Tech Tips, 0217 WYBJ, Vol. 40 No. 1. 52
| Author | Blake A. Klinkner, Crowley Fleck, PLLP Cheyenne, Wyoming |
Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Law Offices Expected to be Top Technological Trends Impacting the Legal Profession in 2017
Blake A. Klinkner, Crowley Fleck, PLLP Cheyenne, Wyoming
Technology is remaking the practice of law in ways great and small. This can be seen across the predictions for 2017 law and technology trends which have been shared among the legal tech punditry It seems that at the top of every pundit's list is artificial intelligence—2017 is supposed to be the year when artificial intelligence allows attorneys to take advantage of analytics which were previously too unwieldy or too expensive, and also the year where "routine" legal tasks will start getting assigned to algorithms. 2017 should also see a continued up tick in the number of attorneys who leave the traditional office setting and open up "virtual" offices.
Artificial Intelligence
Of all the legal technology trends predicted to make waves in 2017, artificial intelligence might be the most exciting. A number of technology experts predict that 2017 will be a breakthrough year for the practical employment of artificial intelligence in a number of commercial settings, including the practice of law. The last few years have seen an explosion in predictive analytics and machine learning technologies, and attorneys (especially at large law firms) are starting to take advantage of their increased practicality, accuracy, and afford ability. Development is underway to create artificial intelligence that is capable of analyzing historical judicial rulings and jury verdicts in order to simulate and predict the outcomes of future lawsuits. Such technology will also be capable of analyzing an opposing counsel's past legal maneuvering in order to make predictions as to how that counsel will try future cases. Already, attorneys have been able to take advantage of artificial intelligence that is capable of drafting contracts by inputting a current client's data and matching that against contracts drafted for earlier clients with similar data.
2017 should also see a rise in artificial intelligence programs intended for direct use by legal consumers. For example, an 18-year-old student from the United Kingdom recently created an online application dubbed "The World's First Robot Lawyer" to help citizens fight parking tickets.1 This program asks the user a...
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