TL;DR
Leading law firms are deploying AI tools to accelerate litigation work, with some reporting savings of over 500 hours on individual cases. However, instances of AI-generated hallucinations in legal briefs are prompting firms to implement verification safeguards whilst managing an “arms race” in legal technology adoption.
AI Delivers Tangible Results
When lawyers at Quinn Emanuel took on 3D printing company Desktop Metal in January, they faced a daunting deadline: less than two months to digest more than 70,000 documents and prepare for trial. AI tools enabled them to create detailed chronologies, refine arguments and identify weaknesses in their opponent’s case—ultimately winning the matter.
“AI isn’t the be-all, end-all. It’s not letting us push a button and go to the beach,” says Christopher Kercher, a Quinn Emanuel partner who founded the firm’s AI group. “But it’s a great tool to make us better at our jobs.”
WilmerHale has focused on depositions, deploying an in-house AI tool called Finch. A typical case might involve 20 to 40 depositions, each generating 300 pages of transcripts. After ingesting these documents, Finch can answer questions about critical case details in minutes rather than hours.
The Accuracy Challenge
However, AI also introduces significant risks. Instances of lawyers submitting briefs containing fictitious legal citations have sparked sanctions from judges. A lawyer representing Anthropic in a copyright lawsuit admitted to incorporating an incorrect footnote caused by an AI “hallucination.”
“There’s an arms race at the moment, where everyone is touting all these tools,” says Jeffrey Dennhardt of WilmerHale. “But I think there also remains some scepticism, both from lawyers, who tend to be risk averse, and from some of our clients.”
Law firms are implementing safeguards: Quinn Emanuel assigns “verifiers” to check AI outputs, whilst Willkie emphasises transparency about when and how AI is used. Legal professionals expect AI will save approximately 240 hours per year, with a combined annual impact potentially reaching $20 billion.
Looking Forward
As AI capabilities advance, lawyers will need to “argue” with the technology to challenge its findings, according to Harvard Law School researchers. The key question for professional services firms is not whether to adopt AI, but how to capture productivity gains whilst managing accuracy risks—a challenge relevant far beyond the legal sector.
Source: Financial Times