Lawtech: coronavirus speeds up artificial intelligence adoption in the legal profession

Like them, loathe them, fear them, but robots are bedding down in the legal profession. The number of patents filed globally with the World Intellectual Property Organisation for "lawtech" leapt by 34 per cent last year to a record high of 1,369, figures from a report published this week reveal. The figures also show that the number of patents filed has increased by nearly 65 per cent over the past two years, up from 831 in 2017. According to researchers at Thomson Reuters, which has exclusively shown the results with The Times, the increase in global patents filed "demonstrates how quickly the legal profession has turned to technology to revolutionise how it operates".