Jun 23rd: AI, the good and the missteps

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In today's episode, we'll cover the boom in legal tech companies and the integration of AI technology in products, along with the implications of using AI-based chatbots in creating legal work.
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Let's dive right into it!

Here's what happened in Legal Tech recently...

Visalaw dot AI, the technology arm of the Siskind Susser immigration law firm, recently launched Visalaw AI Gen, a generative AI product for immigration lawyers.

As part of our key stories, we'll discuss this, as well as missteps that can happen when using Gen AI tools without due care.

But first, speaking of AI-powered tools, Henchman, a contract drafting tool, has released a suite of capabilities to support lawyers in reviewing and negotiating contracts. The tool can assess contracts, identify risks and recommend relevant precedents. Legal business management provider Aderant has also launched an AI-powered virtual assistant called MADDI, designed to automate routine tasks and offer actionable insights and prompts to optimize complex activities in law firms.

Now, let's talk about how the pandemic has impacted the legal industry. The traditional beliefs about physical proximity in law offices have been challenged, leading to adaptations of workplaces that encourage personal strategies and solutions. Law firms, like other businesses that employ knowledge workers, will need to create spaces that are social, with offices becoming more effective as they allow people to connect with each other through creative, community-building, and value-generating connections.

Lastly, one way to assess performance and make changes is by using measurement metrics such as net promoter score (NPS). For example, Mo Zain Ajaz, founder of Lex360 suggests that tracking NPS can help general counsel transform their legal operations.

Let's now move to our key stories.

For our first key story, we focus on some of the controversies around using Generative AI tools.

So, let's take a closer look at a recent case that involves AI and the legal system. In this particular case, two lawyers and their law firm were hit with sanctions by a US District Judge for filing bogus cases that relied on ChatGPT for legal research. While using AI for legal research isn't inherently wrong, it's important for attorneys to make sure their filings are accurate. In this case, the attorneys and their firm were ordered to pay $5,000.

The judge who made this ruling emphasized the need for attorneys to act in good faith when using AI-based legal research. In this case, the lawyers had used ChatGPT, which generated quotes and citations from non-existent case law, which clearly undermined the accuracy of the filing and the legitimacy of the judicial system as a whole.

Our take is that generative AI tools have huge potential for legal professionals, but they need to be used responsibly and the output reviewed in a fast-changing landscape.

To balance the misstep, have you heard about the new Gen AI tool that can help immigration lawyers with legal research and document summarization? It's called Visalaw Gen, and it was recently unveiled at the American Immigration Lawyers Association conference. This tool is supported by generative AI, and it allows lawyers to question a legal library composed of several significant books and resources using OpenAI's GPT-4 language model. This way, lawyers can get comprehensive and reliable responses for legal research and documentation in an efficient and accurate way.

Visalaw Gen is a product of Visalaw, the technology branch of the immigration law firm Siskind Susser. The platform also includes Visalaw Engage, which guides client communications, and Visalaw Draft, allowing for document processing. According to Visalaw co-founder Josh Waddell, they're giving immigration lawyers the tools to navigate complex legal landscapes efficiently and accurately.

It's great to have more positive examples of how AI tools can make a positive impact, don't you think?

In our last key story, we have more funding news to share for this week. ECFX, a legal tech company that automates the download and distribution of filings in both federal and state court cases, recently announced a $7 million in growth investment led by Growth Street Partners. Other investors included The LegalTech Fund, Cove Fund, and some existing investors.

So, what will ECFX do with all this newfound cash? Well, according to their CEO Dan O’Day, they're on a mission to "help law firms reduce risk and increase efficiency." And the company plans to do just that by using the funding to enlarge its platform, sales, and marketing efforts. This could mean big things for ECFX's customers - which include major players like Cooley, DLA Piper, Dentons, and Cole Scott & Kissane. And ECFX seems poised to keep growing, thanks in part to this recent investment.

And that's a wrap.

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