This article has been written by Ms. Sahej Suri, a IVth Year student of the ICFAI University, Dehradun under the guidence of Dr.Vivek Kumar .

In this article, the author discusses about the analysis on the very topic how technology is a tool of assistance in legal system.

In the present times, the Legal System of our country has come to such a stage where the technology can now establish its regime. The inclusion of technology in the legal world has an encouraging future. With the advancement in research and technology, it has become a necessity for every field to introduce technology into its system. Concerning the field of law, the young law practitioners and research scholars are open to such change and encourage the use of technology. The use of technology increases the efficiency of legal offices and the productivity of small tasks like clerical work. Due to this, various legal-tech companies are venturing into online services and products such as artificial intelligence, Big Data, E-filing, Intelligent Knowledge management, online creation of legal documents and contracts, and most importantly online legal database companies. Apart from this, new technology is the key to empower firms to meet these changing demands and have a client-centric approach. Legal technology allows clients to know how much fees they have to pay and the day-to-day progress of the lawyer on their case. They also show clients information in a precise and concise manner.

Some ideas for improving the work in law field:

In today’s world, various legal technologies have been introduced to make the practice of law more efficient. Some of these technologies are still developing while others have shown quality work in the field of law. Following are the recent legal technologies which have been introduced in the present era to encourage technology in the field of law:

Artificial Intelligence

It is the most important subject in artificial intelligence including computers that replicate thinking ability, i.e. To think exactly like a human brain. Law, as a discipline that needs thinking of a human brain, is full of opportunities for such technology to improve what you are doing and what service you are offering. Elements of artificial intelligence have been in the legal profession for quite a long time, but now it’s much more extensive. For example, when a lawyer searches for a document in his office’s digital systems, instead of just returning any result that exactly matches the search terms, artificial intelligence can read all of his documents instantly, gain an understanding of what they’re about beyond the title, and produce the relevant result.

Machine learning:

Machine Learning is a part of artificial intelligence. This technology works in such a way that if a person searched a document for the first time in this machine or application and that person didn’t the results provided by the machine on that research, the machine learns that and next when that person searches the same thing on that machine or application, instead of providing the same result it did last time, will provide more relevant and genuine results. Such the ability of this technology is permanent.

This kind of technology has increased efficiency in various sectors especially in the area of law because of its improving accuracy and reliability which can surpass human ability in the same domain within a few years. 

Document automation:

Although this technology has been introduced in various sectors of the country, legal practitioners are not completely sure to use this kind of technology. In this technology, early adopters of document automation now have teams of specialists who turn a few hours of partner time into resources while also generating best-practice precedents that can persist across a global firm for years.

In the public sector, where the legal departments have experienced pressure to cut expenses over the past decade, the untapped potential of paper production is greatest. They will exchange skills between offices, industries, and regional areas by automating key papers, and free-busy lawyers in the public sector to perform specific value-added activities.

Predictive analytics:

Predictive Analytics is also a part of artificial intelligence where programmers point their processing power at a set of data and teach it what to look for and then wait as the program turns up the right conclusions with startling speed and efficiency. Legal practice is a sector that generates mass amounts of data, much of it public i.e. Witness statements, M&A filings, court reports, etc. All this data is ready to be exploited for the benefit of clients. For example, there’s a company in Florida that uses AI to analyze public litigation data sets to predict with unnerving accuracy the win rates of lawyers, versus other lawyers and before particular judges. Predictive analytics might seem like a far-off concept until a client uses it to find the one lawyer that consistently beats your team.

Cloud-based case management

Many firms already have case management systems with them, but others including mid-sized and smaller law firms are stopping short of a cloud-based framework transformation. They believe like consumers are taking a huge risk in trusting their private details, so it wouldn’t feel appropriate to take the details so stored in the business setting, with a third party. The only trouble with this technology is that there is a third party with whom all the data is stored so the reliability is doubtful.

Blockchains:

It is a digital database that holds a big list of records of transactions in which each block has a timestamp and is tied digitally to the previous block. Blockchains don’t need intermediaries, so they can enable disenfranchised people to exchange things of value without needing powerful arbiters – like lawyers. They also offer an unalterable digital record.

Conclusion:

Technology, like in any other sector, is helpful to go hand in hand with the present times of the world. The adoption of legal technology in law firms and legal agencies can go on a long way in improving their efficiency and also brings with it the promise of new clients. It creates flexible legal services, escalates transparency, and reduces the chance of errors in documentation. It is well said that the development of legal technology straddling the entire legal sector delivers benefits on a much larger scale. There is no doubt that technology, if used correctly, is faster and more efficient than any human individual. This can prove to be of great assistance to any law firm. A high level of analysis can be done in a matter of minutes. If all documentation is online, and handled by artificial intelligence, the chances of errors are much lesser.