Digital White Papers

51 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Let's Stop with the Robot-Lawyer Memes Any such article would present "exceptionally good ideas worth considering" for my colleagues in law firm knowledge management and information technology, the legions of legal industry consultants and academics, and those involved with legal technology startups. They would readily accept and maybe even delight in the proposition that we can change the delivery of legal services by reducing the critical work of aorneys — or, at the least, the time they spend performing traditional tasks in service of their clients. Anyone see the problem? While all of the above may seem exciting and intriguing to ILTA members, knowledge management professionals and legal technology advocates, imagine the reaction of a practicing lawyer reading this: "You're going to re-engineer the litigation process so I can bill less time?" "You're going to automate the generation of legal documents?" "You're going to make legal research more efficient?" You can just hear an aorney saying, "I bill those hours to put my kids through college and fund my retirement, which, if you are correct with this robot lawyer stuff, is going to come a lot sooner than I had thought!" As both a shareholder and a member of the board of directors at my firm, I travel across our firm's offices and hear my colleagues' anxiety. For example, when our ComplianceHR joint venture launched a product to help clients determine independent contractor or overtime-exempt status, I heard my colleagues say, "Wait, helping my clients make those decisions is a big part of my practice." And when we re-engineered our litigation practice through Liler CaseSmart, I heard them say they had been litigating cases for their clients for decades and had no need for a flat-fee, rationalized delivery model (although their clients might have disagreed). With that in mind, here is my exceptionally good idea worth considering: Why don't we stop scaring the aorneys who, lest we forget, are the drivers, most valuable assets and, in many cases, owners of our businesses? Aorneys are our businesses, and their roles will remain critical. Robots — or, more precisely, artificial intelligence tools — will not help our clients structure the best negotiating strategy for a multimillion-dollar merger and acquisition; robots will not create the case strategy and final argument that persuades a jury; and robots will not provide the sophisticated strategic advice that general counsel rely on from outside legal advisors — at least not for some time. Not that we should abandon our efforts to advance and implement these new technologies. Those who deride technology's advancements are only spiing into the wind. We must continue to advocate for new technologies, but we must also offer a vision, a way for aorneys to understand how technology and innovation will help them do what they do, only beer. Emphasize that innovation and technology can generate more work for aorneys, rather than eliminate or reduce work. We need to stop talking about robot lawyers and start talking about technology-assisted human lawyers. We must continue to advocate for new technologies, but we must also offer a vision, a way for attorneys to understand how technology and innovation will help them do what they do, only better.

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