Lawyers need a functional understanding of artificial intelligence technologies, said Daniel W. Linna Jr., director of Law and Technology Initiatives at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, adding that one of the “big mistakes” they make is to only consider generative AI, when there are so many other computational tools to understand.
Linna was a panelist on “AI Hot Topics Every Lawyer Needs to Know,” held Aug. 1 at the Taft Law Firm during the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago.
Jayne R. Reardon, ethics and professional responsibility counsel and past executive director of Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, said she will continue to enforce the standard that you have to be technology savvy to be a lawyer because “it’s a matter of professionalism.” She directed attendees to ABA Model Rule 1.1, which states that lawyers must understand the risks and benefits of relevant technology.
Reardon said she worries about solo practitioners not having access to AI afforded to large firms and suggested that all lawyers take time to educate themselves daily or weekly on the topic. She recommended two resources, Openai.com and thebrainyacts.beehiiv.com
With the rapidly changing pace of AI, panelists acknowledged the challenge of staying informed of new developments,
Still, they said lawyers should go ahead and start integrating policy and guidance at their offices to help navigate AI usage in law practice. The recently released ABA Formal Opinion 512 on the growing use of generative artificial intelligence helps do that.
Linna said he’s “excited about the opportunity to improve the rule of law” and that AI is changing the way courts work, including:
- Online dispute resolution
- Legal research
- Checking parties’ briefs
- Analyzing the record and extracting information
- Drafting opinions
- Checking opinions
Judge E. Kenneth Wright Jr., of the 1st Municipal District of the Circuit Court of Cook County, said he welcomes AI’s ability to help pro se litigants.
More study needs to be done to determine how to get AI tools in the hands of those who need them, he said. Some ways could be to partner with academic institutions, city and county departments, libraries and nonprofits. “While these services could aid pro se litigants tremendously, the issue is that these AI services are either unaffordable or require payment to access,” Wright said.
The Innovation Lab at Northwestern University partners with computer science students and law students to build prototype technologies, Linna said. Their project, Law Center for Better Housing, uses chatbot, a generative AI tool, to provide resources about housing rights, but can also provide information on legal assistance if an issue requires help from a lawyer. “It’s a great example of creating an app that’s available to individuals and can help with a wide range of issues,” he said.
This summer, Wright’s externs developed a manual to help pro se litigants ask questions and use the right words to help them navigate AI more successfully.
Reardon is working with technology companies to help them formulate their systems to stay on the right side of Unauthorized Practice of Law, known as UPL.
“That’s a major challenge,” she said, adding that UPL laws need to change in order to allow computer-assisted programs to help people access the law.
“We all know the law has become more and more complex and it’s leaving behind the people who don’t have rudimentary understanding of basic concepts and that’s on us — it’s our obligation as lawyers to work to make the law accessible to all. And now we’re on this brink where new AI tools can do that if we would get out of the way or change the regulations to allow them to access the systems.
“We have shackles on our legs because our lawyer regulations need to be adjusted for the realities of 2024,” she said.
“AI Hot Topics Every Lawyer Needs to Know,” was part of the ABA’s CLE in the City series, a unique opportunity for attendees to earn educational credits from industry experts at top law firms in Chicago.