Many predictions have been made about the impact of artificial intelligence on the legal profession. From the demise of the billable hour to robots replacing lawyers, projections have run the gamut. Among the most optimistic is the suggestion that rapid advancements in AI could significantly improve access to justice by providing underserved communities with easily accessible and much-needed legal information.

As much as I would like this to be true, the cynic in me remains skeptical that altruism will ever truly trump capitalism. However, the growing momentum behind the recent wave of tools designed to close the access-to-justice gap might just prove me wrong.

How can AI improve access to justice?

There are several ways that AI software can potentially expand access to justice. First, AI tools designed to increase the efficiency of law firm workflows can enable lawyers to take on more cases and provide affordable and effective representation for their clients. This category of tools has been discussed in many of my prior columns and includes AI functionality integrated into software platforms that include document management, law practice management, legal billing, legal research, contract analysis, brief writing and more.

AI software can also be designed specifically for legal professionals who often represent underserved communities, such as those employed by legal aid organizations or attorneys who often handle assigned matters in criminal or family court. By streamlining their workflows and reducing redundant processes, AI technology can enable them to represent more clients.

Finally, AI-powered chatbots that provide legal information directly to the consumer are another way to reduce access-to-justice barriers. Navigating our complex court systems can be challenging even for experienced litigators, so user-friendly interfaces on court websites that simplify judicial processes and procedures can make all the difference.

Issues to consider when choosing AI software

I’ll discuss below the second and third categories and provide notable examples of initiatives and tools that rely on AI to expand access to justice—whether by enabling lawyers to better represent underserved populations or making legal information more accessible and understandable for unrepresented litigants.

Before we dive in, important factors to keep in mind when choosing AI tools for your legal organization include understanding that you’ll be entrusting confidential information to a third party because AI software is typically cloud-based. This means that you have an ethical obligation to thoroughly vet the technology provider by obtaining information on how the data will be handled by that company; where the servers on which the data will be stored are located; who will have access to it; and how often and when it will be backed up, among other things.

Because the software includes AI features, you’ll also want to explore issues that include accuracy rates, how the company protects your data, and whether your team’s data inputs are used to train AI models to improve responses.

Tools for public interest organizations

One way to ensure access to justice is to equip legal professionals who devote their careers to underserved populations with tools that will make their work easier and more effective. AI software companies have approached this aspirational goal in two very different ways.

First, a number of companies have developed AI-powered tools designed to meet the needs and budgets of legal services providers who represent underserved populations. The products address a variety of pain points, with each tool helping to reduce the challenges encountered by legal professionals juggling high caseloads. Notable examples include:

• LawDroid Copilot: A generative AI assistant with pricing starting at $19 per user per month; it can conduct legal research, draft and summarize documents and correspondence, and analyze motions.
• JusticeText: A software platform designed to help public defenders and criminal defense attorneys analyze and transcribe video and audio evidence.
• Descrybe.ai: A free generative AI search engine available in English and Spanish with a database of caselaw from more than 3 million state and federal judicial opinions.

Simultaneously, initiatives such as Thomson Reuters’ AI for Justice Legal Aid program and Everlaw for Good are helping bridge the access-to-justice gap by providing legal aid organizations and nonprofits with cost-effective access to advanced AI tools.

Programs such as these offer subsidized or free access to software that can significantly enhance efficiency. By equipping legal professionals with tools to streamline tasks such as research, drafting and evidence review, these initiatives enable nonprofits and pro bono programs to expand their representation of underserved populations while reducing costs and maximizing impact.

AI-powered tools for legal consumers

Another way to tackle access-to-justice challenges is to provide legal consumers with tools that provide legal information and possibly even assist them in solving their legal issues without needing to retain an attorney. Certain legal matters are simple enough that people may be able to effectively represent their interests in court if assisted by AI tools designed for their needs.

For example, the tools below were developed to aid underserved communities by providing user-friendly platforms that leverage AI technology to simplify complex legal processes. These platforms provide clear and accessible information, enabling people to take actionable steps in resolving their issues. By reducing barriers to understanding and navigating the legal system, these innovations help bridge the access-to-justice gap for those who might otherwise struggle to afford or access traditional legal services. Examples include:

• Beagle+: A contract analysis tool that uses AI to simplify the review and interpretation of complex legal agreements.
• Hello Divorce: A platform designed to streamline the divorce process, offering self-help tools, legal education and optional access to attorneys.
• JustFix: A tenant-focused app that helps renters document housing issues and take action against landlords violating their rights.

