Digital White Papers

30 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER LITIGATION AND PRACTICE SUPPORT Meet the Algorithms: AI Is Joining Your Firm is to work with those that have the greatest market share. But this industry is still young, and to dismiss the growing number of startups that offer AI- supported offerings would be shortsighted. More tools that use AI algorithms are entering the legal market daily. The CodeX program at Stanford manages a list of legal tech companies, with over 650 companies listed, and more being added weekly. How should you evaluate a vendor? The traditional touchstones of the discovery process –– relevance, proportionality and reasonableness –– can also apply to vendor selection, with validation as a fourth criterion for evaluation. Relevance: What problem do you need to solve? Time constraints? Cost savings? Data management? Customer retention? AI-based technology could help you save time, save money or offer beer, more cost-efficient services to your clients. Because AI algorithms are trained to conduct a specific task, search for vendors that can accomplish that task. Proportionality: Are the resources commied proportionately to the output? If the firm requires a data scientist or other trained individual to use the technology, then the resulting information should significantly improve productivity, cases won and revenue. Seek out the many options that require no technical skills, such as vendors that offer SaaS options and web-based applications. They will provide any needed support. Reasonableness: Proportionality and reasonableness are closely aligned. Is the learning curve for new soware reasonable? How many hours of training are required? If it's over 30 minutes, question what you're geing for the time investment. 1 2 3 Validation: Court rulings have indicated that "best practices" advanced by any particular vendor need not be followed, but the output must be valid. Validity can be shown through replication of results, applicability of results, statistical support or other means of determining the accuracy of the output. Question vendors on how they test for validity of results. Dōmo Arigatō, Mr. Roboto Artificial intelligence is already an integral part of legal technology offerings. Today, machines can perform simple repetitive tasks, such as trademark filings, and daunting tasks, such as big data discovery, more efficiently and effectively than humans. In fact, the courts are expecting law firms and lawyers to keep up with technology, with over 25 states adopting aorney ethics provisions associating legal aptitude with technological competence. The State Bar of California's Formal Opinion No. 2015-93 states that "the duty of competence may require a higher level technical knowledge and ability." But it is a long road before AI-driven technology will replace lawyers. Michael Aikenhead phrased it well in the Law Technology Journal article "A Discourse on Law and Artificial Intelligence:" "Instead of implying that legal reasoning is primarily a process of deduction or a process of analogizing, the theory of law as discourse requires a richer view of the process of legal reasoning." Machines do not currently possess the capability of legal reasoning. However, as reasoning humans, lawyers must recognize the current and future effect of AI- driven technologies on the legal profession, and they need to embrace how best to utilize these advancements in their legal practices. ILTA 4 DR. ROSANNA GARCIA Dr. Rosanna Garcia is the CEO and co-founder of Vijilent. She is an expert in predictive analytics and entrepreneurship. Rosanna holds a PhD in marketing from Michigan State University and an MBA. After an Airbnb guest caused $18,000 in damage to her home, Rosanna decided to use her data analytics tools to build trust and safety into online transactions. Contact her at rosanna.garcia@vijilent.com.

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