Day 342: The AI-Era Lawyer

Photo by Hunters Race on Unsplash

Right now, AI doesn’t change a lawyer’s job all that much.

I recently attended a workshop presented by Practicing Law Institute on the legal ethics of using AI. At least for right now, the experts agree: Same old problems, new technology.

Don’t just let AI do your work for you. Understand the technology. Review the results. Communicate with your clients about what you’re doing.

The Wave Is Coming

That’s because machine learning just isn’t that good yet. But its power grows exponentially. It’s getting better — fast.

The day is coming when AI will change everything.

AI will do some tasks so much more cheaply that its use will soon become obligatory in the legal profession. Clients will simply refuse to pay for a human to do what AI could do radically faster. As costs come down, even nonprofit lawyers will have and use AI.

All that automation will mean lower costs for clients — and fewer jobs for lawyers. Far, far fewer.

Thinking Ahead about Legal Education

In legal education, it’s time to start thinking seriously about two — no, make that three — questions:

(1) What uniquely human skills will remain the domain of lawyers?

(2) What skills will they no longer need?

and, closest to home,

(3) What valuable skills will we law professors ourselves have to offer once the world doesn’t need nearly as many lawyers — or nearly as many law professors?

AI experts say that humans will retain the advantage in a few areas: judgment, empathy, agility, and (arguably) creativity. It’s time to start evaluating the law school curriculum for ways that we can better enhance those skills. We also need to get serious about ditching the aspects that don’t enhance those skills — a difficult thing for a century-old tradition to do, especially for a future we can’t really predict.

But if there’s one thing lawyers are trained to do, it’s identify potential problems and craft solutions to avoid or mitigate them.

You’ve come to the right place.