Generative AI chatbots are also emerging as powerful tools that help courts and legal aid organizations bridge the access-to-justice gap. These tools use conversational AI to provide self-represented litigants with easy access to legal information, procedural guidance and court resources tailored to their needs.

By automating routine interactions and simplifying complex legal processes, these chatbots reduce court staff’s administrative burdens while empowering people to navigate the legal system more effectively.

Here are some examples of generative AI-powered chatbots currently in use by courts and public interest organizations:

• Legal Information Assistant: A generative AI chatbot offered by Legal Aid of North Carolina that provides answers to legal questions in English and Spanish.
• Nevada Supreme Court’s AI chatbot: This generative AI tool offers legal guidance in multiple languages, helping people understand their legal options and procedural steps.
• Missouri Tenant Help: This online screening tool helps Missouri tenants determine eligibility for legal assistance before connecting with program staff.
• SANDI (Self-Help Assistant Navigator for Digital Interactions): A chatbot on the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida’s website that provides AI-powered assistance to people navigating the legal system.
• Rentervention: An AI virtual assistant launched by the Law Center for Better Housing, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation and the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois that helps tenants in Illinois access information and resources on housing rights.
• Roxanne: An AI-powered tool designed to assist tenants in addressing housing repair issues effectively in New York.

AI technology holds tremendous potential to reduce the access-to-justice gap by empowering legal professionals and the public with innovative tools and resources. The software discussed above reflects a growing commitment to developing AI for social good despite challenges that include data security, ethical considerations and lack of profitability.

Whether these tools will fully live up to expectations remains to be seen even as current initiatives offer a promising glimpse of what might be possible. Only the passage of time will tell whether AI will ultimately deliver on its potential to make justice more accessible for those who truly need it.

However, as AI-powered solutions continue to evolve, their potential to bridge the access-to-justice gap grows stronger—offering hope that technology can play a meaningful role in delivering legal support to those who need it most.

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Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based attorney, author and journalist, and she is the principal legal insight strategist at MyCase, a company that offers legal practice management software for small firms. She is the nationally recognized author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers and is co-author of Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, both published by the American Bar Association. She writes regular columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Law, has authored hundreds of articles for other publications, and regularly speaks at conferences regarding the intersection of law and emerging technologies. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @nikiblack, or she can be reached at [email protected].

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

Generative artificial intelligence tools for legal professionals have been a large part of my focus in this column. Since 2017, I’ve written about all different types of software and have been covering AI tools. After the general release of ChatGPT in November 2022, one of my top priorities has been to include generative AI products designed for legal professionals.

Some of those articles have included coverage of AI tools for litigation practices, including AI software for creating pleadings and managing discovery, legal research and brief writing and analysis. There’s no shortage of AI-powered software that promises to streamline litigation, reduce tedium and increase overall productivity.

I haven’t yet discussed one essential litigation task where AI functionality can save significant time, and as we near the final quarter of the year, several programs and products are or will be available to help with what has long been one of the most labor-intensive tasks for trial attorneys out there: deposition summarization and analysis.

The benefits of AI-powered deposition review software

Using AI-driven algorithms, this technology reduces the time required to review deposition transcripts and extract essential insights. Automating these processes streamlines transcript review, enabling attorneys to focus on more strategic trial preparation tasks.

Some tools in this category can even identify key themes, witness inconsistencies and critical facts, offering deeper insights into the testimony without the need for manual review. In addition to speeding up the process, AI deposition tools can flag important sections, allowing lawyers to dive deeper into relevant issues and improve the overall accuracy of their litigation strategy.

These tools save time by enhancing the speed and precision of deposition analysis, enabling litigation teams to focus more on case preparation and ultimately deliver better outcomes. But to achieve that goal, you must first choose the right software for your law firm.

Key factors in selecting AI for deposition review

When investing in new software, the first step is to determine your goals and identify workflow challenges that have to be solved. Conduct a tech audit beforehand, and identify gaps in your firm’s IT stack. Make sure to obtain feedback from everyone who will be using the software to ensure that you fully understand their needs and preferences.

