AI in Legal – Meeting the Need for Speed

In many aspects of life, speed matters. We impatiently roll our eyes when our favorite streaming services lag. We choose the route that gets us to our destination in three hours, not four. We yield to emergency services because how quickly an ambulance arrives on the scene is critical in saving lives.  

And often, we are rewarded for speed. Athletes win medals for being the fastest. Employees earn accolades for efficiency. Servers get larger tips when providing quick service.  

But what about when it comes to legal matters? Lawyers have always faced pressure to move fast — whether it's closing deals, managing risk, or responding to client requests. Traditionally, the only way to meet that demand was to work longer hours or bring in more people. 

But AI is shifting that paradigm, offering lawyers tools to speed up the most time-consuming and cumbersome part of their job. So, what happens when legal work accelerates? Can law firms embrace efficiency without upending their business model? Will in-house teams take on more? And as speed becomes the new norm, how will client expectations evolve?

These are the questions addressed in our recent webinar, AI in Legal – Meeting the Need for Speed. Daniel Lewis, US CEO of LegalOn, sat down with Richard Tromans, founder of Artificial Lawyer (and whose recent article “What if Lawyers Were Rewarded for Speed?” inspired a deep dive into the topic), Lynden Renwick, Managing Partner at Out-House Attorneys, and Bärí A. Williams, LegalOn’s Head of Legal, to explore the real-world impact of AI on speed, efficiency, and profitability.

Are speed and profitability at odds for law firms? 

Time is fundamentally interwoven with legal work — the more thorough the review, the more hours billed to the client. Until recently, the billable hour has been the de facto business model for law firms. The introduction of technology, however, shakes it up a bit because, in a system where time taken is equated to value, technology gets users to the endpoint faster. 

But this doesn’t mean law firms should be wary or steer clear of tools and technology. Rather, technology is setting a new standard for the legal services industry. Similar to how Amazon Prime transformed fulfillment by changing consumer expectations to receive packages in 1-2 days, legal AI and technology are changing client expectations for lawyers to deliver faster turnaround times. 

Modern, business-minded law firms like Out-House Attorneys are seeing the benefits of embracing legal AI. Lynden and his team cut review times in half using LegalOn’s AI Contract Review. The result? The firm earned the reputation of quickly turning around high-quality negotiations that closed deals and doubled its client base within the first six months. 

“Speed and profitability have traditionally been at odds for law firms because of the billable hour which inherently incentivizes slow service… but that’s not true for modern law firms” — Lynden Renwick

Where AI helps gain efficiency

Whether in-house or in a firm, lawyers are feeling the pressure to optimize for speed. For in-house lawyers like Bari, delayed deals could result in the sales team losing a big deal or the product team missing out on a vendor that’s critical to the supply chain. 

For Lynden, deal velocity is the love language spoken between the firm and its clients, who are thrilled to get contracts back quicker. LegalOn flags non-compliant terms so the team can quickly address any issues before starting the top-to-bottom review. They also spend less time redlining as the AI enables them to make precise, word-by-word redlines that match the defined terms and style of the contract with a single click.  

Richard, who started Artificial Lawyer in 2016 when he predicted AI would revolutionize the legal industry, acknowledges that AI isn’t yet in a place where it can be inserted into every aspect of legal work. For example, M&A, litigation, and bankruptcy are so complex that they are better off in the hands of firms that specialize in those cases. However, when it comes to reviewing standard and routine contracts, he believes there’s no reason to turn away technology that enables smoother processes, better data management, and faster turnaround times. 

“When it comes to reviewing day-to-day contracts, there is absolutely no reason to [outsource] the work. With technology you can triangulate the entire approach… any large business that doesn’t think that way is wasting money.” — Richard Tromans

The need for speed… and accuracy

Increasing the speed at which lawyers do work is one thing, but it isn’t everything. Along with speed must come accuracy.  Yes, move quickly, but ensure the work is accurate and appropriately assessed from a business and risk perspective. 

“If you move quickly, you also have to be really good at what you’re doing… you have to make sure that you’re accurate.” — Bärí A. Williams

AI tools are powerful, but they’re only as good as the instructions they follow. When using legal AI to drive efficiency, take the time to ensure accuracy first. Bari recommends starting with playbooks to standardize reviews, improve efficiency, and mitigate risks. Playbooks spell out how your organization handles key contract terms, giving everyone a consistent roadmap for tackling contracts and helping them make decisions faster and more reliably.

A great starting point for AI-ready playbooks is the “Great 8” clauses — intellectual property, limitation of liability, indemnification, confidential information, data protection and security, warranties, payment terms, and effects of termination. These are contract clauses that are frequent sources of negotiation and contain high-stakes legal terms, making them ideal for standardization.

Integrating AI into legal practice

There is a ton of excitement around AI’s potential to revolutionize legal work now and in the future, but for AI to provide true value, it must be accurate and consistent. 

So, what can legal professionals do to ensure accuracy and consistency as they integrate AI more deeply into their legal practice?

1. Ground yourself in the law. Become familiar with the templates used and make sure you understand which clauses are most important in those templates. Stressing the “Great 8” makes it easier to implement standardization and consistency with AI.  
2. Evaluate your most pressing challenges. Many technologies offer a variety of capabilities, but they might not be focused on your pain(s). Take time to determine your specific problem then seek out the tools and solutions that are purpose-built to address that issue. 
3. Trial the technology: There’s a lot of noise in the market when it comes to legal AI so don’t just believe the hype. It’s all noise until you trial the technology, play with the tools, and determine if they’re capable of handling your specific use case. Test the tools against matters you’re familiar with so you can make an accurate assessment of their value to your organization.  
4. Train the AI: Don’t expect immediate results. AI, like new hires or junior associates, must be trained and optimized to a specific role or use case, then reviewed and corrected until it learns over time how to get it right. 
5. Find a long-term partner.  Work with legal tech companies that emphasize the partnership. Can you try it before you buy it? Do they listen to co-development or customization ideas? Could you work with them for years? Do you see the partnership growing together while both sides learn as AI evolves?

Following these tips will help foster a smooth transition into AI and develop a mutually beneficial relationship that provides true value.

“I did an extensive RFP and looked a lot of different tools… there's the genuine partnership we have [with LegalOn] combined with the impressive product. I have had an exception epxerience and partnership with LegalOn the organization and LegalOn the product." — Lynden Renwick

New opportunities in the future 

“AI will not render lawyers obsolete or make them less needed.”—- Bari A. Williams

The hesitation to implement AI in legal work is often based on a fear of AI replacing lawyers. This will not happen. Instead, AI will create new opportunities for legal work and lawyers in the future. There is an increasing demand for tech-native and hungry junior associates who are experts in the technology. And as new products and different services emerge, new types of legal work must accompany them. AI isn’t ready to do something that an experienced human has never done or seen before… at least not yet.

To watch the full webinar, check it out on demand here.