Generative AI Is Coming For the Lawyers

David Wakeling, head of London-based law firm Allen & Overy's markets innovation group, first came across law-focused generative AI tool Harvey in September 2022. He approached OpenAI, the system's developer, to run a small experiment. A handful of his firm's lawyers would use the system to answer simple questions about the law, draft documents, and take first passes at messages to clients. The trial started small, Wakeling says, but soon ballooned. Around 3,500 workers across the company's 43 offices ended up using the tool, asking it around 40,000 queries in total.