The next step before researching AI deposition summary and analysis tools is to examine the tools that your firm is already using and ascertain whether the companies have indicated that they plan to incorporate deposition review features into their software in the near future, either through partnerships with other software companies or the addition of these features into their software. After all, why waste time and resources researching and investing in new software if a trusted vendor will soon solve the problem for you?

If you decide that moving forward with new software is the most viable option, you must carefully research your options and choose a tool that meets your firm’s unique needs. The solutions listed below are a great place to start. Once you’ve narrowed it down to one or two tools that are of interest, utilize demos, free trials and any other opportunities to test-drive the software.

But before you do that, there are a few caveats to keep in mind. First, because AI tools are typically cloud-based, you will be entrusting your firm’s confidential client data to a third party. Your ethical obligations require that you thoroughly vet the tech provider hosting and storing your firm’s data. You must identify how your firm’s data will be handled; where the servers on which the data will be stored are located; who will have access to it; and how often and when it will be backed up, among other things.

Additionally, as with all AI software, you’ll want to explore accuracy rates; determine how the company protects your data; and whether your team’s data inputs are used to train AI models to improve responses, among other issues.

Now, let’s explore AI-powered deposition review software. Only publicly released options are included below; the list is not all-inclusive. If available, pricing will be provided.

AI products for deposition review and analysis

First, let’s focus on single-purpose AI tools with document workflows that include deposition summarization and analysis features.

We’ll start with LegalMation, which provides a suite of products that automate litigation tasks. Its Deposition Assistant solution enables the summarization and comparison of multiple deposition transcripts, along with the ability to query against uploaded documents to locate key facts, contradictions and more. Pricing is not available on the website.

Next, Lexlink AI utilizes AI algorithms to streamline the review of documents by automatically identifying, categorizing and extracting information from uploaded legal documents, including deposition transcripts. It assists in identifying and analyzing deposition summaries, timelines and inconsistencies in testimony. Pricing is not available on the website.

Another option is Depo IQ, which analyzes individual or multiple deposition videos and transcripts for sentiment, contradictions and inconsistencies. Summaries can be created, and the ability to query a document is also available. Pricing is not available on the website.

Automatise’s Cicero touts the security of its private platform designed for legal professionals, which can be used with many types of documents, including deposition transcripts. It automates document summarization, chronology preparation and investigative research. Pricing is not available on the website.

Clearbrief is tool that operates as a Word add-on and, among other features, can summarize and analyze documents, including depositions. Timelines can also be created, and multiple deposition transcripts can be compared. Pricing starts at $142 per user per month if paid annually.

CaseMark provides AI capabilities that support several different types of documents, including depositions, with a particular focus on summarization. The product offers multiple summary output formats and includes the ability to query the transcript to locate specific testimony or facts. Pricing starts at $25 per summary.

Finally, the major legal research companies also offer AI tools that provide deposition review functionality, along with many other legal workflow tools. These include vLex’s Vincent AI, Lexis+ AI and CoCounsel, a Thomson Reuters company.

If your firm is already using these platforms for legal research or is in the market for a legal research tool and AI-powered deposition review software, one of these platforms could be a good fit.

Wrapping up

As AI continues to reshape litigation workflows, selecting the right AI deposition review software can enhance your firm’s efficiency. By thoroughly vetting potential tools, ensuring compliance with ethical obligations, and leveraging free trials or demos, you can make an informed decision that fits your specific needs.

With the right AI-powered deposition tool, your firm will save time, improve accuracy and ultimately provide better legal services. Now, it’s time to explore your options to see how these advancements can benefit your practice.

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Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based attorney, author and journalist, and she is the principal legal insight strategist at MyCase, a company that offers legal practice management software for small firms. She is the nationally recognized author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers and is co-author of Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, both published by the American Bar Association. She writes regular columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Law, has authored hundreds of articles for other publications, and regularly speaks at conferences regarding the intersection of law and emerging technologies. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @nikiblack, or she can be reached at [email protected].

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

A little over a year ago, ChatGPT-4 was released, and in that short time, the functionality of generative artificial intelligence has been added to many of the tools that we regularly use in our day-to-day workflows. From research and brainstorming to data analysis and translation, generative AI is changing how work gets done.

