Being such an immensely powerful sector, the legal field is definitely not exempt from the power of technology now paving its way steadily across all its areas. The advancement of technology in the law field has definitely led to an evolution in the operations of the legal professionals. As legal operations become increasingly automated, this has propelled legal professionals such as lawyers and paralegals to acquire proficiency in operations such as word processing, telecommunications, presenting data, and so on. Law technology has touched every part of the legal field, be it law firms and corporate practices to courtroom operations and handling of documents. Advancing technologies like artificial intelligence enable modern software to go through legal documents, simplify communications as well as discover suitable casework for law professionals.

ArtificiaI intelligence (AI) may soon render many jobs obsolete. Remember how popular one-hour photo shops were in the 1980s and into the mid-1990s? That's just the tip of the tech iceberg, as AI now seems to be gunning to take over the legal world. The UK-based Law Society noted in a study earlier this year: "Over the longer term, the number of jobs in the legal services sector will be increasingly affected by automation of legal services functions. This could mean that by 2038 total employment in the sector could be 20% less than it would otherwise have been, with a loss of 78,000 jobs -- equal to 67,000 full-time equivalent jobs -- compared to if productivity growth continued at its current rate."

Artificial intelligence programs are being used in more applications and more industries all the time. The legal field is an area that could substantially benefit from AI programs, due to the massive amount of documents that have to be reviewed for any given case. As reported by the Observer, one company is aiming to bring AI to the legal fields, with its CEO seeing a wide variety of uses for AI. Lane Lillquist is the co-founder and CTO of InCloudCounsel, a legal tech firm. Lillquist believes that AI can be used to help lawyers be more efficient and accurate in their jobs.

AI robot lawyers are here--and they aren't going away. When you hear the phrase "robot lawyer," what comes to mind? My brain conjures up an image of C-3PO in a three-piece suit, shuffling around a courtroom, while throwing out cross-examination quips such as: "Don't call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of prosecuting witness grease!" Artificial intelligence (AI) is, in fact, becoming a mainstay component of the legal profession. In some circumstances, this analytics-crunching technology is using algorithms and machine learning to do work that was previously done by entry-level lawyers.

In an AI industry marked by consolidation, a handful of companies are scooping up the lion's share of leading startups. According to a report from analyst firm CB Insights, AI acquisitions rose six-fold from 2013 to 2018. Last year, acquisitions in that market hit a record 166 deals -- a 38% year-over-year spike. The firm's projections say 2019 is on track to sprint past last year, with over 140 acquisitions in the first eight months. Since 2010, there have been 635 AI acquisitions.