How is AI impacting Legal Process Outsourcing
Legal Service Evolution: Embracing Technological Advancements, AI Integration, and the Future of Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO)
Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) refers to acquiring legal services from an external provider. Outsourcing legal services to external law firms has been a customary practice for many years.
Advancements in technology have spawned a fresh cadre of support professionals collaborating with attorneys, akin to how healthcare delivery involves collaboration between doctors and healthcare aides. Attorneys, akin to medical practitioners and other technologically supported professionals, will have the freedom to utilize their time and expertise to interpret data, provide expert judgment, and execute tasks necessitating their professional training.
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and other state-of-the-art technologies might result in a four percent reduction in the number of lawyers in England and Wales by 2027, as per a recent study.
The current definition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands significantly apart from the futuristic notions; legal AI solutions primarily involve sophisticated methods of instructing computers to perform routine tasks and/or sift through extensive volumes of data.
Technological advancements are already reshaping legal service provision
Several legal firms hesitated to adopt email well into the mid-2000s. Presently, lawyers are reaping the benefits of investing in: automation tools that have slashed administrative expenses; cloud solutions enabling flexible work arrangements; and AI research tools fostering efficiency and competitive edges.
There exist numerous grounds to anticipate AI’s potential benefits to the legal sector, much like the impact of personal computers. The current legal system relies on teams of paralegals and researchers to uncover, categorize, and process information. This dependence can be costly for law firms, leading to increased service charges. In short-staffed public defender offices, limited time for client interviews significantly diminishes service quality.
Advancements in legal technology offer an opening for established firms seeking efficiency gains and adapting to the prevalent agile work culture. However, technology also empowers smaller boutique firms and independent practitioners to compete with larger entities by granting access to potent research tools, evening the playing field.
AI’s swift integration into legal service delivery comes as no surprise. The globalization, technological strides, and financial upheavals catalyzed legal process outsourcing companies (LPOs).
The LPO framework leans on labor arbitrage and technology to drastically slash costs in high-volume/low-value legal tasks such as document review. This shift enabled LPOs to extract certain repetitive tasks from high-cost law firms. LPOs highlighted that law firms aren’t the only—or the most effective and economical—providers of all legal services. They also underscored the necessity of technology, process management, and legal expertise as integral components of legal service delivery.
AI marks the onset of the second stage in legal service disaggregation. Technology, not labor arbitrage, propels the “better, faster, cheaper” delivery of specific legal services.
Numerous corporate legal divisions, law practices, and service providers enlist external contractors for the examination and uniformity of legal documentation. The scope of potential assignments is expanding swiftly. The impact of these contractors on the corporate sphere of the legal market is in its initial phase, yet their influence on enhancing efficiency, mitigating risks, and significantly abbreviating the duration and cost of human inspection is substantial.
Anticipate notable alterations in the domain of legal technology and the business of law in the coming years. While predicting the future is challenging, firms that remain informed and abreast of current trends will be the most equipped to capitalize on emerging advancements and innovative practices in the sector.
