolving nature of the legal practice which has always had to adapt to new laws, new technology and the changing landscape of legal practice.
Obstacles and Ethical Issues
Despite the advantages AI has over traditional legal jobs, there are several challenges that must be considered before diving into the world of AI.
First and foremost, the use of Artificial Intelligence presents ethical issues, such as transparency in the legal process, the potential for racial or gender bias within AI systems, and the prevalence of black-boxing. "Black-boxing" refers to the tendency of AI to be unable to explain how it has processed data in a way that makes sense to humans, which may pose problems for other parts of the legal system that require documentation about the reasoning behind decisions. This would be in direct contrast to the principle of open justice in the English legal system, which is a long-held principle designed to ensure that the process of law is available for public scrutiny. Maintaining human oversight of AI-based legal tools is one possible way to address these concerns. Some systems already employ this by having human lawyers oversee an AI when the AI is making decisions and seeking human approval before proceeding to the next steps.
The Prospects for AI Positions in Law
The landscape for AI in the legal profession is expected to evolve significantly in the coming years. As organizations continue to grapple with the regulatory and ethical questions posed by these technologies, we can anticipate efforts to put appropriate checks and balances in place while still optimizing the potential value of these tools. This will likely result in not only a greater number of jobs that integrate AI technology to support and work alongside human attorneys but also more specific and advanced roles that demand new skill sets.
We might anticipate a future where machines have taken over many standardized knowledge worker tasks, and lawyers have evolved into strategic counsel who rely on artificial intelligence to support them . AI aids the exploration of legal questions, review and issue spotting of documents, data analysis in complex cases, eDiscovery, and potentially even replacement of paralegals and, to a certain degree, junior associates. This begs the question; will we need as many human attorneys, or at least as many human attorneys engaged in legal work, as we do now? Or, perhaps, the question is whether we will have a situation eventually where we have more lawyers competing for access to work than there is work available? In other words, will we reach a tipping point, forcing a rethink of law school curriculum? Or will this technology inevitably roll out far enough and fast enough for us to find a way to live in a hybrid existence where lawyers are focused on strategy, coordination and the management and delivery of services, while AI automates research and other routine work and supports lawyers by helping them find applicable laws and precedents?