Attorneys Replaced by Robots? 💼🤖

Welcome to the second edition of The Automated Lawyer! In today’s briefing, we'll paint a picture of automation's impact on the legal profession, providing the context you need to navigate this transformative time.

Attorneys, watch out. Whether you like it or not, AI will affect your job. Here’s how:

• A study led by researchers at Princeton, UPenn, and NYU concluded that the “legal services” industry was most exposed to AI

• The OECD reported that occupations at the highest risk from AI automation were highly skilled jobs, including law

• There’s hope? Texas A&M law professor points to the upsides of AI

What are researchers saying about automation?

A study led by researchers at Princeton, UPenn, and NYU concluded that the “legal services” industry was most exposed to AI.

Authored by Goldman Sachs’ economists, another report suggested that as much as 44% of tasks in the legal field could be automated. Only office and administrative support jobs had a higher automation potential at 46%.

However, according to Ben Allgrove, Chief Innovation Officer at Baker McKenzie, “A.I. has not disrupted the legal industry.” But it will require legal professionals to elevate their skills or risk being left behind by technology.

Skilled jobs at highest risk, says OECD

Founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, including the UK, US, Japan, Germany, Canada, and Australia.

Earlier this year, the organization published a 2023 employment outlook and wrote how major economies are on the “cusp of an AI revolution” that could threaten highly skilled jobs that represented a staggering 27% of employment across its member countries.

Those highly skilled jobs include finance, medicine, and, as you might have guessed, law.

Is there any hope?

The Texas A&M University School of Law put out a Q&A with Professor Milan Markovic, whose research interests include the future of the legal profession.

The good news: Machines, which rely on large language models, excel at building on what has already been done. However, according to Markovic, they lack the creativity and abstract thinking needed to fulfill many legal needs.

What could change: Markovic believes there’ll be a stronger emphasis on interpersonal relationships in the legal field.

The future of legal work will depend more on cultivating industry expertise, employing judgment in intricate legal issues, and delivering strategic guidance to clients.

AI will also change how everyone in the legal profession interacts with technology, forcing paralegals to partners to stay ahead of the curve.

In simpler terms, AI won't swipe your gig – it's the lawyers using AI that might!

Stay tuned for our email coming next Tuesday that covers the AI legal tools you need right now to stay on top of the curve. Thanks for reading.

Peace out,

Nima, Ian, and the Justice Arch team.