Raquel Gomes, Founder & CEO — Stafi.
The day when AI-powered robot lawyers will represent clients in the courtroom may be fast approaching. In fact, it almost arrived on February 22, 2023, the day that DoNotPay—an online legal services company—was scheduled to send its AI-powered chatbot to court to guide a client contesting a traffic ticket. According to DoNotPay, the historic moment was put on hold when “State Bar prosecutors” informed the company that using the robot lawyer could result in jail time for its founder.
The reaction to DoNotPay’s plans to unleash AI in the courtroom seems to communicate that the legal profession is not yet ready to get behind the idea of robot lawyers, but that does not necessarily mean that there is no place for artificial intelligence in the legal industry. Law firms are already leveraging AI in a number of ways to amplify their efficiency.
Streamlining Client Intake With AI-Driven Tools
AI-powered chatbots are being used successfully in a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, travel, banking and e-commerce. The chatbots typically engage with prospective customers in the early phases of the customer journey, helping them to determine what products or services can help to meet their needs. By automating this repetitive task, chatbots allow companies to be more readily available to potential customers and more efficient in using human resources.
In the legal industry, chatbots can be used to automate the client intake process by fielding the types of questions that are commonly asked by prospective clients as they determine whether or not the firm can meet their needs. They can also automate the collection of basic information about clients, saving time for staff while ensuring that the information provided is complete and accurate.
Improving The Effectiveness Of Sales And Marketing
AI has brought dramatic changes to the world of sales and marketing from performing market research to preparing sales copy to personalizing the customer experience. AI is also empowering businesses to better understand and use data from digital engagements in their promotional efforts.
Law firms can leverage AI to analyze data on past clients such as how they found the firm, what services they were seeking, and their demographics. The insights provided by this analysis can help firms to identify potential legal prospects and predict their likelihood of becoming paying clients while allowing those firms to develop targeted marketing campaigns that result in higher conversion rates.
Providing An Enhanced Client Experience
Providing quality legal services will always require a human connection. However, AI can deliver a wide range of services that result in a better client experience.
For example, AI-powered virtual assistants can streamline interaction between an attorney and his or her client, making it more efficient to gather information, make appointments and provide reminders and other follow-up communication. Because virtual assistants are always available, they provide clients with 24-7 access to the firm.
AI tools can also bring new efficiencies to lawyers that allow them to free up more time for client interaction. AI can dramatically increase the speed at which legal research can be done, allowing lawyers to streamline the process of preparing for cases.
AI can also assist in drafting legal briefs, reviewing legal documents and analyzing contracts. Some experts believe AI-driven tools can take over nearly 25% of a lawyer’s daily tasks.
Helping Firms To Increase Billable Hours And Reduce Costs
Billable hours are one of the key metrics that law firms use to gauge their effectiveness, as all of the time spent working on tasks directly related to a client’s case is considered billable hours. The more billable hours a firm has, the more profit they make. When firms leverage AI to accomplish administrative functions and other tasks that do not qualify as billable hours, they free up their lawyers to be more profitable.
AI can also be used to empower business growth without the need for additional staff. The variety of AI-driven tools that assist with marketing, client intake, and client care are examples of this. Rather than adding new staff to support expansion, firms can use AI-driven tools, doing away with the recruiting, onboarding, salary and benefits costs associated with growing their staff.
Predicting The Outcome Of Pending Cases
One of the more innovative applications of AI in the legal industry involves using it to predict the outcome of cases. Tools designed to leverage AI to determine the most likely outcome of a case, which have been dubbed “judge bots” by the American Bar Association, can assist attorneys in charting the best course of action. If, for example, AI determines based on all the relevant data that the case would be decided against the client, the attorney can advise that they focus their efforts on settling the case without a trial.
The rapid development of AI-driven tools offers law firms a host of opportunities for bringing new levels of efficiency to their operations. Regardless of the size of the firm or the areas in which it practices, now is the time to begin leveraging AI to grow faster, serve clients better and boost profitability.
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