Two major threats that the legal sector is facing at the moment are the growing number of alternative legal services providers (ALSPs) and the entry of the Big 4 accountancy firms – KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC. The result is an increasingly competitive market where clients want services that are cost efficient. In response, law firms have started to adopt technology-based solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) in an attempt to lower costs. The most common way AI is being deployed is Technology Assisted Review (TAR). This means that barring documents that are specific to an agreement, most documents in a transaction tend to be boilerplate. Examples include employment contracts, licenses etc.

Robert Morley, chief operating officer at Excello Law, examines the use of AI in the legal industry. Alongside Brexit and Donald Trump, artificial Intelligence (AI) kept headline writers working overtime in 2016 – each competing for our attention in a world of increasing uncertainty. Online, a clear winner has emerged from this unlikely trio of scary topics: AI returns nearly two billion results in Google search, whereas'The Donald' scores a more modest 368 million and Brexit a mere 108 million. Among articles and blogs about the future of law firms, AI has similarly dominated attention as the number one theme. Underpinned by dystopian visions of lawyers being replaced by robots and the growing ranks of tech companies dedicated to replacing the human element from much of day-to-day legal practice, the future for the lawyer has seemed bleak.

New robot-style tech is designed to "think like a lawyer" Uber-traditional magic circle outfit Slaughter and May has become the latest firm to put pen to paper on a deal that will see it use artificial intelligence (AI). The system (or cool robot as Legal Cheek likes to think of it) is called Luminance, and has been created by a team of lawyers and mathematicians. Thanks to financial backing from Invoke Capital -- a technology investment fund -- and research and development courtesy of the University of Cambridge, Luminance will, according to its creators, "transform the legal due diligence process." Luminance, which appears to be some sort of super legal mind, will be able to read (and understand) hundreds of pages of complex legal documentation every minute. According to Luminance's CEO, Emily Foges, the AI system will be "trained to think like a lawyer."

Slaughter and May has signed a deal to use a new artificial intelligence (AI) system called Luminance which it helped create with backing from a technology investment company set up by Autonomy co-founder Mike Lynch. The firm worked closely with Luminance Technologies, which has been funded with capital from Invoke Capital, for several months to test and pilot the software Luminance claims will transform the due diligence process on M&A deals. The elite magic circle firm is the only law firm to have piloted Luminance prior to its launch, though several others are also interested in piloting the technology. Its expertise on deals and due diligence was used to help improve the technology. Slaughters has signed a contract to use the technology going forward, though the details around this are not yet clear.

Magic circle giant Clifford Chance is the latest City outfit to embrace the mysterious world of artificial intelligence (AI), striking a deal with Canadian software provider Kira Systems. According to the Canary Wharf based firm, the intelligent software will help its lawyers quickly analyse contracts, identify potential legal issues, improve speed, and, as a result, increase all round efficiency. Furthermore -- according to the software designer -- not only can Kira be put to work straight away, requiring very little set up time, she it can actually learn on the job, growing in intelligence through training provided by the firm's lawyers. Our clients are under substantial pressure to reduce legal spend. At the same time, they need more support to manage the increasing risks and complex issues that their companies are facing.

Magic circle giant Clifford Chance is the latest City outfit to embrace the mysterious world of artificial intelligence (AI), striking a deal with Canadian software provider Kira Systems. According to the Canary Wharf based firm, the intelligent software will help its lawyers quickly analyse contracts, identify potential legal issues, improve speed, and, as a result, increase all round efficiency. Furthermore - according to the software designer - not only can Kira be put to work straight away, requiring very little set up time, she it can actually learn on the job, growing in intelligence through training provided by the firm's lawyers. Our clients are under substantial pressure to reduce legal spend. At the same time, they need more support to manage the increasing risks and complex issues that their ...

Clifford Chance has become the latest UK law firm to adopt the use of artificial intelligence (AI) after partnering with software provider Kira Systems. The magic circle firm has teamed up with Kira Systems to improve the "speed, efficiency and quality" of its processes. In practice Kira works by searching and analysing text within contracts. The firm believes its use will reduce the time spent carrying out due diligence work and increase the number of documents that can be reviewed. It was chosen by Clifford Chance because the software can be easily modified by the firm's lawyers and is able to adapt to specific client requests.

New entrants to the legal profession will be competing head on against Kim, the virtual assistant from Riverview Law, and Ross, IBM Watson's'super-intelligent' attorney, in delivering services to clients. Ross, unlike most of us, has the ability to research every resource of legal knowledge in seconds, and, even more impressive to the older ones among us, remember it. There's no doubt that clients will always value negotiating skills, judgement, ethical standards and reassurance from their lawyers but if the apprentice style of learning at the expert's knee is going to be overtaken by Kim and Ross, how will the profession generate the experienced advisers that clients seek to consult? Clients seek good value for money from their law firms and those expectations change over time. In the past, certain tasks were seen as good value for money. Now, as tasks become more familiar, technology enables a more efficient delivery.