How will AI impact the legal profession? — Transcript

DLA Piper explores how AI, especially GPT-4 powered Co-Counsel, is transforming legal work and business models in law firms.

Key Takeaways

AI will automate a significant portion of routine legal work but will not replace lawyers entirely.
Lawyers using AI will outperform those who do not, making AI adoption critical for competitiveness.
Human judgment, client relationships, and strategic thinking remain irreplaceable by AI.
Legal billing models are evolving from hourly rates to fixed or task-based pricing due to AI efficiencies.
Specialized AI tools like Co-Counsel enhance legal research and analysis but require lawyer oversight.

Summary

AI is significantly impacting the legal profession by automating up to 44% of legal tasks, according to Goldman Sachs.
Lawyers who adopt AI tools like Co-Counsel, powered by GPT-4, will have a competitive advantage over those who do not.
AI enhances legal practice by efficiently processing large volumes of information but cannot replace human judgment and client relationships.
The legal industry must rethink traditional billing models, moving from hourly rates to fixed fees or per-task pricing to capture AI-driven efficiencies.
Co-Counsel is a specialized AI legal assistant tailored for legal tasks, improving on general models like ChatGPT by focusing on legal data.
AI tools excel at describing past events and analyzing data but struggle with predicting future outcomes or understanding nuanced legal strategy.
DLA Piper aims to lead the transformation in legal service delivery by integrating AI while maintaining the human element of lawyering.
The use of AI raises challenges around the interpretation of legal meaning and the risk of relying on past data that may not reflect future changes.
AI adoption in law requires balancing efficiency gains with preserving the strategic and relational aspects of legal work.
The future of legal practice involves combining AI capabilities with human expertise to push legal boundaries and innovate business models.

Chapters

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Foreign. [Music] I'm Hannah Smith, and today we're here to discuss AI, more in particular how AI is changing the legal landscape. We'll also hear more about Co-Counsel, a first-of-its-kind AI Legal Assistant tool which is powered by GPT-4 and which will be utilized by DLA Piper in the future. I'm delighted to be joined by my colleague Bennett Borden, Chief Data Scientist and AI Partner in our Washington DC office.

Speaker A

be utilized by dla Piper in the future I'm delighted to be joined by my colleague Bennett Borden Chief data scientist and AI partner in our Washington DC office absolutely great to have you over with us today Bennett so

Speaker A

Absolutely, great to have you over with us today, Bennett. So we're here to discuss AI, more in particular how it's changing the legal landscape. Is AI coming for us lawyers? Is it here to eat our lunch?

Speaker A

read in the New York Times actually an article you were quoted in and there it says so it says that a study of researchers at Princeton University University of Pennsylvania and New York University concluded that the industry most exposed to the new AI was legal

Speaker A

Right, and before we dive in, I just want to refer to an article I've recently read in the New York Times, actually an article you were quoted in. There it says, so it says that a study of researchers at Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and New York University concluded that the industry most exposed to the new AI was legal services.

Speaker A

technology is how it empowers how we practice law if you think about every practice area that a lawyer could work in we fundamentally are dealers in information We Gather it we analyze it we add our legal Acumen to it and then

Speaker A

And another research report by economists at Goldman Sachs estimated that 44% of legal work could be automated in the future. So Bennett, this begs the question: are lawyers an endangered species?

Speaker A

lawyers who use AI are going to replace lawyers who don't so what we need to think about is how do we take advantage of this technology without it disrupting how we do business exactly exactly because you I mean you

Speaker A

Only in some ways. What's really interesting about this technology is how it empowers how we practice law. If you think about every practice area that a lawyer could work in, we fundamentally are dealers in information. We gather it, we analyze it, we add our legal acumen to it, and then we deliver it.

Speaker A

that you say well a robot will never be able to replace that yes it really is the human relationship and the strategy the interesting about this technology is that it is it is embedded in what we've done in the past

Speaker A

And so any kind of tools that make any of those steps easier is going to have an impact on how we practice law. What's interesting to us is that it's not that AI is going to replace lawyers, it's that lawyers who use AI are going to replace lawyers who don't.

Speaker A

done before isn't always the best thing lawyers very often they want to find the answer but sometimes the answer needs to change or we need to progress in the law or we need to be able to push against

Speaker A

So what we need to think about is how do we take advantage of this technology without it disrupting how we do business.

Speaker A

litigation we are pouring through massive quantities of data to try to figure out what happened and why they aren't so good at predicting what's going to happen which is something that lawyers are hired for all the time right

Speaker A

Exactly, exactly, because you—I mean, you can think that obviously it will make us lawyers more productive, but there are some things that our robots can't do, which is like building client relationships, right?

Speaker A

work um historically we charge by the hour um but I'm not so sure that in every case the time that we spend on something equates to the value of that legal work or legal solution and that's part of

Speaker A

Exercising judgment when it comes to really complex matters. Are there any other kind of things that you say, well, a robot will never be able to replace that?

Speaker A

actually on that so the new AI is clearly challenging the state of school of traditional law firms so do you actually think that business models might change going forward into short term long term what are your views I think because dla Piper is so

Speaker A

Yes, it really is the human relationship and the strategy. The interesting thing about this technology is that it is embedded in what we've done in the past.

