Follow these steps to avoid the pitfalls and reap the benefits of AI.
According to Forbes, the AI market is expected to increase over 500% by 2030, and in that time single-handedly grow the nation’s GDP by 21%.
With a dizzying array of new AI products introduced every week, you must determine which are valuable, figure out the most profitable ways to deploy them, all while you’re managing new risks that could harm your practice.
Don’t you wish you had an expert to make sense of the chaos?
Now you do.
John Rizner is making a name for himself as a thought leader in the intersections of AI and the practice of law. With an extensive background in corporate law, Rizner began exploring generative AI when it was first released, immediately recognizing its potential to transform the industry.
He began teaching CLE courses on the subject. Eventually, he joined Filevine so he could actually help create the tools that lawyers need to reap the benefits of AI in a responsible way.
Earlier this year, Rizner shared his thoughts about AI in law with leadership consultant Cynthia Corsetti. The conversation was far-ranging and brilliant — and just the thing for lawyers needing a map to navigate the new landscape of AI in law.
Why Lawyers Should Move Fast on AI
“AI is profoundly disrupting the legal industry, and this disruption is poised to fundamentally change the economics of how many law firms operate,” said Rizner.
Why is this change so crucial for the field of law? As Rizner explains, before this moment, law hasn’t been able to “scale” the way other industries do. Most legal work requires the time and attention of a legal professional. It’s difficult to speed up. To do more of it, you just have to hire more experts.
With the advent of generative AI, all that changed.
Consider the past, before there were copy machines, or even carbon-copy paper. To make replicas of documents, you had to pay scriveners to rewrite each word. This put a limit on the number of written words a legal office could churn out.
With the invention of new technology, you can create nearly unlimited replicas of a document with low labor and time costs.
AI technologies are doing something similar, but with an entirely new range of work. Now, if you want to analyze and summarize more documents, you don’t necessarily have to hire more staff. Suddenly, law firms have an entirely new ability to scale.
That means new opportunities — and new threats to those who don’t harness the benefits. As Rizner puts it:
In some ways, AI is a disruptive threat to the bottom line of law firms who don’t adapt. Work that used to mean hours of billable time can now be done in a fraction of the time. But for forward-thinking firms, AI is also an incredible opportunity. By leveraging these technologies, firms can take on more clients and cases, and provide better, faster, more cost-effective service. AI can also free up attorneys to focus on higher-value, more strategic work.
Where Should Lawyers Begin?
Rizner sets out wise guidance for lawyers seeking to prepare their practice for AI disruptions.
- Stay curious. Find of source of AI education. These can be CLE courses, blog posts, webinars, and more.
- Experiment. Start testing out new tools today. There are several options made specifically for legal needs — often they can provide you with a free demo.
- Accept occasional failures. There will inevitably be trial-and-error as you learn the ropes. Create lower-risk spaces where there’s more latitude for a project to fail.
- Look to history. Each wave of technological change is unique, but it often repeats keyn features. New work becomes possible, new figures gain wealth and power, and new anxieties surface in society. Knowing how past innovations shaped society can help you understand how to make the most out of this one.
Check out the full interview to find other ways to prepare for AI’s disruption of the legal industry. And to see how a company is thoughtfully incorporating AI technology into legal-centric tools, check out Filevine’s suite of AI products.
It’s innovations like this, grounded in an understanding of the day-to-day realities and pain points of legal practice, that set Filevine apart. We’re not just chasing the latest AI trend — we’re thoughtfully applying the technology to make a tangible difference for legal professionals and their clients, right now. That commitment to harnessing innovation to solve real industry challenges is at the heart of what makes Filevine unique. -John Rizner