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Surveying the Impact of AI on Law Practice
In this piece from the ABA Journal, LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters discuss their recent surveys gauging the impact that generative AI could have on the practice of law. TR’s Future of Professionals Report: How AI is the Catalyst for Transforming Every Aspect of Work indicates that two of three respondents think AI will be transformational in the next five years. Over at LexisNexis, the International Legal Generative AI Report found that just under half of respondents think that AI will have a “significant or transformative impact on the practice of law.” Steve Hasker, president and CEO of Thomson Reuters, told ABAJ that AI could address issues such as job satisfaction and free up professionals to perform complex work to meet client needs. “We are at a unique moment where we have the opportunity to realize the benefits of human intelligence, thinking and collaboration differently while using the potential of AI to overcome some of professionals’ biggest pain points,” Hasker says.
Source: ABA Journal
GCs Crave Smarter Data
Law.com recently reported that 98% of in-house counsel say economic conditions are forcing them to cut budgets. “This financial crunch is creating greater pressure on general counsel to show CFOs and executive boards how their legal teams can reduce, manage and forecast costs to meet financial expectations – without compromising their mandate to lessen organizational risk by trying to accurately predict litigation outcomes,” Law.com concludes, citing Mark Smolik, a GC and board member of DHL Supply Chain Americas, who calls for “creative methods” to align financial goals with enhanced delivery of legal services. Smolik calls on law departments to make greater use of data. “The most successful people are the ones that come in with the data, collaborate on the data, get people aligned with the data, make a decision on the data and act on it,” Smolik says. With smarter data, users can evaluate the odds of a judge ruling in their organization’s favor, to the time a matter will take to resolve, to law firms’ win/loss records. That’s a healthy start for aligning dollars and decisions.
Source: Law.com
Law Firms Are Soft Underbelly for Hackers
A growing number of suits allege that law firms are penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to cybersecurity. That makes them sitting ducks for hackers, who see them as “sweet spots.” In a particularly ominous comment, Reed Stark, a former SEC enforcer and current cybersecurity consultant, says, “Whatever drawer you open, you will find something top secret and valuable. This area is ripe for litigation.” Among the firms already in the cybersoup are Proskauer, Kirkland, K&L Gates, Loeb & Loeb, and Orrick. Kent Zimmerman, a law firm consultant with the Zeughauser Group, adds that most firms, which lack budgets to invest sufficiently in cyber defense, are “soft underbelly” targets of hackers seeking client data, because firms “know where the market-moving information is.
Source: Bloomberg Law
Law Firms Face Diversity’s Slippery Slope
In this piece from Bloomberg Law, reporters Riddhi Setty and Khorri Atkinson delve into suits filed against Perkins Coie and Morrison Foerster claiming their DEI plans amount to “reverse discrimination” in cases probing the bounds of Section 1981 of the 1986 Civil Rights Act. Another lawsuit filed against Morgan Stanley & Co. concerns the termination of a White male employee who claimed he was replaced by a Black woman to comply with the firm’s diversity objectives. And yet another case concerns an Atlanta venture capital fund allegedly engaged in “explicit racial exclusion” by providing grants and resources to Black women who run small businesses. The cases are the work of the American Alliance for Equal Rights, a nonprofit founded by conservative activist Edward Blum, who brought the Supreme Court affirmative action challenges. The unconventional claims are an attempt to “circumvent all the administrative procedures required under Title VII,” says American University law professor Susan D. Carle. Experts say it’s uncertain whether the legal approach will sway the courts, but that might not matter in the long run. “To the extent that employers are worried about even getting sued, I think just bringing the lawsuits is going to successfully change employer behavior,” says an employment law professor at Saint Louis University School of Law.
Source: Bloomberg Law
Published November 2, 2023.
