How Law Firms Can Use Generative AI To Get More Work Done

AI is quickly finding its place in almost every business and industry, offering a variety of ways to boost performance and get more done in less time. There are several types of artificial intelligence in use, including generative AI. Understanding this technology, as well as how it can be best used, makes all the difference. 

Law firms and legal businesses should think of generative AI as a trusted assistant that can be used for all manner of tasks and time-consuming routines. You’re not going to let AI run your firm, but there are several ways that it can help you run your firm more effectively. 

What is generative AI, though? Before you can start making it useful, you have to know what it is and what it can do. 

Generative AI: An overview 

Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can be trained to create content or help improve existing content. As the name suggests, this AI is specifically designed to help generate content that appears as human-like as possible. It is also used to help with brainstorming, research, verification & editing, and more. 

Despite the growing concerns about AI in the professional world, legal applications are actually a relatively safe choice, according to most experts. Automated legal documentation and generation has been in use for a long time, thanks to the highly standardized nature of the legal field. 

Making the next transition with generative AI is the logical progression. Here’s how you can put it to use. 

Generative AI for online profiles and social accounts 

LinkedIn is a great example of how law firms and other professionals can use generative AI to help themselves stand out. The platform offers an AI tool that is trained to help you complete your profile in a way that gets noticed. You’ll be able to get suggestions on what you should include and other insights to help you craft better social profiles moving forward. 

While you’re at it, you can also use this type of AI to help you come up with prompts and topical social posts. These will allow you to share insights with your audience and stay relevant, and you won’t have to do all the creative brainstorming yourself. 

AI for editing and document review 

In the legal world, paperwork is abundant. You have documents upon documents that have to be created, edited & reviewed, and then published or filed accordingly. Known as technology-assisted review (TAR), these AI tools can be taught how to analyze specific documents, contracts, and so forth. 

You can use tools like Grammarly to help with spelling and grammar adjustments, as well as dedicated review tools that are designed to help with legal files specifically. Of course, remember these are here to assist you, not replace your own eyes and editing capabilities. 

Research verification with generative AI 

AI can analyze and validate large data sets. Humans simply don’t have the capacity to manage and analyze data in the way that machines can. Today’s AI applications can help you validate legal research and make sure that you have all the facts gathered before you finalize documents or files. 

You can even find source quotes, include citations, and perform secondary research with generative AI, saving hours of manpower for legal assistants and attorneys alike. There are several ways that you can use AI to help you validate your research with legal work. 

Administrative tasks 

Finally, if you’re looking to free up time in your law firm, you can put generative AI to use with conversational AI tools and other resources like answering common questions and taking notes. There are a lot of routine tasks that happen in a law firm that don’t require a human to perform them. This is where AI is making the biggest impact on productivity. 

Check out different AI tools like chatbots that you can use to answer common questions for people, help them schedule meetings, and even remind them to submit documents or finalize signatures when the time comes. This means your people can spend more time taking care of clients and less time on tedious admin work. 

Proceed with caution 

Of course, as with any article on AI, we have to advise you to proceed carefully. AI is, and should be, used as an assistive tool, not a replacement for human capital where and when you need it. 

AI also comes with some limitations and concerns; namely privacy and confidentiality in the legal arena. When choosing your AI technology and the things you’ll have it do, think about protecting your clients and your lawyers first. If there’s a question about ethics or confidentiality, consider shelving the AI in that arena and looking elsewhere. 

The other big concern is “hallucinations,” which are exactly what they sound like. AI can cultivate a lot of great, validated information. However, it also runs the risk of hallucinating, or stating facts that aren’t based in reality due to false information gathering or a glitch in the system. Therefore, you need to make sure that you are fact-checking your AI and only using it when you know it will get the job done. 

Partner with Smith.ai for automation, AI, and enhanced efficiency across the board

Why not let Smith.ai introduce your law firm to the world of AI and improved operations? With our virtual receptionists and our new AI voice assistant, we can handle everything you need, from a custom chatbot and live website chat to assistance with outreach campaigns, lead intake and appointment scheduling, and more. 

Plus, we can act as your 24/7 answering service so that you never miss a single lead, and we’ll help you create a custom strategy to manage all the details. 

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

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