AI is already powering futuristic applications that many deemed unfathomable a short time ago. But is the lawyer of the future a GenAI bot? While there are many who have serious doubts, others are forging ahead at a rapid pace. AI has already penetrated the legal tools used by millions of lawyers on a daily basis, largely in an assistive role for now. But the rapid evolution of GenAI tools in the legal profession continues to astound many, and already lawyers are feeling quite a bit anxious about being left behind. While AI is impacting nearly every economic sector, some of the earliest and most impressive advances are being seen in technology development, data science, finance, accounting and the legal sector. And the depth and speed of AI’s penetration continues to surprise even the most forward-thinking analysts. The drumbeat of news continues on a daily basis with startups offering customized GenAI contracts for just a few dollars to others that are creating GenAI agents to plan and execute complex transactional workflows. In-housers are adopting AI tools faster than their Biglaw counterparts, and for good reason. Will they eventually leave their Biglaw colleagues behind?
“With analysts at a big Wall Street firm saying that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology is about to automate almost 25% of jobs across every industry, many people are saying, “Is that us?” If you are a lawyer today, or teaching the next generation of lawyers, you have probably been asking that question for more than a year….While there’s a decent chance that, in the indeterminate future, GenAI-powered litigation tools could sift through millions of evidentiary documents, find the “smoking gun,” and autonomously build a structured narrative for a case, I’m not going to speculate about those what-ifs. Instead, I’m going to share what real legal teams are saying about GenAI and its potential in their field. Their opinions are based on their expertise as legal practitioners and their experience with GenAI tools on real matters today….”
Read: Is the lawyer of the future a GenAI bot? at FastCompany