As legal professionals, it’d be wise to be flexible with generative AI for law firms because it streamlines processes, improves client services, and enhances profitability. According to Goldman Sachs, AI is indispensable, automating 44% of legal tasks. Precedence Research forecasts the legal AI market to hit USD 1342.54 million by 2034. Choosing the right tools ensures peak performance, we will be covering top software tools today, and you’ll learn when and how to use them.

Source: Smokeball

What is AI for Law Firms?

AI for law firms addresses challenges like managing large volumes of legal documents, ensuring efficient client communication, and conducting thorough research while meeting strict deadlines. These repetitive tasks consume significant time and resources, leaving little room for strategic work. 

AI tools can streamline operations by handling routine tasks, preparing depositions, managing databases and contracts, editing long texts, and summarizing information efficiently. If your law firm faces these challenges, AI tools can provide a solution by performing routine tasks, preparing depositions, managing databases and contracts, editing lengthy texts, and summarizing information efficiently.

Source: Refat Ametov via LinkedIn

These technologies leverage machine learning and natural language processing to make decisions and expedite work completion. By utilizing these tools, your legal practice can lower operating costs, reduce staff workload, and concentrate on delivering high-quality services to clients.

Also read: What is an AI Legal Assistant?

AI Tools for Lawyers

Artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, with new developments emerging regularly. For lawyers, AI offers significant benefits, including automating tasks and enhancing decision-making capabilities.

The legal industry continually explores opportunities to adopt AI solutions. Your firm can leverage these tools to create a more client-focused model and boost productivity. Below are some of the most popular AI tools widely used in law practice.

SpotDraft

SpotDraft is an excellent AI software for law firms that simplifies contract creation, review, management, and execution. It offers pre-approved templates and clause repositories to standardize contracts and streamline drafting. 

Real-time collaboration with stakeholders enhances transparency, while CRM integration, like with Salesforce, ensures seamless data synchronization. SpotDraft helps legal teams focus on strategic goals by automating repetitive tasks and eliminating bottlenecks.

What we like: SpotDraft uses AI to find any risks and ensures every contract meets the legal and regulatory requirements, ensuring compliance.

Also read: Unlocking the Potential of AI in Contract Drafting: Enhancing Speed and Compliance

CoCounsel

CoCounsel is an AI legal assistant that leverages OpenAI – it is trustworthy, informed, and secure. This tool differs from others in that it is explicitly trained for legal practices.

It pairs you with AI algorithms, making a perfect team for robust legal research. CoCounsel chatbot helps with statutes and case study information. It creates legal arguments, identifies precedents, and predicts outcomes through data analysis.

What we like: CoCounsel focuses on personalized learning. The more you use this platform, the more this AI tool learns and refines its suggestions.

Harvey AI

Tired of time-consuming legal research or correcting errors in document drafting? Harvey AI, a generative AI tool, streamlines legal tasks by researching, drafting, analyzing, and managing client communication. 

For example, law firms can use Harvey AI to scan statutes and case studies, identify key precedents for litigation, and save time while ensuring accurate results. The tool also drafts responses to client inquiries and efficiently prepares summaries of client briefings.

What we like: Harvey AI can process large amounts of data, which can be a significant help during the discovery phases. Thus, it speeds up case resolutions and offers better insights.

Also read: Top 5 Free AI Tools for In House Legal Teams

Clio Duo

Law firms struggle to organize case information and manage workflows. Traditional tools lack automation and integration, leading to inefficiencies, difficulty managing client relations, and, at times, missed deadlines.

Clio Duo is a complete AI legal management software combining Clio Growth and Clio Manage, providing an all-in-one solution. It automates time-consuming and repetitive tasks, effectively manages client communication, and accurately tracks billable hours.

What we like: With its predictive analysis, you can make data-driven selections that guarantee your firm consistently stays up-to-date on situations and customer needs. 

