Digital White Papers

54 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Let's Stop with the Robot-Lawyer Memes have been adopted because of the changing demands of our work, specifically the exponential increase in electronic evidence. However, these tools were not presented as a way to replace lawyers. True, they do substantially reduce demand for aorney time on document reviews. But, frankly, does any aorney or client long for the days when rooms were filled with associates digging through Bankers Boxes full of documents and staring at computer screens while thousands of email messages scrolled by? (I, for one, missed the class in law school where they taught us to conduct tedious document reviews.) Diminish Fear of (Genuine) Disruption Admiedly, we are on the crest of a wave of technological innovation unlike anything we have ever seen. Artificial intelligence, automated contract review, expert systems and blockchain-based smart contracts are of technological significance far greater than fax machines, email and online legal research services were. These are potentially disruptive, not merely sustainable, technologies. We need to present these potentially disruptive technologies to our aorneys in a way that demonstrates how these tools can make them beer aorneys and help them beer serve their clients. Take, for instance, automated contract analysis. Do we need teams of associates reviewing thousands of pages of documents as part of due diligence to locate and identify the critical provisions requiring legal analysis? The value to the client is in the analysis, not in the tedious review process. Would this technology not enable the aorneys to focus on higher- value — and more interesting and rewarding — analytical work? Now consider the enhanced legal research services incorporating AI technologies, such as ROSS Intelligence and Ravel Law. For the practicing aorney, these are advanced versions of the services that enhanced their online legal research capabilities a few decades ago. Should these tools not be perceived as enabling them to research more efficiently — a task most clients resist paying for at any rate — instead of replacing their jobs one day? And consider expert systems deployed to perform new maer intake and gather case-specific facts. These systems enable aorneys to focus on the work they were trained to do — provide strategic advice and counsel to their clients — rather than on mundane, repetitive tasks such as taking notes during a client interview or siing through client records. We are already seeing vendors like Neota Logic working with pro bono legal service organizations to apply these technologies to help serve clients who might otherwise be without access to legal services. Clients Want You to Work Alongside Robots Perhaps the most important takeaway is this: if law firms reject the positive impact of technology because they fear reduced billable hours and a threat to their job security, they will open the door wider for alternative legal service providers and legal technology startups to lure their clients. Our clients are speaking loudly and clearly: they want services delivered more efficiently and cost-effectively. If that means using alternative legal service providers that have embraced the power of technology, clients will move in that direction. So please stop all of this talk about robot-lawyers. Innovative technologies must be introduced to aorneys as the future rather than the demise of their profession. We must demonstrate how law firms can take advantage of technology to beer serve clients and prosper through its effective use. Please, let's stop the robot-lawyer memes. ILTA SCOTT D. RECHTSCHAFFEN As Littler's Chief Knowledge Officer, Scott D. Rechtschaffen leads the firm's efforts to provide innovative client services by integrating new technologies and work processes and enabling attorneys and clients to access the collective knowledge and experience of the firm's more than 1,200 attorneys. He combines over 30 years of experience representing companies in every area of labor and employment law with a broad understanding of technology to help the firm's attorneys and their clients in tailoring unique solutions that enhance the firm's ability to deliver legal information and legal services to its clients. Contact him at srechtschaffen@littler.com.

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