Jan 02, 2025 | AI
How Generative AI Is Shaping the Future of Law: Challenges and Trends in the Legal Profession
Raghu Ramanathan, president, Legal Professionals, 成人VR视频 shares how law firms including Kinara Law and McCarthy T茅trault are integrating generative AI into their workflows.
Helping our customers achieve their desired outcomes while using 成人VR视频 products, solutions and services is at the core of what we do. We continually talk with our customers to learn firsthand about their experiences and how 成人VR视频 can apply cutting-edge technology to solve their biggest pain points.听听
These conversations are more important than ever as generative AI becomes more widely implemented across the legal industry. As our customers鈥 鈥 and their clients鈥 鈥 expectations change, it鈥檚 crucial that we鈥檙e closely aligned with their collective needs.听听
With this mind, 成人VR视频 and Lexpert hosted a featuring law firm leaders and industry experts discussing the challenges and trends around the use of generative AI in the legal profession.鈥疊elow are insights from an engaging and informative discussion.听
Lawyers are excited to implement generative AI solutions听
Law firms may not have a reputation as early adopters of technology, yet many firms are already using generative AI solutions. David Cohen, senior director, client service delivery, McCarthy T茅trault, noted his firm鈥檚 response when it rolled out CoCounsel, the professional-grade GenAI assistant, a year ago. 鈥听
鈥鈥淲e put a call out for people to sign up and get a license, and the 175 seats were immediately filled,鈥 Cohen said. 鈥淭here was a wait list where people were pleading to get access to the tool 鈥 there鈥檚 certainly a lot of interest and excitement at our firm.鈥濃听
Panelists noted how firms are increasingly implementing AI for drafting legal documents as well as for predictive analytics and other complex tasks.听
Cohen said McCarthy T茅trault is using AI for higher-value work, including in litigation matters to scan data troves and identify where the firm has been successful in the past. 鈥听
鈥鈥淲e鈥檙e very interested in how we get a strategic advantage,鈥 Cohen said. 鈥淲hat arguments were used, what makes for a successful pleading 鈥 that鈥檚 something we can leverage.鈥 鈥听
鈥Rikin Morzaria, principal at Kinara Law, said he鈥檚 鈥渆xperimenting with and finding solutions that work long term,鈥 including using AI for advanced tasks such as drafting memos or reviewing his own work to identify potential areas for improvement.听
鈥鈥淚 treat it as something that would be submitted by a student or an intern, that needs to be reviewed again,鈥 Morzaria said. 鈥淚t ultimately produces a better product for me in the end.鈥听
鈥Unfounded concerns about robot lawyers听
Panelists shared their perspectives on generative AI solutions augmenting, not replacing, humans.听
鈥淎I doesn鈥檛 have human insight or instincts, it doesn鈥檛 know the client, it can鈥檛 read a room,鈥 said Valerie McConnell, senior director of CoCounsel Customer Success at 成人VR视频. 鈥淗ow lawyers allocate their time will shift: the hope and expectation is when we clear their plates, they鈥檒l have the space to think about strategic angles.鈥听
鈥This brought up how firms鈥 use of AI is changing talent management. Cohen noted that McCarthy T茅trault revamped its training program to incorporate the integration of AI into its workflows and processes.听
鈥鈥淗aving best-in-class prompts that are shared and available to our lawyers is something we certainly weren鈥檛 discussing a couple years ago,鈥 Cohen said. 鈥听
鈥Changing billing practices and elevating services听
Panelists noted that generative AI is changing how lawyers bill their clients. They discussed an example of litigators relying more on flat-fee billing because they know they can handle certain aspects of a matter more quickly. 鈥听
鈥鈥淵our time in a discovery, trial, or mediation won鈥檛 change, but a lot of that time leading up to it will,鈥 Morzaria said. 鈥淭hat allows you to work more efficiently and take on work that may not have been feasible before.鈥 鈥听
Panelists also shared how generative AI is helping firms elevate their services. They called out how firms in the litigation space are using it to surface key鈥痚vidence, while firms on the transactional side are using it for contract review.听听
Managing and mitigating risks听
Panelists discussed how firms are addressing concerns around emerging technologies including accuracy and privacy. Cohen noted firms are focusing on 鈥渁chieving the right balance where we鈥檙e generating benefits for our clients but also managing and mitigating the risks.鈥澨听
McConnell emphasized that AI is not a replacement for a lawyer鈥檚 oversight. She recommended that firms create an AI policy, use a secure software platform that allows lawyers to easily verify output and doesn鈥檛 train on firm data, and provide employee training on responsible AI use. 鈥听
Generative AI is shaping the future of law, and its impact on the legal profession will be even greater in 2025 and beyond. As the market matures, legal professionals will not just desire but require AI capabilities for their workflows.鈥疘nnovative firms at the forefront, including Kinara Law and McCarthy T茅trault, are best positioned to capitalize on the potential of this transformative technology to better serve their clients.听
鈥Check out highlights of the panelists鈥 conversation and listen to their full discussion .听
This is a guest post from Raghu Ramanathan, president, Legal Professionals, 成人VR视频.听