Source: Leena Tibrewal via LinkedIn

ChatGPT

Discussing AI for law firms without mentioning ChatGPT is like talking about the internet and omitting Google. ChatGPT, OpenAI's most recognized chatbot, answers a wide range of questions, from simple to complex. 

While not specific to the legal profession, lawyers can use it to draft summaries, briefs, or client emails. However, always cross-verify and fact-check its outputs, as language models draw information from varied sources that may not always be accurate.

What we like: Your law firm can use this tool to process large text volumes, which speeds up document review in litigation by highlighting pertinent material and making connections.

Source: Thomas Reuters

Also read: 7 ChatGPT Prompts for In-House Legal Teams

Diligen

Document management, especially contract review and management, is repetitive and time-consuming. Diligen is a contract analysis platform and a leader in contract review.

It automates the extraction of key provisions and terms from uploaded contracts for easy reviewing and summary generation. This can help your team to prioritize the important sections and make informed decisions.

What we like: The tool’s main feature is its ability to learn. It changes with every contract review, considering your law firm’s unique circumstances. 

Auto-GPT

As a lawyer, heavy workloads and tight deadlines can make completing tasks like document drafting challenging. Auto-GPT, a cutting-edge AI tool, handles tedious legal tasks such as drafting documents and conducting research, improving speed and efficiency. 

Also, your firm can use Auto-GPT to prepare briefs by summarizing facts and identifying relevant cases, enabling lawyers to build stronger arguments.

What we like: AutoGPT is excellent at monitoring regulatory changes and ensuring your firm remains compliant.

Smith.ai

If continuous client calls and inquiries are reducing your law firm’s productivity, consider Smith.ai. This outsourcing platform uses AI-powered virtual receptionists to handle calls, interact with clients, provide necessary details, and forward important messages. 

Smith.ai integrates seamlessly with legal management tools, documenting and organizing all conversations. It allows your firm to deliver excellent customer service without needing an in-house receptionist.

What we like: Smith.ai can qualify leads by asking crucial information and predefined questions during calls. Your team can concentrate on those leads and convert them into clients.

Case Compass

Client intake is a common challenge for lawyers. Traditional manual processes are time-consuming, leading to missed opportunities and inconsistent client experiences. Case Compass, an AI-powered tool, offers document automation, client intake, communication, and case management to streamline these tasks. 

It automates client intake by gathering and organizing information, ensuring a smoother process and higher conversion rates. 

With features like document generation, automated scheduling, and intelligent client interactions via chatbots, Gideon enhances efficiency. It also integrates seamlessly with other software, improving overall productivity.

What we like: The tool can replace friction-heavy and long intake forms with simple conversations. Its algorithm can search legal databases for specific jurisdictions or case handling by judges. Besides, it features a trial strategy tool that can offer you possible defense strategies based on past case results. 

Benefits of AI for Lawyers

Artificial intelligence can streamline legal processes and enhance research capabilities. When AI tools are used in law firms, it can benefit the following:

Source: Grow Law Firm

Enhancing Research Capabilities

AI systems enhance lawyers' research capabilities by automating the analysis of vast legal materials. These tools quickly identify relevant statutes, precedents, and regulations, saving time and effort. 

AI tools use natural language processing to interpret complex legal queries, identify trends, and streamline decision-making. Reducing research time allows lawyers to focus on critical tasks, improving service efficiency and quality.

Also read: Same Goals, New Approach: Exploring AI in Legal Operations

Saving Time

AI tools can rapidly process and analyze massive datasets, reducing the time and effort traditionally required for manual processing. This enables your legal team to redirect their focus toward high-value tasks such as:

• Engaging more effectively with clients, strengthening relationships.
• Crafting innovative and winning case strategies.
• Proactively addressing complex legal challenges that require critical thinking and expertise.

Elevating Client Experience

AI in law firms enhances client satisfaction and communication by automating time-consuming tasks such as legal research and document review, freeing lawyers to engage directly with clients. 

