The Uneasy Integration of Law And Technology
Robo-lawyers are on the rise and the development of legal software will face challenges. It will not be easy for a robo-lawyer to completely replace the services of a human lawyer. Not for some time anyway.
The legal profession is steeped in tradition, rules, and regulations.
The Law moves slowly. Technology does not. It is inevitable the two will not easily integrate. While the legal profession is resistant to change, technology changes every industry it touches. And it is shaking up the legal industry in a big way.
Some of the challenges may take some creative thinking to solve.
The Reach of Robo-Lawyers
One challenge for legal AI; its reach. Robo-lawyers have the ability to reach far more people than human lawyers. Or at least those people that have good quality access to the internet.
We have already seen AI providing free or cheap legal advice to fight evictions or parking tickets and bankruptcy. Robo-lawyers can provide services to people that the law has excluded for years. However, AI will not only be used for good but also as a tool to assist law firms in efficiency.
The development of legal AI is inevitable and law firms are either faced with extinction or changing their ways to keep up.
The problem: who will benefit from the development of legal software?
Some people have access to quality internet services and many do not.
The technology divide may widen the justice divide even further unless something is done to enable widespread access to quality internet services.
Some people can only access the internet on their cellphones making their access limited. While indigent members of the community who have no means of accessing the internet will struggle to use robo-lawyers. AI will do little to help them in accessing justice.
The reach of legal AI will also be unequal within the legal profession. While big corporate law firms will have the resources to develop legal software that serves their needs and their clients, smaller law…
