Two main challenges on the horizon

When it comes to using and understanding AI and technology law firms should be looking to In-house legal teams for guidance as they have already  been reaping the benefits.

Of course, there are always challenges with anything like this but in-house teams have been seeing benefits with time saving, costs and more efficient processes.

In-house teams also have the exposure to other teams in their companies who are using a variety of software, technology and AI. They get to see it from all angles, as users but also advisers. That means they also need to manage the threats to their organisations that come hand-in-hand with the advantages.

Powerful digital tools are transforming industries from healthcare to fintech in so many different ways. Lawyers working in-house in these industries have a strong role to play in witnessing first-hand the advantages, as well as setting up measures to protect their customers both internally and externally.

Andrew Hinstridge, Head of Customer Legal at Virgin Money, sits on the Lawscot Tech Advisory Board at the Society and believes there are two main challenges on the horizon.

“The first is common to all organisations, but particularly sensitive to banks – the landscape of threats from people with malicious intent we must face into is materially expanded,” he says. However, this threat is not synonymous to the financial sector, law firms are also mindful of this and with advancing technologies and threats to data and finance becoming more advanced – technology to protect is needed more than ever. That being said, technology has to be used in the right way and with minimal risk.

The second challenge,  the one which Andrew hopes future generations are on boiard with and hope that embarking on this journey was the right thing do is on the use of AI. “Making sure that AI use cases evolve responsibly by building smart mitigants against the inherent biases of the source material the machine learns from and setting a sustainable framework to manage the associated ethical risk”, is essential to the success of AI and it’s integration in the workspace and workflow.

Andrew sees the work of his team (and others in a similar position) is to ensure that AI continues to bring benefits rather than risks for their customers, and in turn strengthening the bank’s position in the market.

This means getting involved in the design and deployment of any new technologies at a very early stage which will mean a shift in the nature of work crossing an in-house lawyer’s desk.

Andrew says: “As a legal team cost, time and effort to deliver on complex matters is reduced by handing off high volume repetitive tasks to a machine, letting us focus more attention on the real challenges instead of in a pile of paper.

Where appropriate we’ve used a hybrid of digital analysis and solicitor overview on complex document review processes for some time now. We’ve worked in partnership with Scottish lawyers to deliver smart automation of complex documentation processes with great success – the future potential there to teach the machine (or have the machine teach itself) to do more with less manual input is significant.”

The drive to reduce cost and time will inevitably continue as firms employed by in-house lawyers are forced to compete on both fronts. Technologies are being introduced and improved continuously.

“As a client of lawyers, I see upsides in cost/efficiency and quality/pace of output. I wouldn’t wish to speak for those who provide legal services but it’s logical to assume clients in many markets are going to demand the benefits and vote with their feet in favour of those who can offer it,” says Andrew.

However, he insists there’s no need for alarm. While there are huge leaps in the power of the technologies, some industries, including banks, have been using some form of data analysis for many decades. The need to get to grips with the future to offer the best to clients is nothing new.

“More powerful tools now enable us to do more to make our customers happier about their money,” he adds. “One Scottish thought leader on this topic recently described this as being an ‘inevitability’ we will need to deal with. I tend to agree. The tide is gradually rising. And trying to resist such things only has one outcome.”

However, he believes that today’s lawyers, many of whom are already using Legaltech to their advantage, are simply the latest in a line of legal professionals who have been quick to adapt to changes. “Every lawyer with over 20 years’ PQE at some point in their career either had to get to grips with email and/or was forced by necessity to rely on either travelling drafts in multicoloured pen and marked up faxes to collaborate!”