Virtual assistants and chatbots handle client queries 24/7, further improving client relations. Streamlined, automated workflows help meet deadlines and boost performance, making the firm more client-focused and trustworthy.

Improved Accuracy

Repetitive or manual tasks can lead to costly errors in law firms. AI reduces these mistakes, significantly improving accuracy in legal work. AI tools gather and filter critical data, identify patterns, and minimize errors in contract analysis, research, and compliance. Advanced algorithms also detect missed clauses and risks early, ensuring thorough document review.

“Artificial Intelligence just may well be the final frontier in terms of how legal services are utilized and provided. As in-house counsel, don’t run away from it and don’t ignore it. Rather, embrace it as, ultimately, it will allow you to do things lawyers love to do: thinking, analyzing, and counseling, while leaving the “grunt” work to the computer.”

~ Sterling Miller, CEO and Senior Counsel Hilgers Graben PLLC
‍Ten Things Blog: Then Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel

Current Application of AI in Legal Industry Framework

AI is reshaping the legal industry, offering efficiency, accuracy, and cost savings. Here are six practical ways to implement AI in your law firm:

Due Diligence And Legal Research

Applying AI in due diligence ensures that all processes are done effectively and accurately. It can help your team review contracts, verify compliance with regulations and laws, and identify potential risks.

These tools produce interpretations of a ton of information and important materials, such as commitments, disparities, or risks.

For instance, if your team is involved in merger and acquisition cases, it can assist in reviewing contract and legal documents, highlighting various risks that may hamper the transaction processes.

Predictive Technology

Since overall legal data and court rulings may be quite intricate to analyze, it may be difficult for your team to predict specific case outcomes with maximum accuracy. This makes it difficult to develop the right winning factors or to advise clients properly.

Predictive analytics, on the other hand, analyzes historical data, judge rulings, and legal precedents to predict the outcome. Your team can benefit from these insights, develop stronger argumentative strategies, and provide excellent case-winning advice to clients.

Analytics

Unstructured data often prevents law firms from fully analyzing performance metrics, trends, and growth opportunities. AI tools overcome this by visualizing data and providing actionable insights. 

These tools track case outcomes, success rates, client satisfaction, and workload distribution, enabling teams to identify patterns in court decisions and make strategic arguments. 

Legal Documents Assembly

Drafting legal documents is one repetitive task that your team does daily. This prevents them from spending time on important and high-value tasks. Moreover, manually drafting these documents can also lead to human errors, resulting in penalties, fines, and lost cases.

Use AI tools with pre-approved templates to automate document assembly by auto-filing the required data. This will not only reduce errors and drafting time but also ensure consistency across documents.

SpotDraft can help your team quickly create personalized contracts, agreements, and other legal documents, saving time and effort.

Surveying

Your team may find it time-consuming to manually collect and analyze industry or case-specific insights, which can lead to missed opportunities for your firm.

Instead, an AI-powered surveying tool can collect and analyze data from your stakeholders and clients. Later, it can provide valuable insights using its natural language processing technology. 

Your firm can use these surveys to understand market dynamics and client satisfaction and identify trends.

E-Billing

The most challenging part, besides winning cases, is creating bills for your clients. Manual methods are prone to errors and inefficiencies, which can lead to conflict between the client and your law firm.

On the other hand, automated e-billing systems provide accurate invoices by checking billable hours and identifying variances. It promotes billing policy standards and transparency, improving your client's trust in your firm.

How to Choose the Right AI Software for Law Firms?

While looking for an AI tool for your law firm, first understand what clicks for you and keep your use cases in mind. Then, consider the factors listed below before making the final choice.

Identify Your Needs

Each law firm has its challenges, whether managing large volumes of data, streamlining the billing process, or improving client communication. Therefore, it is necessary to identify your law firm’s workflow needs and the areas where the AI tool can offer the most advantage. 

For example, if document review is a pain area, look for tools known for document automation and streamlining.

Also read: Work Smarter with Tailored AI Solutions

Consider Practice Area

Legal practices have unique requirements, so not all AI tools fit every need. A business lawyer may require AI for due diligence, while a personal injury lawyer may need case management. 

Select AI software tailored to your practice area; SpotDraft aids in contract management, while Everlaw handles e-discoveries. Using practice-specific tools enhances efficiency.

“It's good for a SaaS lawyer to be tech-savvy because it helps to know what tools are at your disposal and how to use them best. Go to the people who know how to use these tools well and ask them if it's possible to set up the workflows/automations you want within them.”

~ Sue So, Head of Legal Hopin
‍7 GCs on How to Prioritize Legal Resources and Boost Efficiency

Research Properly

There are several AI software options for legal firms, each claiming to have the best features. So, the question is, which one is the best? 

Solution - Do thorough research and understand the tool properly.

Explore all options, read their reviews, and seek recommendations from friends or partners. Next, compare their prices, user support, and scalability options. You can even check the tool’s rating and user feedback on platforms like G2 and Capterra.

Test

Getting an AI tool for your firm is a big investment. Therefore, you must ensure it integrates properly with your existing system and workflows. Committing to software without testing can lead to a waste of resources and disengagement in your team.

The best action is to see demos or choose free trials to assess the tool's usability, advantages, and system compatibility. Let your team try every possible feature and take their feedback. Testing guarantees that the AI tool will meet your needs and be scalable and easy to use in the long run.

Potential Risks Associated with AI Tools

Strict rules and regulations govern legal practices, and AI use must be properly aligned with them. The American Bar Association listed the ethical risks of using Gen AI tools mentioned below. 

Inaccurate Output

AI tools can produce inaccurate and unreliable results because of limited data sources on which they are trained. They can hallucinate and may even make up responses that seem believable but entirely untrue.

Confidentiality Risks

Using AI tools can risk improper disclosure of client information, especially with self-learning generative AI that may expose sensitive data to unauthorized individuals within or outside the firm.

Competency Issues

You must have a thorough understanding of the limitations and capabilities of the AI tool used. You may violate the duty of providing competent legal representation if you are unaware.

Supervision

It will be your duty to ensure that the lawyers and your law firm use the AI tool in compliance with professional legal and ethical standards.

Ethical Duties in Litigation

Using inaccurate or deceptive information produced by GenAI technologies in court proceedings can result in a breach of ethical obligations to be truthful with the judge.

Reasonable Fees

Your law firm must charge a reasonable fee if using AI tools, reflecting the tool’s efficiency and overall time spent.

Conclusion

A new ACC and Everlaw Survey reveals that 58% of the legal departments believe AI tools reduce reliance on outside counsel. This number shows positive technological movement in the legal sector.

AI is not a human replacement, but the right tool can help your law firm be more productive and efficient while reducing costs. However, you should always thoroughly assess any AI tool before implementing it.

An AI tool can keep your law firm competitive and improve client service if used correctly. SpotDraft provides AI solutions tailored for law firms, ensuring a smooth integration. 

Contact us to learn how SpotDraft can streamline your work and enhance your firm's operations.

FAQs

1. What is e-discovery, and how can an AI tool help law firms with it?

Searching and examining electronic documents during a legal proceeding is known as e-discovery. AI tools save time and lower the possibility of missing important evidence by assisting lawyers in locating, organizing, and analyzing relevant documents. 

2. Can AI tools be customized to meet specific law firm needs?

AI tools can be tailored to meet the requirements of various practice areas, including criminal law, family law, business law, and more. Tools can be customized to concentrate on tasks such as litigation assistance or contract administration.

3. How much does an AI for law firms cost?

The features, user count, and scalability of AI software impact its price. Some AI tools use usage-based pricing, while others offer subscription models. When evaluating costs, consider the potential return on investment.