In over 40 states, attorneys are required to take a continuing legal education (CLE) course in technology and the law, which includes artificial intelligence (AI).
I had the pleasure of watching New York attorney James A. Sherer’s engaging podcast about AI on the LearnFormula platform, a provider of CLE courses. As a partner in the New York office of BakerHostetler, Sherer co-leads the Emerging Technology Team for the Digital Assets and Data Management Group and addresses clients’ questions about AI.
During our interview, he took me on a tour of AI — a look under the hood — and what it can do.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
I also discussed practical applications with Palo Alto, Calif.-based attorney Pablo Arredondo, vice president, co-counsel at Thomson Reuters and co-founder of Casetext, which has a commanding 34% market share of AI research tools for lawyers.
It is a fascinating time to be a lawyer
“The power of AI is simply amazing,” Sherer says enthusiastically. “It can manage enormous amounts of data and, in effect, has read every book in the law library. It can also become a litigation coach — as if you are talking with an associate who has perfect recall for all of the documents in a case.
“During a deposition, you can ask it to suggest questions that you might not have thought of — but which seem logical based on the data you have provided. Applied to a lease or a contract, it functions as a spelling and grammar check and will reduce the potential for malpractice — minimizing the chance of something important being overlooked, telling the lawyer, ‘Your contract reminds me of XYZ. Have you considered that?’”
AI can make a lawyer far more efficient
Lawsuits often create massive amounts of paperwork and exhibits to review. These can create David-and-Goliath situations where one side — in response to a discovery request — delivers hundreds of thousands of documents.
“If one side does not have the time or personnel to go through everything,” Sherer notes, “they could miss something critical to their case. But AI reviews it all and might uncover highly valuable facts to support a position of which the attorneys were unaware before.”
He cautions, though, “While it is an amazing technology, we must maintain vigilance and need to develop systems that are self-correcting, as we have the duty to be sure AI acts in a legal and fair manner.”
Justice delivered faster and less expensively
To learn more of how AI is being used today by lawyers and its practical benefits for clients, I also spoke with Arredondo. I asked him, “As it is often described as a game changer, what is the economic benefit of AI to both lawyers and clients?”
“This technology helps in obtaining justice faster and less expensively,” he replied, “without a drop in quality, making it especially valuable to people who might not be able to afford top-shelf lawyers, or who rely on legal clinics to find attorneys to help them.
“Similar to a turbocharged engine, it greatly enhances speed and makes lawyers more efficient — able to do more at a reduced cost to the client. For example, the AI can help you with your research and send it over to the word processor to be more seamlessly folded into the brief that you draft with its help.”
Finding that needle in a haystack
Historically, document review could take weeks — or even months — depending on how many documents there were and the number of associates in a law firm who were poring over them — the expense could be substantial. Often, a lawyer has a hunch that a handful of relevant emails or other evidence exists in a data dump that could contain hundreds of thousands of emails or other documents, but it is like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.
“In a matter of hours, AI proves its value by finding what the lawyers hoped would be there. So AI is not just helping attorneys reach the same level of quality faster, and more efficiently, it enables us do a better job and get to a better outcome and with a real savings to clients,” Arredondo underscores.
Is failure to use AI a basis for malpractice?
Arredondo is confident that AI will become something that clients expect their lawyers to use. “I envision a day when failure to use it will be malpractice, as it is catching things that humans miss. A lot of solo practitioners are getting it. So we were happy to see it being adopted, not just at the big firms but at small ones as well.”
Will AI have an impact on people wanting to enter the legal profession? I put that question to Nancy B. Rapoport, professor at William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and her writing collaborator, Joseph Tiano, founder and CEO of Legal Decoder, a legal data analytics company.
They believe AI will indeed reduce the number of people joining the legal profession, because fewer people will be needed at the lower, entry levels.
And that is something to think about when considering a career in law.
For another take on this issue, see my 2023 article Could ChatGPT and AI Change Delivery of Legal Services?
Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1@gmail.com. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com.
Related content
-
What the Comcast Cable Spinoff Means for InvestorsComcast has announced plans to spin off select cable networks and digital assets into a separate publicly traded company. Here's what you need to know.
-
TJX Stock: Wall Street Stays Bullish After EarningsTJX stock is trading lower Wednesday despite the TJ Maxx owner's beat-and-raise quarter, but analysts aren't worried. Here's why.
-
For a More Secure Retirement, Build in Some 'Safe Money'To solidify your retirement plan, write it down, reduce your market risk and allocate more safe money into your plan for income.
-
Five Steps to a Mindfully Fearless CareerIf, like many women, you're struggling with imposter syndrome, try developing an athlete's winning mindset. It's as simple as facing one small fear every day.
-
Six Ways to Optimize Your Charitable Giving Before Year-EndAs 2024 winds down, right now is the time to look at how you plan to handle your charitable giving. The sooner you start, the more tax-efficient you can be.
-
How Preferred Stocks Can Boost Your Retirement PortfolioHigher yields, priority on dividend payments and the potential for capital appreciation are just three reasons to consider investing in preferred stocks.
-
Structured Settlement Annuity vs Lump-Sum Payout: Which Is Better?As the use of structured settlement annuities grows, it can be tough to decide whether to take the lump sum to invest or opt instead for guaranteed payments.
-
What to Do as Soon as Your Divorce Is FinalDon't delay — getting these tasks accomplished as soon as possible can help you avoid costly consequences.
-
Many Older Adults Lack Financial Security: What Can We Do?Poor financial literacy and a lack of foresight have led to this troubling reality. It's going to take tax policy changes, education and more to address it.
-
Winning Investment Strategy: Be the Tortoise AND the HareConsider treating investing like it's both a marathon and a sprint by taking advantage of the powers of time (the tortoise) and compounding (the hare).