Speaker A

more efficient we're just handing that efficiency off to the client or the market and that doesn't Inspire anybody so what we're trying to do and what we must become successful in doing is how do I capture some of that efficiency

Speaker A

So all the data that these algorithms and other AI systems are built upon are what happened before. And so the risk is that the answers that these things spit out are based upon what we've done before.

Speaker A

fixed fees or per unit or per task and that's what we're putting most of our attention exactly it's all about keeping the value for a clients right going forward it totally makes sense so now going over to the co-console tool which

Speaker A

But what we've done before isn't always the best thing. Lawyers very often want to find the answer, but sometimes the answer needs to change or we need to progress in the law or we need to be able to push against these boundaries that we've had in the past.

Speaker A

product by a company called case text and it is a large language model just like chat GPT or Bard or some of the other systems we're seeing come out um it's actually based on gpt4 which is an open AI product the same that powers

Speaker A

And these systems aren't going to be able to do that. There are certain things that it's tremendous for, so they're very good at describing things that have happened. So think, like, an internal investigation or a litigation.

Speaker A

that has done is taken the the elementary school kid of GPT and then sent it to Secondary School in the law right so it is better at legal things than the typical gbt models yeah what it is really really good at is

Speaker A

We are pouring through massive quantities of data to try to figure out what happened and why. They aren't so good at predicting what's going to happen, which is something that lawyers are hired for all the time, right?

Speaker A

spitting out its answer it does it so very cleverly and in a way that makes us think that it's it's intelligent um because it's so good at that the downside is it actually doesn't understand the meaning of the words that

Speaker A

Like, if my company does this, how is either the market or the regulator going to react? So there's a requirement now for us to figure out what is the essence of being a lawyer and how we even charge for that work.

Speaker A

know what are the events that that triggered The gdg Preserve documents in the city of New York or the state of New York if that answers wrong that's a problem and so when trying to put guidelines in use and

Speaker A

Historically, we charge by the hour, but I'm not so sure that in every case the time that we spend on something equates to the value of that legal work or legal solution.

Speaker A

has learned do we see will we see any kind of immediate benefits whether it be long-term benefits like how does that work it is astonishingly amazingly immediately beneficial um it's really what we're working on now are one what are the good use cases for

Speaker A

And that's part of what we're trying to figure out now: how do we capture the essence of what it means to be a lawyer now enabled by technology, and what is the proper price for that?

Speaker A

complicated there were many third parties it described 50 years of an environmental case so effluence and chemicals and and all sorts of things and I asked it a question and said imagine that I'm the CEO of this defendant what deposition questions can

Speaker A

Exactly, exactly. So actually on that, the new AI is clearly challenging the state of school of traditional law firms. So do you actually think that business models might change going forward, into short term, long term? What are your views?

Speaker A

good Head Start in creating a legal product it will never replace lawyers like mainly because we really do have to verify everything it does and even the deposition questions it's spit out they're very good but the Nuance of what

Speaker A

I think because DLA Piper is so forward-thinking on this, we are going to be driving that change in model, and as we should. The problem with the legal profession generally has been it has been resistance to technology that gains efficiency.

Speaker A

yeah fantastic maybe one last question I can imagine that some clients some of our viewers are thinking about data protection client confidentiality how do we Safeguard those with the tool like co-counsel and that's one of the most important things we're looking at one of

Speaker A

Because if we bill by the hour and we become more efficient, we're just handing that efficiency off to the client or the market, and that doesn't inspire anybody.

Speaker A

very different than just using something off the shelf like chat gbt where if you look at those terms of use those protections aren't there the next thing we're looking at is you can actually Connect into gpt4 directly without necessarily going through a

Speaker A

So what we're trying to do, and what we must become successful in doing, is how do I capture some of that efficiency gain for ourselves? Basic Adam Smith theory of markets, right?

Speaker A

this utterly transformative and disruptive technology but it is terribly exciting technology to be a part of absolutely absolutely exciting times ahead of us and thank you so much for this conversation Bennett I'm sure we'll speak soon on other topics related to

Speaker A

And so what we're looking at now is particular kinds of legal products and services that we can easily transpose into some other form of billing than by the hour, so whether it's fixed fees or per unit or per task.

Speaker A

intelligence thank you and see you again

Topics:AI in lawlegal technologyGPT-4Co-Counsellegal automationlaw firm innovationlegal billing modelsDLA Piperlegal AI assistantfuture of legal profession

Frequently Asked Questions

How is AI changing the legal profession according to the video?

AI is automating many routine legal tasks, increasing efficiency, and prompting law firms to rethink traditional billing and service delivery models.

What is Co-Counsel and how does it assist lawyers?

Co-Counsel is an AI legal assistant powered by GPT-4, designed specifically for legal tasks to help lawyers analyze large data sets and improve productivity.

Will AI replace lawyers entirely?

No, AI will not replace lawyers but those who use AI tools will outperform those who do not, as human judgment and client relationships remain essential.

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