The Access to Algorithmic Justice project (A2AJ) is an open-source alternative to the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII). At a moment when technology promises to enable new ways of working with law, CanLII is becoming an impediment to the free access of law and access to justice movements because it restricts bulk and programmatic access to Canadian legal data. This means that Canada is staring down a digital divide: well-resourced actors have the best new technological tools and, because CanLII has disclaimed leadership, the public only gets second-rate tools. This article puts CanLII in its larger historical context and shows how long and deep efforts to democratize access to Canadian legal data are, and how often they are thwarted by private industry. We introduce the A2AJ's Canadian Legal Data project, which provides open access to over 116,000 court decisions and 5,000 statutes through multiple channels including APIs, machine learning datasets, and AI integration protocols. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate how open legal data enables courts to conduct evidence-based assessments and allows developers to create tools for practitioners serving low-income communities.

The high court has told senior lawyers to take urgent action to prevent the misuse of artificial intelligence after dozens of fake case-law citations were put before the courts that were either completely fictitious or contained made-up passages. Lawyers are increasingly using AI systems to help them build legal arguments, but two cases this year were blighted by made-up case-law citations that were either definitely or suspected to have been generated by AI. In a 89m damages case against the Qatar National Bank, the claimants made 45 case-law citations, 18 of which turned out to be fictitious, with quotes in many of the others also bogus. The claimant admitted using publicly available AI tools and his solicitor accepted he cited the sham authorities. When Haringey Law Centre challenged the London borough of Haringey over its alleged failure to provide its client with temporary accommodation, its lawyer cited phantom case law five times.

Electronic brain implants could allow lawyers to quickly scan years of background material and cut costs in the future, a new report claims. The report from The Law Society sets out the way the profession could change for employees and clients as a result of advances in neurotechnology. It suggests that a lawyer with the chip implanted in his or her brain could potentially scan documentation in a fraction of the time, reducing the need for large teams of legal researchers. 'Some lawyers might try to gain an advantage over competitors and try to stay ahead of increasingly capable AI systems by using neurotechnology to improve their workplace performance,' wrote Dr Allan McCay, the author of the report. Neurotechnology could also allow firms to charge clients for legal services based on'billable units of attention' rather than billable hours, as they would be able to monitor their employees' concentration.

The adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence could lead to the UK legal sector shedding 13,000 jobs, according to a report by the Law Society of England and Wales. The report on the future shape of the legal workforce projected a 13,000 fall in the number of jobs by 2027, equivalent to a four per cent drop. The body said the number of legal secretaries is projected to fall by nearly two thirds and other office support staff by a quarter. Many major law firms have already axed support staff, particularly in expensive locations such as London. Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer offered voluntary redundancy to all 180 of its secretaries in London in 2017, while both Ashurst and Baker McKenzie have made staff cuts in the City this year.

Technological advancements have made a profound impact in all aspect of our lives. And as a result, many businesses are pushing forward with their digital agendas. Digitisation has made its way into the legal system, too. The UK government published its policy paper in 2017, setting out how to develop a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone. For both the government and law firms, this change is mostly driven by client pressure, according to The Law Society.

Good judgement and skills such as emotional intelligence, empathy, creativity and wisdom will become even more important to lawyering as the use of artificial intelligence increases, says UNSW Professor of Law Michael Legg. The director of the Law Society of NSW Future of Law and Innovation in the Profession (FLIP) stream at UNSW Law discussed what an AI-enhanced lawyer looks like at the Law Society's FLIP Conference in Sydney this month. "Whatever the nature of their practice, it has been said that the most important skill of lawyering is sound judgement," Professor Legg said. "Sound judgement is about more than answering legal questions – it encapsulates the relational and contextual elements of being a'problem-solving' lawyer. "None of the AI technologies currently available have the capacity to completely replace lawyers, as each still requires the exercise of human judgement as part of the process." The talk was part of a collaboration on research between UNSW Law and the NSW Law Society, which is responding to issues such as legal technology and new ways of working raised by the NSW Law Society's FLIP report in 2016. The report recognised that the legal profession is undergoing change at a pace never before experienced and in unforeseen ways, which has major ramifications for the legal profession, clients and society, particularly in relation to access to justice. FLIP Stream Research Fellow Dr Felicity Bell showed research by Israel-based contract review platform LawGeex, which compared the efforts of 20 "experienced" lawyers in reviewing five different non-disclosure agreements, with those of its software. The lawyers took, on average, 92 minutes to review all five contracts, while the software took a mere 26 seconds. "The software outperformed the lawyers in terms of accuracy, and vastly outperformed them in terms of speed," she said. "The lawyers took, on average, 92 minutes to review all five contracts, while the software took a mere 26 seconds.

The Law Society has produced a new horizon scanning report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the legal profession. Over the next few years, AI will start to have a noticeable impact on the legal profession. This report explores the use of AI in legal practice, in areas such as document analysis and delivery, legal advisor support and case outcome prediction. It considers the likely implications on legal jobs, types of legal work and the impact on fee structures and costs. The report also examines the legal issues arising from the increased use of AI systems, including issues around transparency, ethics and liability.

The application of artificial intelligence algorithms in the justice system - for example to decide which offenders are eligible for alternatives to custodial sentences - will be among the first items on the agenda of a year-long investigation into the impact of technology opened by the Law Society. The Public Policy Technology and Law Commission - Algorithms in the Justice System, will meet in public three times, its chair Christina Blacklaws, who next month assumes the presidency of the Law Society, announced last night. The commmission's formation reflects growing concern about the advent of so-called'Schrodinger's justice' - in which decisions are taken by self-learning systems impervious to examination or challenge. Pressure group Big Brother Watch revealed yesterday that it has instructed human rights firm Leigh Day to take action against the Metropolitan Police over to demand the withdrawal of'dangerously authoritarian' automated technology for recognising faces at public events such as the Notting Hill Carnival. Blacklaws told an event at Chancery Lane last night that facial recognition systems in effect require'a degree of privacy to be surrendered in return for a promise of greater security' - but that the technology had so far failed to work.

New developments in artificial intelligence do not yet need specific new laws to control possible harmful effects, a landmark inquiry by peers recommends today. However the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence's 180-page report proposes that the government draft an international ethical code - which would include a ban on autonomous weapons, so-called'killer robots'. In researching the report, the lords' investigation took evidence from a wide range of ethical and legal experts, including the Law Society, law firms and Gazette columnist Joanna Goodman, as well as figures from industry and academia. Its overall finding was that the UK is in a strong position to lead developments, with its'constellation of legal, ethical, financial and linguistic strengths'. However committee chair Lord Clement-Jones (DLA Piper partner Timothy Clement-Jones) noted that: 'AI is not without its risks and the adoption of the principles proposed by the committee will help to mitigate these.'

As the Global Legal Post reported today that the Law Society urges firms to harness the power of automation, the following article was the cover story published in the Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer (the official journal of Leeds Law Society) titled AI and the rise of the robot on 20th December 2016 and is reproduced with kind permission. I was delighted to be interviewed and share some of my thoughts about AI in the legal eco-system and the benefits for lawyers, entrepreneurs, business people and consumers... Artificial intelligence (AI) is slowly changing how law firms work. Should lawyers be worried about their futures? Technology has been forcing subtle changes to the practice of law for decades now. Whether lawyers have welcomed all of the alterations to the way in which they work has almost been immaterial.