The Impact of Generative AI in Legal Discovery and Litigation

By Annie Stephan Mar 28, 2024 12:00 AM EDT

Surging through the conservative echelons of the legal sector, generative AI technologies like OpenAI's ChatGPT are making significant inroads. According to a report from August 2023 by LexisNexis, over 40% of attorneys have either incorporated or are considering using generative AI in their workflow. Cheryl Wilson Griffin, the CEO of Legal Tech Consultants, highlights this as a historically unprecedented period in her two decades in the legal tech profession.

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Changing Legal Landscapes with Generative AI

Sophisticated machine learning algorithms generative AI entails the creation of new content on a massive scale. Particular responses tailored to user queries have caught the attention of legal professionals, where 89% of lawyers are familiar with such AI, and 41% have employed these tools. Jake Heller, CEO of Casetext - a legal AI firm recently acquired by Thomson Reuters in November 2023 - found himself motivated by the contrast between progressive consumer tech and the underwhelming technology used in legal proceedings.

How Are Legal Processes Being Automated with AI?

Troy Doucet, founder of AI.law, envisioned AI's role in process automation primarily as an initiative to enhance issue-spotting capabilities during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it was the advent of ChatGPT that allowed his firm to streamline the process, cutting down tasks that took hours into mere minutes. The implications of such advancements suggest that greater efficiency could lead to more affordable legal services and widening access to justice.

Will AI Replace the Legal Workforce?

The focal point for generative AI applications like AI.law software and CoCounsel is assisting legal professionals, not replacing them. Like AI legal assistants, these AI tools are intended to handle complex tasks to produce quicker, high-caliber results. Discovery is a prime area ripe for generative AI deployment. Doucet tackled discovery first, reducing the drafting of responses from lengthy stretches of work to an efficient automated process.

The Tedium of Litigation Eased by AI Innovation

The struggle of litigation isn't just about the mental grind. It involves practical nuances such as managing large volumes of documents and data. Legal tech has introduced tools capable of parsing through years' worth of communication in days, a task traditionally taking months. This rapid document review process frames a new narrative on AI's role in the investigative aspects of litigation.

Generative AI in Non-Legal Firm Operations

Griffin also illuminates generative AI's implications beyond direct legal services, pointing to operational and HR efficiencies that stand to gain from AI implementation. AI's ability to streamline and organize back-office responsibilities could reduce costs, diverting firm resources to more substantial work.

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Hesitation Prevails Despite Notable AI Benefits

Despite the clear benefits, actual adoption is progressing slower than the growing interest. Reflecting on the broader market trends issued in the research by TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group in August 2023, maturity in generative AI initiatives is still a work in progress. Firms are cautioned against hasty tech acquisitions and advised to focus on defining problems before seeking AI solutions.

Understanding Generative AI's Limitations

While AI streamlines specific tasks, the complexity of legal litigation remains a tenacious challenge. Generative AI has yet to reach a level that can effectively handle less standardized tasks such as motion writing. There's an ongoing debate on whether AI will eventually match human capacity in strategic decision-making and interpersonal nuances essential in legal practice.

Confronting AI 'Hallucinations' in Critical Legal Documents

Accuracy remains a cornerstone in judicial proceedings, and generative AI is not immune to producing 'hallucinations' - false content generated confidently by AI models. These inaccuracies can compromise legal documents and case outcomes, emphasizing the need for rigorous validation of AI-generated content in legal settings.

Generative AI Continues to Reshape Legal Practices

As legal practices continue to evolve with tech advancements, generative AI is emerging as both a powerful ally and a complex variable. Lawyers and firms navigating this new terrain are finding ways to integrate AI without losing the human touch crucial to justice and advocacy. AI's mark on legal discovery and litigation grows incrementally every day, reshaping the laborious landscape into a dynamically automated arena.