Should I use AI in my legal dispute?
Everyone is affected by AI, whether they are aware of it or not. We are a tech-focused agile firm that has been on the Cloud since 2012. We are constantly thinking about technology.
AI has become a powerful tool that is improving exponentially. Any predictions one makes now are likely to look foolish in 12 months’ time.
Nevertheless, you must try to make predictions and prepare for them. So here are mine for the next 12 months:
An increase in the number of issued claims using AI instead of a solicitor
When it comes to money and business, the majority of people can be very aggressive if they think that they have been wronged. If you make it easy for them to issue a claim they will.
However, their appetite for court proceedings is usually greatly reduced after speaking with a litigation solicitor who explains the costs and risks of court claims. This is a good thing, as it prevents people from wasting money on claims that are unlikely to be successful. Only an experienced litigator can know what to consider before filing a claim. Having a good claim is only one of a number of factors.
Instead of getting necessary advice from a solicitor, an aggrieved person will now believe that they can pursue a claim through the courts without a solicitor by using AI. This is a mistake. In general, people are willing to do almost anything rather than pay a lawyer for their expertise and knowledge. I understand that, historically lawyers have been very expensive and inaccessible.
Big Tech is putting hugely powerful AI tools in everyone’s hands and encouraging us to use them. This looks very cheap and accessible.
Another natural consequence is that people may think that AI can substitute for proper legal advice, and file a claim without getting adult advice. This will increase the number of claims.
A decrease in the cost of resolving disputes through a solicitor
Historically, litigation through a solicitor has been very expensive. The majority of costs are associated with acquiring, reading and understanding documents. There are often hundreds or even tens of thousand documents and emails. For humans to read and review these is really expensive.
Helix now has industry leading AI software to automate much of the review and interpretation of the documents. As we learn to use these tools, costs are coming down. We will be able to resolve more disputes with less time and money. AI allows us to spend more time on the client than the paperwork.
Should you use AI instead of a solicitor to resolve disputes?
In short, no. A little AI or knowledge can be dangerous. AI can save you money on legal fees, but if you lose your case, you may have to pay your opponent’s. If you give AI the wrong information or ask it the wrong questions, AI can go horribly wrong. Even if it has the right information and the right questions, it can hallucinate and you will not be able to tell the difference.
There are so many things to consider before bringing or defending a claim. AI models are unlikely to take into account these factors or perform a risk assessment. They will simply give you the answer that you asked for. If you use AI to resolve legal disputes, you run the risk of being defeated by an unknown unknown. If you use AI for legal disputes you are at risk of being defeated by an unknown unknown.
How should you harness AI to help you with disputes?
For the reasons above, we think it is unwise to use AI to run litigation without a solicitor.
The better strategy is to use a solicitor who uses AI to drive down cost and increase the accuracy of their advice.
At Helix we can now accept thousands of documents and review them for anywhere from a half to a tenth of the cost before AI.
We know what documents to feed it, and we know what questions to ask. We use an AI that is specifically trained to solve legal problems. We have the expertise to review and revise any answers.
