Niche law firms poised to benefit from artificial intelligence

The legal profession is being challenged now as never before to embrace new technologies to transform the way they deliver legal services. And the impetus is coming from clients, particular general counsel of large multinationals, who in this new digital age are simply refusing to countenance paying for 30 associates to do a job they now know full well an intelligent piece of software can do in their place. Gone are the days of junior litigators barricading themselves in a war room for days, sifting through boxes and boxes of evidence; or trainee conveyancers sweating 100s of hours reviewing a 300-page lease. Today, clients expect this work to be despatched in hours or minutes with the aid of artificial intelligence tools, leaving the humans to focus on the real value-adds: deciding on litigation strategy and tactics; or handling a sensitive lease negotiation. Law firms are now required to become adept in separating out the different strands of the service they provide to clients and working out which bits are still best delivered by (wo)man and which by machine.