Future ‘lawyerbot’ will learn, make judgments

The lawyers of the future will provide machine learning-enabled judgment, according to an innovation-focused lawyer.

“Being a good lawyer is no longer enough. Digitization and artificial intelligence (AI) are all very real and the legal industry is right in the middle of the changes they will bring,” says Andy Leck, a partner and innovation committee member at Baker McKenzie, who commented on the firm’s recent introduction of an AI product.

In August, Baker McKenzie announced that it selected eBrevia as its main AI tool to be used on M&A and other transactional work.

Leck said performing due diligence during M&A transactions was particularly time consuming and complex when one considered the global nature of the companies that Asia-Pacific lawyers worked with.

“The process of conducting a due diligence effort is often labour-intensive and repetitive, making it a perfect candidate to make use of AI to increase the accuracy and efficiency of the process,” he said.