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The Future is Now: Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession

International Bar Association (IBA) and the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP)
September 19, 2024

[Excerpts]

Key findings include:

• there is widespread AI adoption with regional and size disparities. The larger the law firm, the greater, better, and more sophisticated the integration of AI;

• AI is primarily used internally for back-office administration, business development, marketing and organisational management. Again, in larger law firms, there is a higher percentage of AI usage in client-facing applications such as legal research, document assembly, contract drafting and due diligence, driven by large language models (LLMs) and AI services.

• data governance, security, intellectual property (IP) and privacy remain significant challenges in AI governance, regardless of the law firm’s size. Smaller law firms and solo practitioners are facing more challenges in terms of AI governance and often lack policies and resources;

• there is an expectation that AI will have a significant impact on law firm structure, hiring and business models. This could include shifts towards fixed or value-added fees, changes in hiring policies to prioritise AI-competent attorneys and a broader cultural shift towards innovation and change; and

• training is a key priority in the context of AI. Law firms need extensive training, primarily to overcome trust issues, mitigate risk and unlock AI’s full potential. Law firms also need to continue training younger associates on legal work that may be carried out by AI, which allows them to have well-rooted expertise when they reach senior roles.

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Ethically,

• lawyers must keep abreast of changes in technology relevant to their practice. This includes understanding AI and its implications, ensuring lawyers can competently use AI tools while being aware of the ethical challenges and risks involved;

• lawyers must be diligent in ensuring professional conduct rules and guidance standards are upheld when using AI technologies. Existing rules emphasise the importance of maintaining confidentiality and professional secrecy, especially in electronic communications and data stored on computers;

• lawyers are responsible for supervising AI tools and ensuring their proper use. They must ensure that AI-generated work adheres to professional standards and that any legal work produced with AI meets the required ethical guidelines ; and

• lawyers should inform their clients when they have made use of AI, disclosing the scope of such use and the type of AI used.

iii. Approaches in different jurisdictions

The American Bar Association (ABA) has established a Task Force dedicated to addressing AI in legal contexts. This Task Force emphasises the importance of technological competence and ethical issues such as confidentiality and supervision, ensuring that lawyers are equipped to handle AI technologies responsibly and effectively within their practice. On the state level, New Jersey has issued guidelines that highlight critical aspects of AI use, including accuracy, honesty, confidentiality and the prevention of misconduct. These guidelines are designed to ensure that AI tools are used ethically and that their outputs meet the high standards required in the legal profession. In addition, the State Bar of California provides comprehensive guidance on the use of AI in law. This guidance emphasises the need for confidentiality, competence, supervision and a thorough understanding of ethical considerations. The detailed recommendations help lawyers navigate the complexities of integrating AI into their practices. Also in the US, Florida’s ethical guidelines focus on key areas such as confidentiality, oversight, costs and advertising related to AI-generated work. By addressing these aspects, the guidelines aim to ensure that AI use in legal practice is both transparent and accountable. Most recently, the ABA has issued a Formal Opinion (Formal Opinion 512) that states that to ensure clients are protected, lawyers and law firms using generative AI tools must ‘fully consider their applicable ethical obligations’, which include duties to provide competent legal representation, to protect client information, to communicate with clients, to ensure candour toward the tribunal and to charge reasonable fees consistent with time spent using generative AI.

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Ethics guidance for generative AI use

Minnesota State Bar Association
September 3, 2024
By Susan M. Humiston

“On July 29, 2024, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 512, entitled “Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools.” This opinion joins good ones from Florida and California in providing helpful guidance to lawyers on how to ethically incorporate generative AI—a subset of AI technology—into your practice.1 Opinion 512 is recommended to all who have even a minor interest in this topic, have considered using generative AI tools, or have already been using such tools in their practice. Because Minnesota generally follows the model rules of relevance on this topic, Opinion 512 is particularly instructive for Minnesota lawyers. This column presents a high-level summary.”

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Transformative technologies (AI) challenges and principles of regulation

Data Regulation Platform
August 5, 2024

"New governance frameworks, protocols, and policy systems are needed for the new digital era to ensure all-inclusive and equitable benefits. Societies need regulatory approaches that are not only human-led and human-centred but also nature-led and nature-centred. Government policies need to balance public interests, such as human dignity and identity, trust, nature preservation and climate change, and private sector interests, such as business disruptiveness and profits. As novel business models emerge, such as fintech[3] and the sharing economy[4], regulators are faced with a host of challenges: rethinking traditional regulatory models, coordination problems, regulatory silos, and the robustness of outdated rules.”

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Embracing Artificial Intelligence: The Future of Legal Practice

DAC Beachcroft
July 30, 2024
Simon Konsta, Gill Burnett & Connor Scott

“The integration of AI into the legal profession is transforming how legal services are delivered, with improved efficiency and new capabilities that were previously unimaginable. Lawyers will need to embrace AI to remain relevant and competitive in an increasingly tech-driven industry. Lawyers with strong technical IT skills will be needed to manage the changes required to make AI a part of day-to-day legal practice.”

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The Future Of Legal Tech: How AI And Automation Enhance Client Service

Scoop Sci-Tech
July 24, 2024

The legal profession deals with complex issues but it is ultimately about the clients. Here is how AI and automation help enhance client service.

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Generative AI in the modern lawyer’s toolbox

Florida State Bar Journal
July 16, 2024
Jim Ash, Senior Editor

Indiana University Law Professor Josh Kubicki: “When considering investing in a generative AI tool, lawyers would be wise to ask the creator how the system prompts are designed. … It’s one way for you as a consumer to lift the hood on these tools and engage in a meaningful conversation around how these models are trained and what their purpose is. When we do understand that we become better users.”

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