AI Revolution In Law: How Legal Tech Startups Are Changing The Game

As AI continues to reveal itself as an empowering solution for legal professionals, legaltech democratises access to justice by reducing the time and cost of legal services.

The technology, which is driven by AI, utilises NLP and Machine Learning to transform the way legal practitioners and professionals carry out their research work.

Source : herbinisaac/Pixabay

By Himanshu Gupta

Over the past decade, the legal sector in India has witnessed an unprecedented adoption of AI. According to Gartner, the global legal technology market will double in size by 2027 due to GenAI integration. In 2025, investments in legal technology solutions are projected to increase to improve efficiency and productivity. Subsequently, legaltech innovators are leading this transformation to enable research to be efficient, automate repetitive tasks and provide accurate solutions.

As AI continues to reveal itself as an empowering solution for legal professionals, legaltech democratises access to justice by reducing the time and cost of legal services. This new era of legal practice adds more precision and brings agility and a relentless drive toward empowering legal professionals with tech tools that elevate their decision-making and build an inclusive industry.

Democratisation of Legal Services

The proliferation of legaltech doesn't just make the life of lawyers easier, it also improves accessibility to legal services through chatbots, DIY platforms and virtual assistants. As per the World Justice Project, 5.1 billion people globally lack access to justice. However, AI startups that focus on dispute resolution and litigation response are actively bridging these gaps.

In addition, the Legal Services Corporation unveils that 92 per cent of low-income Americans do not receive the legal help they need. Subsequently, this showcases the need to fill these gaps and make legal services more accessible and affordable across different populations.

AI-Led Legal Research and Analytics

The technology, which is driven by AI, utilises NLP and Machine Learning to transform the way legal practitioners and professionals carry out their research work. With its analytical approach, it enables professionals to have real-time access to case law, precedents, and underlying trends in legal data. As per the recent Stanford Law study, AI research tools can reduce lawyers' research time by 70 per cent, which further assists in bringing efficiency to the overall process.

On the other hand, McKinsey report uncovers that nearly 60 per cent of the law firms utilize AI-driven analytics today to frame their litigation strategies.

This reflects the overall adoption and application of these new technologies in the practice of law.

Automation of Routine Tasks

Legaltech is facing a paradigm shift with the introduction of AI, especially in automating routine legal tasks. Moreover, it addresses mundane, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks such as contract review, due diligence, and document drafting.

The most recent Gartner report predicts that 30–50 per cent of routine legal work will be automated by 2025. In addition to this, a Thomson Reuters report indicates that 89 per cent of legal practitioners are already making use of AI for the analysis of contracts. Such innovations not only enhance efficiency but also enable legal practitioners to focus on more strategic and value-adding work.

Predictive Analytics for Case Outcomes

AI technology is recognised for its intuitiveness, which instrumentally reshapes the legal strategy. Predictive case outcomes leverage AI models to forecast litigation risks, settlement values, and even judge rules through the analysis of historical data.

The approach transforms traditional case valuation methods, and thus, the decision-making process is optimised for legal experts. Further, it provides a competitive edge in risk management and minimisation of risks amidst increasing complexities of the legal landscape.

Automation of Compliance and Risk Management

Legaltech companies utilise AI for real-time tracking of regulatory changes and risk identification for regulatory compliance. This dramatically enhances the efficiency and accuracy of compliance processes. As per the Deloitte report, almost 70 per cent of corporate legal departments already employ AI for compliance programs. Further, AI in corporate legal also supports policy drafting and audit processes in an unbiased manner. Hence, it transforms the reactive compliance process into a proactive operation, supporting the dynamic needs of a business.

The integration of AI and its emerging use cases can automate high-volume routine tasks. By replicating human-like abilities, it conducts data analysis to accelerate the delivery of work, increase productivity and enhance employee experience. Though AI is pivotal in enhancing legal capabilities, it comes with an added layer of risks. This requires a robust approach to mitigate them, especially when AI in law is at a nascent stage.

(The author is the Founder & CEO at Lawyered)

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