Regulatory Hurdles & Generative AI Adoption
Recent legal tech developments saw Alt Legal's fourth acquisition, Generative AI's rise in law firms, Aderant's AI features for time tracking, and concerns about hybrid work. Despite potential benefits, regulatory issues slow Generative AI investments.
Welcome to your Law Tech briefing for August 9th, 2023, covering what happened in legal tech recently.
TLDR; Listen instead:
Have less than a 1 min? Three takeaways from yesterday
- Embrace Generative AI: Law firms are finding increasing utility in Generative AI, from legal marketing to data extraction, with potential impacts on automated workflows and process management. As technology continues to advance, remaining up-to-date with these developments could streamline operations, enhancing efficiency and productivity. However, it is crucial to maintain human moderation to ensure the quality and reliability of AI-generated content.
- Strategies for Effective Resource Allocation: As the industry evolves, effective resource allocation becomes essential. Better task delegation, efficient hiring, and understanding of the cost of unbillable work can help law firms in optimizing their operations. While there is a noted discrepancy in views about hybrid work structures, designing efficient systems for operational efficiency is a growing necessity.
- Balance Innovation With Regulations: Despite the scope of AI applications, regulatory concerns can potentially slow down its application in legal frameworks. Law firms will need to consider both the potential of AI to disrupt current revenue models and workforce configurations and the cautious industry approach toward regulatory concerns. As firms navigate the terrain of AI-related contracts, a balance must be struck between embracing these advancements and maintaining core legal principles.
Briefing
Here's what happened in legal tech recently...
We saw prominent resource allocation strategies for scaling law firms and the importance of AI-related contracts in the tech sector. Alt Legal marked its fourth acquisition with TM Cloud's docketing business, broadening its customer base in major global markets. Law firms are also significantly benefitting from Generative AI use, leading to a surge in legal data vendors. Aderant launched AI-powered features to streamline time tracking for law firms, and we saw concerns about hybrid work from BigHand's study, with a noted discrepancy between firms and employees. LawBase also made strides with its transition to Microsoft Azure. Lastly, KPMG reported that regulatory concerns are slowing down investments in generative AI technology, despite executives acknowledging its potential.
Trends
Generative AI seems to be the buzzword in the legal industry, with applications spanning legal marketing, research, and data extraction, while also promising a revolution in workflow automation and process management. The trend is leaning towards enhancing efficiency, streamlining processes, and boosting productivity. We’re also witnessing a growing demand for quality and reliability in AI-generated content, indicating the need for human moderation despite technological advancements. A rising trend in task allocation strategies is also evident, with suggestions for better delegation, efficient hiring, and understanding the cost of unbillable work.
Analysis
The rise of Generative AI is both an opportunity and a challenge for the legal industry. As more law firms integrate it into their operations, there could be a significant impact on existing structures, potentially leading to changes in revenue models and workforce configurations. Adding to this disruption is the debate on hybrid work structures, hinting at a need for better operational efficiency systems. However, as firms like Aderant have shown, AI can help mitigate some of these changes by increasing efficiency and automating certain processes. Despite this, the reticence of firms in adopting AI due to regulatory concerns underlines the industry's cautious approach to technological advancements. This cautiousness isn't wholly misplaced, though; as generative AI advances, law firms will have to navigate new terrain in tech-related contracts, highlighting again that human lawyers remain vital in a tech-dominant landscape. Ultimately, firms will have to strike a balance between embracing innovation and maintaining their core legal principles.
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Key stories
BigHand's research on the current state of hybrid work in law firms portrays a concerning picture. While hybrid work setups were initially welcomed for offering flexibility and work-life balance, firms are now beginning to realize that it's causing a productivity shortfall. The root issue appears to be a lack of visibility and engagement with support staff, leading to lawyers carrying out more administrative work themselves. Consequently, this has broad ramifications on efficiency, client satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness - factors that could subsequently impact staff retention and profit. The study suggests that greater visibility of workloads, combined with an infusion of digitization to replace manual processes, might be key to addressing these pain points. Law firms will need to quickly readjust their work models and develop a more strategic approach toward task allocation to weather the new economic and market realities.
C-suite execs waver on AI amid regulatory uncertainty: KPMG (Legal Dive - Latest News)
A recent survey by KPMG found that more than 60% of corporate executives are putting their artificial intelligence (AI) investments on hold due to regulatory uncertainties. Potential regulations in data privacy, data security, copyright infringement, and transparency drive this wave of hesitance. Despite generative AI's potential to revolutionize industries, the survey saw 40% of executives opting to pause AI investment for three to six months to gauge regulatory shifts. A quarter of respondents will hold off considerations until 2024 or until the regulatory landscape becomes clearer. These findings mirror the broader sentiment of caution around generative AI's potential risks and underline the business community's apprehension about diving into AI investments amid regulatory ambiguity.
All stories
Mastering Delegation in Legal Work: 7 Tips to Scale Your Practice (Attorney at Work)
The article highlights the role of effective delegation in scaling law practices, suggesting it can boost revenue by 20-50%. It identifies the biggest waste as inappropriate task allocation and offers tips for better delegation. These include task identification and categorization, mindset shifts about time, utilizing freelance lawyers and technology, proactive hiring, and understanding the cost of unbillable work.