The legal profession has not been immune from this trend, and legal technology companies have shared news of generative AI plans and releases with increasing frequency since the start of the year. One of the most notable categories of generative AI integration has been legal research, with many established companies embedding it into their platforms.

Generative AI and legal research are a great fit because the large language models utilized by generative AI tools rely on massive datasets to ensure accurate and appropriate responses to inquiries. The internet era has seen the digitization of statutes, regulations and caselaw, thus enabling the training of LLMs for legal research purposes.

However, despite the abundance of training data, generative AI tools are still in their infancy and sometimes provide inaccurate responses, also known as “hallucinations.” Lawyers continue to make the news for utilizing these tools for legal research and submitting documents to courts that contain false case citations.

These errors happen because attorneys fail to review the submissions and blindly rely on the output of generative AI tools. Most often, the tools used in these cases are consumer-based chatbots, such as ChatGPT, which are more prone to hallucination in the legal research context.

For that reason, I recommend that lawyers use only generative AI legal research tools developed by legal tech companies because those providers understand the legal professions’ unique practical and ethical requirements and can reduce the frequency of inaccurate responses.

Given the nascent state of the technology today, even legal-specific products sometimes hallucinate and provide inaccurate outputs.

As a result, you must treat generative AI tools just as you would an entry-level associate and carefully review all responses to ensure their accuracy, including case citations and the cases themselves. The failure to do so violates your competency obligations and could result in professional disciplinary action, court censures or even news headlines. So take advantage of these tools and the savings on time that they offer, but don’t cut corners by ignoring basic ethics rules.

When I last wrote about legal research options in 2019, AI was being used to provide more accurate results, but generative AI was not available.

Now that generative AI is embedded into many legal research products, the challenge becomes sifting through the available options and choosing the right tool for your law firm’s legal research needs. In this article, I’ll highlight many of the products that include generative AI features that are publicly available or in beta.

Choosing a generative AI research tool

Below, I’ll provide a detailed look at some of the leading solutions in the market, including their pricing details when possible. Whether you’re a seasoned legal professional or just beginning to explore the potential of AI in your practice, this overview is designed to equip you with the knowledge needed to make the right choice for your firm.

When choosing a legal research tool, understand that the platforms discussed below are cloud-based. As a result, all your firm’s data will be housed on servers owned by a third party, and the duty of technology competence requires you to vet all technology providers that will be hosting and storing your data. You must fully understand how that company will handle the data; where the servers on which the data will be stored are located; who will have access to it; and how and when it will be backed up, among other things.

Westlaw Precision

Now, let’s explore key considerations when selecting a generative AI legal research tool, starting with Thomson Reuters, which has invested heavily in AI in recent years.

Its legal research tool, Westlaw Precision, now includes generative AI-assisted research that relies on a combination of Microsoft Azure and OpenAI’s commercial API for GPT-4. This functionality was launched publicly in November 2023. With it, users submit research queries, and generative AI-powered responses are provided in narrative form, including footnotes to supporting citations. Responses will sometimes take between 90 seconds to three minutes.

Westlaw Precision pricing is not available on the website.

Lexis+ AI

LexisNexis also offers generative AI legal research functionality via Lexis+ AI, which was launched in October 2023. This tool utilizes several LLMs, including GPT-4 and Anthropic’s Claude 2, depending on the task requested.

Users can conduct legal research, draft documents, seek answers to legal questions, and summarize cases and documents. Responses to queries include linked citations to sources.

Pricing depends on the features and datasets used. And to ensure availability to firms of all sizes, modules for different types of functions—such as drafting or summarizing—can be purchased separately. Pricing is not available on the website.

Paxton AI

Another option to consider is Paxton AI, which is a startup that provides a generative AI legal research tool that also drafts documents and includes contract review features. Coverage includes caselaw, statutes and regulations for all 50 states, including federal data. Research results include links to the cited sources.

Pricing starts with a basic package, the free tier, which only allows a limited number of queries and limited access to statutory and regulatory data. If you’re not a student, pricing for access to all databases without limits starts at $99 per user per month.

Vincent AI

Next up, is vLex’s research assistant, