7 Productive Ways to Use AI for Lawyers

Artificial intelligence has made inroads within most industries today. You’ll find it in eCommerce, marketing, data analysis, and so many other sectors. It helps us create to-do and shopping lists and powers our Netflix binges, too. For law firms, AI offers some interesting potential. Not sure what artificial intelligence can do for a legal team? Here are seven productive ways to use AI for lawyers.

1. Conducting legal research

Legal research is a big part of the job for most law offices. In fact, the majority of employees within a law firm are hired to perform legal research, at least in part, so that lawyers can focus on representing clients. However, that often leaves other areas understaffed, such as client onboarding, reception, and more. Lawyers can tap into the power of AI for help with legal research so that their human team members can focus on tasks where they’re needed. AI-powered legal research software can scan case laws, regulations, statutes, and more very quickly, surfacing critical information in a fraction of the time it would take a human employee. 

2. Handling e-discovery

Discovery is a critical task within law firms and is essential for supporting cases large and small. AI can take discovery off the shoulders of human team members, reducing the time required and improving accuracy. AI can quickly scan digitized information to find non-privileged information related to a client’s claim or case. AI can also scan documents for specific search terms, particular parameters, geographic information, dates, and more. With AI, discovery can become a near-instantaneous process.

3. More accurate document management

More and more, law offices are moving away from hard copies and toward a digital-only stance (where permissible by regulations, of course). However, this opens up the potential for disorganization, document misplacement and loss, and other negatives. AI can provide outstanding document management solutions, legal file organization, and other services to ensure that legal documents are never lost and are always accessible within mere seconds. It’s the key to freeing up valuable time to focus on things that matter more, rather than spending that time searching through digital files for particular records.

4. Document review and proofreading

Legal documents must be accurate and correct. Ensuring that this is the case can take a lot of time and mind-numbing work for legal teams. Letting AI handle at least the first round can make for lighter work while freeing valuable time for attorneys and other team members to focus on more critical tasks. AI can provide detailed reviews and spot typos, misspellings, incorrect dates and addresses, and so much more in a fraction of the time it would take a human being. 

5. Creating higher-quality work

Most law firms experience something similar to this: legal assistants create effective, high-quality work, at least at first. However, humans get tired, bored, and frustrated. As the workload increases, work quality often decreases. That leads to errors within legal documents that can cost time or entire cases. AI doesn’t get tired or bored. It cannot be distracted, either. That leads to higher-quality work with fewer errors impeding success. 

6. Identifying persuasive precedents

Establishing precedents is an important part of the legal process and goes a long way toward swaying a case toward a client’s particular view. It lays the legal groundwork for the case, in many senses, but it can be time-consuming and frustrating to do. AI can identify persuasive precedents very quickly, scanning through thousands upon thousands of cases and rulings to help attorneys make better use of their time. It also allows lawyers to focus completely on work that AI cannot do.

7. Client onboarding 

It can take a lot of time and effort to handle the full client onboarding process from beginning to end. Potential clients don’t often visit an attorney’s website and then immediately convert. In most cases, there’s a series of touchpoints as the potential client learns about their challenge and then discovers how the lawyer can help them. Much of this process involves asking and answering questions, providing relevant details, and handling other communication, all of which takes law office team members away from other tasks. AI-powered chatbots can play a critical role here, taking the need to communicate with potential clients off team members’ shoulders while providing accurate information and even starting the onboarding process.

AI is the way forward for law firms

While the legal industry might be traditionally slow to adapt to new technologies and ways of doing things, AI is quickly showing its value. From creating higher-quality work to handling client onboarding, the right software can automate processes, free up human staff members for more critical tasks, and ensure that potential clients have the information necessary to make an informed decision where their legal needs are concerned.

At Smith.ai, we understand the many roles that AI can and should play within today’s law firms. We combine our live virtual receptionists with advanced, AI-powered web chat to ensure that your team can do what they do best while reducing unproductive time. From handing incoming calls to guiding potential clients through the funnel, we become a part of your team itself. 

Our AI lives on your website, ingests your law firm’s information, and understands your visitors’ intent, all of which are crucial to delivering the best possible experience. Based on chat conversations, our AI can surface Q&As, trigger playbooks, or hand the conversation off to a human agent. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai.

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