Below is an excerpt from Part 2 of Chrissie Lightfoot’s series in the Solicitors Journal:
Law firms have, since the start of this year, only just begun to think of using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies as a racehorse, not a carthorse. Global players Taylor Wessing and Norton Rose Fulbright have each independently collaborated with software and AI developer Neota Logic in creating AI apps, named TW: navigate PSC App and ContractorCheck respectively.
Taylor Wessing’s app, introduced in April of this year, acts as a guide and adviser with respect to the recent changes to the Companies Act, where there is now a requirement for companies to identify and name persons of significant control in their returns to Companies House. Norton Rose Fulbright describes its app, introduced in late 2015/early 2016, as ‘an innovative tool designed to help organisations accurately characterize their people to manage risk, so that contracts truly reflect an individual’s contractor or employee status. This smart identification tool has been tailored to apply the key characterization indicators across multiple jurisdictions.’
Both firms have rethought how they deliver specific aspects of lawyering and are beginning to focus on racehorse elements of lawyering, which are the high-end, intellectual capital, reasoning, and judgement elements usually locked away in a lawyer’s mind. Neota Logic works in collaboration with law firms, and elicits knowledge and experience from a lawyer to then ‘brain dump’ that information into software. Algorithms are then created which respond to the client or prospect without the need for a person. In theory it means a lawyer or law firm could serve hundreds or even thousands of clients, prospects, or queries seamlessly while they sleep – and get paid for it.
Each bespoke AI app mimics and replaces what a lawyer does in relation to the process, reasoning, and judgement elements (the knowledge and experience aspects) of a lawyer’s specific area of law. For example, a lawyer will ask a series of questions to a client who will reply with their answers: throughout, the lawyer pulls on their knowledge and experience of the law and provides the client with the answers they seek. This kind of AI technology is beginning to prove popular for:
– Online compliance;
– Online legal assessment; and
– Providing online advice solutions.
Using this kind of technology is also proving to be a smart way of marketing, creating, and building relationships with firms’ new and existing clients. You can find the full article here.
To request the full articles – Part 1 and/or Part 2 – in PDF format please email: tilton@neotalogic.com