ChatGPT has been getting a lot of headlines as the newest and most disruptive artificial intelligence (AI) tool. However, there are actually a large number of AI tools available that have already been impacting the legal industry. Legal professionals who want to stay on the cutting edge would do well to familiarize themselves with these innovations.
So, what is the difficulty in implementing AI tools for legal practices?
One is the learning curve. It can take a great amount of preliminary research to determine if an AI-powered solution is right for you and your firm. Plus, if you don’t know what options you have, you don’t know where to look to get more information.
In an effort to give you a head start on this path, we take a closer look at five of the top AI tools for the legal industry.
Casetext CoCounsel
The well-established legal tech company CaseText launched its new product CoCounsel in March 2023, billing it as the “world’s first reliable AI legal assistant.”
CoCounsel was developed in partnership with OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, and it uses the same GPT language model to assist attorneys. The difference from ChatGPT is the types of tasks CoCounsel is designed to perform.
CoCounsel is promoted as being able to complete an array of common litigation tasks in minutes. ChatGPT, on the other hand, is not a reliable tool for legal tasks.
Some of the potential tasks CoCounsel can handle include document review, deposition preparation, legal research memos, and contract analysis. You pose a question or command in plain English, and the AI can understand and complete that job.
For example, to speed up legal research, an attorney might ask: “What are the proper pleading standards for allegations of fraud?”
Within seconds, they would receive a complete response with supporting citations.
For document production, a legal professional could simply direct CoCounsel to “examine these emails for privilege” and have potentially privileged documents flagged quickly.
CoCounsel can also be used to create deposition outlines and identify key clauses and contractual problems during contract review.
Lawyaw
For a tool that employs AI for the purpose of legal document automation, check out Lawyaw.
Lawyaw is part of Clio, a leading provider of cloud-based legal technology which acquired Lawyaw in September 2021. Its purpose is to simplify document generation by digitizing the entire workflow.
The software enables fast creation of court documents with information auto-populated from specific matters. A legal professional can access libraries of thousands of official court forms, select the forms needed, and auto-populate them with client information.
Users can also convert documents from Microsoft Word format into online document templates.
Lawyaw can send documents out for electronic signature (eSignature), eliminating even more paperwork and administrative hassle. Documents may be signed via mobile or web access, eliminating the endless back-and-forth of manual signatures on physical paperwork.
Logikcull
Electronic discovery (eDiscovery) has become the norm for discovery in complex, document-intensive cases. Unfortunately, the technological challenges of eDiscovery can be especially painful for smaller firms with limited staff.
Logikcull is eDiscovery software that utilizes AI to make this process manageable.
Logikcull allows for easy collection and review of data. The software can also be used to manage the data through such processes as email threading and deduping (removal of duplicate documents).
It also includes useful features such as bulk redactions and automatic tagging of privileged documents.
As cloud-based software, Logikcull enables collaboration between team members during document review, even if they are at different locations. The final document production can be done with the click of a button.
iManage
Document management is a time-intensive process for busy legal practices.
Even when physical documents are digitized, they must still be stored and located when necessary. For smaller practices, disorganization on this basic level can be devastating.
iManage is an AI-driven platform for document and email management.
It allows attorneys to establish a central repository of documents that can be accessed on different devices and at different locations. iManage also allows for collaboration on documents, while maintaining security and access control.
Westlaw Precision
For attorneys looking to implement AI to streamline their legal research, Westlaw Precision is a cutting-edge tool. It is the latest Westlaw research product unveiled by Thomson Reuters, launched in September 2022.
When searching for cases, Westlaw Precision goes beyond simply producing results that match the legal issue. Instead, it also filters for such relevant criteria as fact patterns, procedural status, and outcomes. This cuts down on the substantial amount of time that can be otherwise spent reviewing cases that turn out to be irrelevant.
This research tool is not fully developed yet, since it currently only covers a limited number of legal areas and published cases from the last 12 years only. However, this coverage will likely expand over time.
That would be a promising development, because according to Thompson Reuters, customers are already reporting they can achieve the same research results in far less time than before.
Dive deeper into AI for law firms
These AI tools could potentially serve as a boon to your legal practice. In today’s fast-paced digital world, those attorneys who can use AI technology for enhancing productivity will have a competitive edge well into the future.
Want to learn more about the uses of artificial intelligence in the legal industry?
You’ll find a lot of great information online, but you’ll also find a lot of hype from marketers who talk about AI like it’s a sci-fi robot that will practically run your legal practice for you.
To separate the facts from the fanfare, we published this 40+ page eBook that covers everything you need to know to make informed decisions about artificial intelligence. Download it for free to take a deep dive into what AI can do for your law firm, what you should consider before adopting an AI tool, and much, much more.
