Can Robots Replace Lawyers? Legal AI Experts Weigh In

Here’s a question almost every in-house counsel and legal professional has considered: Can robots replace lawyers? After all, AI does everything from diagnosing medical conditions to driving cars. Isn’t it only a matter of time before AI practices law?

Well, it isn’t Terminator time just yet of robots replacing lawyers, according to experts. But … it will make your job a lot easier.

The past year has been an exciting one in terms of legal technology, particularly in the area of AI. As businesses have been required to constantly evolve in the face of shifting pandemic demands and the need to accommodate remote work, AI has taken center stage for contracting and other critical legal tasks.

We’ve compiled the latest educational resources for AI, featuring experts weighing in on everything from how it will affect lawyers, contracting and legal operations. Consider it your year-end AI wrap-up!

Can Robots Replace Lawyers? Let’s Talk AI and the Legal Profession.

• How Artificial Intelligence Will Affect the Practice of Law: Nick Whitehouse, GM of the Onit AI Center of Excellence, sat down with Jared Correia, host of Above the Law’s Non-Eventcast podcast (available on Apple and Spotify), to discuss how AI impacts the legal world. The truth is that most lawyers are likely already using AI even if they don’t realize it. In fact, Nick argues, AI is making it an exciting time to be a lawyer.
• Will AI Replace Lawyers & Other Myths: Legal AI Mythbusters: As with most buzzwords, there’s a whole host of misconceptions about AI’s capabilities. For example, can robots replace lawyers? Nick and Jean Yang, Vice President of Onit’s AI Center of Excellence, united for a webinar dispelling common AI misconceptions. Together, they help legal professionals decipher marketing-speak and determine what’s genuinely AI and what’s just software.
• To AI or Not to AI: The Great Debate on Legal AI Tools: While AI certainly plays a significant role in helping with routine, time-consuming tasks, is legal AI always the right answer? Onit hosted a webinar with Consilio and Buying Legal Council, titled “To AI or Not to AI? The Big Debate,” to answer precisely that question. Two teams addressed a hypothetical work scenario, alternatively arguing that AI tools for lawyers or outsourcing to an ALSP were the answer. You can also watch the webinar to learn which team’s proposal won.
• The Future of the Legal Profession, AI and Legal Work: The legal profession faced seemingly endless changes in 2020 and 2021. Understandably, many people are anxious to know what’s in store for the future. Onit asked leading economist Daniel Susskind to tackle precisely that question. Daniel offers insights on what changes the industry should expect in the future, what role technology and AI will play and much more.
• Four Legal AI Trends Impacting Corporate Legal Departments: AI accomplishes more every day. From medicine to piloting jets to dancing, AI grabs a foothold across all industries, including law. Ari Kaplan, attorney, legal industry analyst, author, technologist and host of the Reinventing Professionals podcast, interviewed Nick about how AI impacts corporate legal departments. He shared the legal AI trends that defined the past year.

How AI Makes Contracting Easier

• NDA Automation: Get Better, Faster NDAs With the Help of Artificial Intelligence: NDAs are some of the most commonly drafted agreements at any company yet are critical to protecting a company’s business strategies and trade secrets. The routine nature of NDAs makes them a prime candidate for contract AI. With the right combination of AI and contracts, business users can engage in risk-free self-service to review and redline NDAs in less than two minutes, freeing up legal staff to focus on higher-value work.
• How Sales CLM with Contract AI Helps Business Development Automation: Contract AI software significantly increases efficiency and reduces risk for general counsel and legal operations. However, contract management has even more significant organizational impacts. In particular, tools to manage contracts, including contract AI, create a single point of truth for sales contracts that helps to streamline contract creation, review and approval for sales –bringing revenue in more quickly for corporations.
• How Digital Transformation and a Contract System Future-Proof Surges in Contract Activity: The ebbs and flows of legal work can be highly unpredictable and creating a contract system that handles legal work is challenging. Are you prepared to handle the waves of work when they arise? Four experts from VMware, Onit and the World Commerce & Contracting organization gather to discuss just this challenge and how companies can best prepare for sudden workload surges by planning and implementing a contract system and technologies.
• An AI Checklist for All Stages of Contract Lifecycle Management: Because contracts are the primary source of risk and obligations, all stages of contract lifecycle management need to be managed properly. Failure to do so can have serious ramifications. AI-powered CLM systems are critical to controlling contracts from start to finish, but not all CLM technologies are created equal. This checklist outlines the features you should look for when finding the right CLM tools for your organization.
• How Does A Contract Management System with AI Improve the Way Lawyers Work? Let’s Look at the Numbers. [Infographic]: CLM systems allow companies to capture, automate and analyze the entire contract lifecycle from initiation through approval, compliance and renewals. When you add AI, the value of a CLM system increases drastically, but how much benefit does CLM + AI create for corporate legal departments? This infographic breaks down CLM + AI by the numbers to show its practical benefits.

Onit is a leading provider of AI-powered legal technology solutions, including contract AI. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you transform your legal function in the new year.