Published On: June 7th, 2024 | By | Categories: AI | 9.1 min read |

Introduction

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance and being to transform various sectors, the legal profession finds itself in the middle of simultaneous opportunities and threats. While some lawyers often view gen AI with scepticism, there’s a pretty unique opportunity to embrace these tools as collaborative partners that can enhance the efficiency and quality of legal services in the UK.

By framing AI as a powerful assistant rather than a threat, we could unlock its potential to streamline workflows, provide insights, and rapidly deliver more personalised and understandable legal services to clients. I think the key to success lies in the collaboration between legal professionals and technologists, working together to develop custom AI tools that are aligned with the real-world challenges and issues faced by the legal industry.

I sit firmly in technology-consultant space (ish), and I think partnership between lawyers and AI developers is essential for shaping the future of legal services. By combining the expertise of legal professionals with the innovation opportunities of gen AI, we can create tools that not only meet the specific needs of the industry but also adhere to high standards of ethics and responsibility.

In this article, I’m going to talk through how I see the current state of AI in legal services, discuss how lawyers can use these tools in practice, and highlight the importance of implementing safeguards to ensure responsible AI use.

More practically, I’m going to outline techniques lawyers could use to explore gen AI opportunities, using gen AI itself to do the advising. I’ve been really enjoying using gen AI tools to help further thinking around gen AI tools (how amazingly meta is that – it still blows my mind that it’s even possible).

We’ll also dig into the opportunities for collaboration and innovation that can transform the UK legal industry and benefit both legal professionals and their clients.

Dispelling the Myths and Addressing Concerns

It’s totally understandable that lawyers have concerns about the impact of AI on their profession. Questions about job security, the reliability of AI-generated content, and the potential for bias and errors are all totally valid. However, by objectively examining the current state of AI in legal services, we can begin to dispel some of these myths and address these concerns head-on.

Research has shown that AI can significantly enhance the efficiency and accuracy of various legal tasks. A really solid example is a this study by the University of Cambridge, which found that AI-powered contract review systems could identify relevant clauses and potential risks with an accuracy rate of 94%, outperforming traditional manual review methods.

That means it’s better than humans (!), bearing in mind that matching human capabilities vs the cost of running the AI services should probably be our metric for ‘success’ when deploying these sorts of tools.

Using Generative AI tools to advise how to use Generative AI tools in Legal Services

To help legal professionals explore the potential of AI, I’ve compiled a set of example prompts that can be used with popular AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or (god forbid, please use-with-deep-caution because it regularly hallucinates like a middle-class hippy at a festival) Microsoft’s CoPilot.
These prompts are designed to showcase how AI can assist lawyers in their daily work and inspire them to think creatively about the possibilities of AI integration.

For the best experience, use ChatGPT, as its ability to access the internet, combined with the request to ‘cite relevant sources’ in the prompts, will reduce the chances of innacurate outputs.
And lastly… always remember that humans make mistakes too.

We shouldn’t expect perfection from gen AI tools, only support, with the role of the expert user being to validate (rather than create-from-scratch) the output. If it gets you more than 50% of the way there, you’re in a much better place than you would be on your own…

Act as a Legal Research Assistant with expertise in UK law. Take a breath, think step by step, and help me find relevant case law, legislation, and legal articles related to [specific legal issue]. Provide a summary of the key points and how they apply to the given scenario. Cite all relevant sources and ensure that the information is accurate and up to date with current UK legal standards.

How could lawyers use these tools in practice?

AI tools excel at handling routine tasks, allowing lawyers to focus on higher-value work that requires human judgement and expertise. By leveraging AI for tasks like document review, legal research, and drafting basic contracts, lawyers can save time and resources while ensuring accuracy and consistency.
Act as an AI Legal Document Drafter, specialising in UK legal contracts. Take a breath, think step by step, and assist me in drafting a [type of legal document] for [specific purpose]. Ensure that the document complies with UK legal requirements and includes all necessary clauses and provisions. Provide explanations for each section and suggest ways to customise the document based on the client’s specific needs. Please cite all sources

 

 

Exploring Client Strategies and New Revenue Opportunities

This one is challenging from a data access and privacy perspective… but if you’ve plugged ChatGPT into your OneDrive or some local files, and are comfortable with it’s privacy policy vs the agreements you have with your clients vs relevant data protection law, you could use AI tool to explore new revenue opportunities with clients, and support drafting legal strategies aligned to your current engagement with them.

By reviewing a client’s legal history, contracts, and other relevant documents, lawyers could gain valuable insights into their needs and preferences, allowing them to tailor their advice and representation accordingly.
Act as a Personalised Legal Advisor, dedicated to providing tailored legal advice to UK clients. Take a breath, think step by step, and analyse the client’s legal history, contracts, and other relevant documents to identify potential risks and opportunities. Suggest personalised legal strategies that align with the client’s goals and preferences, taking into account their industry, business size, and risk tolerance. Provide clear explanations, cite all sources, and create an actionable recommendations for the client to consider.

 

How could we implement some safeguards via prompts?

While AI offers numerous benefits to the legal industry, it’s crazy important to acknowledge and address the potential risks. AI hallucination, where the tool generates plausible but inaccurate information, is a concern that lawyers must be aware of. Additionally, data privacy and security issues must be carefully considered when integrating AI into legal practices.


To mitigate these risks, lawyers should familiarise themselves with prompt engineering techniques and best practices for responsible AI use. By carefully crafting prompts and providing clear instructions to AI tools, lawyers can reduce the likelihood of hallucination and ensure that the generated content aligns with their intended purpose.

You could experiment with adding something like this to Prompt #3…
You are an Ethical AI Legal Advisor operating under the guidance of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) Standards and Regulations. Your task is to support me (a UK lawyer working in X industry) in providing legal advice to a client while adhering to the following ethical guidelines:
  • Maintain client confidentiality and protect sensitive information
  • Provide accurate and up-to-date legal advice based on current UK law
  • Disclose the use of AI tools and explain their limitations to the client
  • Avoid conflicts of interest and prioritise the client’s best interests
  • Fact-check AI-generated content to prevent inaccuracies or hallucinations
  • Comply with data protection regulations and ensure secure handling of client data
Your output should be a clear and concise legal advice document that addresses the client’s specific legal issue while upholding the highest standards of professional ethics and responsibility.

 

Opportunities for Collaboration and Innovation

The successful integration of AI into UK legal services requires collaboration and innovation across various stakeholders. Legal tech startups and innovators have a crucial role to play in developing AI tools tailored to the unique needs of the UK legal industry. By working closely with practising lawyers and legal institutions, these innovators can ensure that their solutions align with the practical realities and regulatory requirements of the profession.


Moreover, the government and policymakers have an opportunity to support the responsible adoption of AI in legal services. By providing clear guidelines, standards, and funding for research and development, the government can foster an environment that encourages innovation while prioritising ethics and public trust.

Imagine you are facilitating an AI Legal Innovation Workshop attended by UK legal professionals, tech innovators, and policymakers. Your goal is to generate ideas and action plans for responsibly integrating AI into UK legal services. Consider the following discussion points:
  • Identifying key areas of legal practice where AI can have the most significant impact
  • Developing ethical frameworks and guidelines for AI use in legal services
  • Fostering collaboration between legal professionals and AI developers
  • Proposing government initiatives to support AI adoption and ensure public trust
  • Exploring potential pilot projects and case studies to demonstrate AI’s value in legal services
Your output should be a summary of the workshop’s key insights, recommendations, and next steps for advancing AI innovation in the UK legal industry while prioritising ethics and responsibility.

Conclusion

The future of legal services in the UK is inextricably linked to the responsible adoption of AI technologies. By embracing AI as a collaborative partner and leveraging its capabilities to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and personalisation of legal services, lawyers that are switched on to the possibilities of gen AI technology could position themselves at the forefront of innovation in their field.


However, I think that sort of transformation would require proactive and collaborative approach between legal services firms and technologists, both recognising that neither are experts in the opposite numbers field. Legal professionals must actively engage with AI tools, provide feedback to developers, and shape these technologies to meet the specific needs of their clients and the wider legal system.

At the same time, policymakers and industry leaders must work together to establish clear guidelines and standards for the ethical use of AI in legal services. I worry there’s a proper, big storm brewing in that space, as governments (as always) are lagging behind due to a lack of high quality advice from AI experts who (if we’re all being honest) struggle to keep up with the rapid pace of change in the field themselves.

I’m genuinely hopeful that by combining human expertise with the power of gen AI, combined with ‘traditional’ data science technolgies, we can create a future where legal services are more accessible, efficient, and effective for all involved. There’s a huge opportunity for the UK legal industry to embrace this opportunity and lead the world in this space.

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