Alt Legal, a cloud-based trademark docketing software firm, has acquired TM Cloud's docketing business and customers, marking its fourth acquisition. The deal enables Alt Legal to broaden its customer base in the US, Europe, Africa, and Australia. TM Cloud customers will transition to Alt Legal's platform at the same price until the end of the year. CEO Nehal Madhani reaffirmed the company's dedication to simplifying the work of trademark professionals.
The use of AI language models such as ChatGPT for contract review is on the rise, offering potential savings on legal expenses. However, legal experts caution that human lawyers remain essential due to the complexity of tech-related laws and regulations. Key considerations in AI-related contracts encompass licensing and usage rights, intellectual property rights, data privacy, security, liability for AI decisions, transparency and explainability of AI systems, performance metrics, and termination clauses.
LawFlex, a legal resourcing firm, has appointed Tobias Heining, Miki Roitman, and Kevin O'Shea to its advisory board. Heining, former president of the European Legal Tech Association, will advise on legal tech and digital platforms. Roitman will focus on international partnerships, while O'Shea will bring his experience in alternative legal services. These appointments follow recent hires including Fiverr CTO Gil Sheinfeld and competition attorney Lawrence B. Landman.
Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. has been honored at the 2023 Globee Awards for American Business for its Legisway, Kluwer Arbitration, and MediRegs solutions. The awards acknowledge excellence in customer service, innovation, and leadership in American businesses. The recognized solutions from Wolters Kluwer aim to enhance productivity for legal and healthcare professionals by offering precise regulatory content, coding tools, and efficient research experiences.
Ex-Twitter GC joins cultivated meat company as legal chief (Legal Dive - Latest News)
Former Twitter general counsel, Sean Edgett, has been appointed as the chief legal officer of lab-grown meat firm, Upside Foods. Edgett, who played a crucial role in Twitter's 2013 IPO and its $44 billion sale, was dismissed from Twitter after Elon Musk's takeover. In his new role at Upside Foods, he will oversee all legal, compliance, intellectual property, regulatory, and government affairs.
Guest post: How implementing AI guide rails today will benefit society tomorrow (Legal IT Insider)
The European Parliament has approved the draft EU AI Act, designed to ensure future AI development aligns with EU values such as safety and privacy. However, over 150 organizations have opposed the Act, fearing it could compromise technical sovereignty. While the author acknowledges the need for regulation to prevent AI misuse, they caution that it must be carefully implemented to avoid hindering technological progress and job creation.
How to Choose the Right Legal Data Vendor: An API Checklist for Law Firms (LawSites)
Law firms are increasingly using APIs, leading to a rise in legal data vendors offering them. Josh Blandi, CEO of UniCourt, has published an article in the LawNext Legal Technology Directory providing a checklist for law firms to select the right API vendor. The article is designed to help legal professionals better understand and evaluate legal technology.
Generative AI for Law Firm Marketing: A Midyear Update (Attorney at Work)
The application of generative AI in legal firm marketing is advancing swiftly. Although Google states AI-created content doesn't breach its protocols, it stresses the need for quality, unique, and reliable content. As generative AI can sometimes produce inaccurate information, watermarking AI-generated content has been suggested. AI can be carefully utilized in legal marketing for tasks such as topic ideation, keyword research, and content outlining. However, it's essential to validate any AI-produced content, particularly in sensitive fields like law, medicine, and finance, to avoid misinformation.
Generative AI (GAI) is making strides in the legal industry, particularly in legal research and data extraction. Despite initial reservations, the influence of GAI is likely to expand across the legal tech stack. Early applications include virtual agents for FAQs, but future projections suggest autonomous agents for complex tasks. This could revolutionize workflow automation and process management in the sector, enhancing efficiency and automation.
Leading your law firm into the Gen AI Era (Jordan Furlong)
The legal sector is experiencing a rapid rise in the use of Generative AI, with many law firms in the US, UK, and Canada embracing the technology. However, the implementation of Generative AI could have significant implications for law firms, potentially leading to a decrease in revenue and profits. Law firms need to adapt their pricing structures, reconsider their workforce structure, and develop new approaches to training future leaders in order to navigate this new era.
Aderant, a global legal business management solutions provider, has launched AI-powered features for its software, iTimekeep, to improve time tracking accuracy. The features, powered by Aderant's AI, MADDI, include a Passive Time Assistant for automatic time tracking and capturing, and a Time Narrative Assistant to guide lawyers in creating accurate time entries. These enhancements aim to enhance efficiency, streamline billing processes, and boost revenue generation for law firms.
LawBase, a top case and matter management software provider for the legal sector, is transitioning to Microsoft Azure to streamline operations, cut costs, and improve collaboration for law firms, corporations, and government agencies. The cloud migration promises benefits like reduced IT costs, scalability, and better collaboration. The transition will be smooth, with no disruption to daily operations and access to improved features.
How Pure Storage’s legal team is using generative AI (Legal Dive - Latest News)
Pure Storage is exploring the use of generative AI to assist its legal team in tracking legal changes, automating tasks, and handling compliance issues. Niki Armstrong, the company's chief legal and compliance officer, believes this technology could revolutionize legal team operations. The firm is also considering using AI for document automation and creating knowledge base articles, depending on the technology's effectiveness and efficiency.
