General Counsels In Favor Of Embracing Newer Technologies To Get The Job Done

The in-house legal departments are increasingly using legal technology for areas such as contract lifecycle management, document management, legal research and updates as well as e-discovery and e-billing.

The document management is the tool that in-house counsel feel is helping them the most and was the first choice by 32% of respondents and the second by 42%, according to a survey by legal sector research firm Lawwiser.

The survey witnessed participation of around 64 general counsels, or legal heads, of companies.

The survey revealed the contract management tool was also becoming popular among in-house counsels, with 35% of respondents making it as their first choice. The contract management tool was the second choice for another 35% of respondents.

“If law firms use more technology and AI (artificial intelligence) tools to enhance their efficiency, it will give us more comfort. It will make me feel happy to work with a firm that’s more advanced with tech utilization,” said Shujath Bin Ali, global general counsel and chief compliance officer at Re Sustainability Ltd.

He added that in the longer term, the technology will help improve legal services, reducing the man-hours spent on a task, but won’t replace legal teams or firms.

The survey observed that AI is growing in usage among law firms and corporations alike, but it remains a new technology, and almost half of the survey respondents revealed they had only low levels of familiarity with it.

Sanjeev Gemawat, group general counsel at Vedanta Group, said that a crucial obstacle lies in guaranteeing the precision and dependability of AI systems, as inaccuracies or prejudices in algorithms can result in substantial legal ramifications.

“Furthermore, there are apprehensions regarding data privacy and security, particularly when AI platforms handle sensitive legal information. I believe we should be resorting to responsible AI, as innovation should not lose the race to AI,” he added.

Many general counsels will have a leading role to play in making sure their organization complies with the act, which requires companies to protect and process personal data in a specific way.

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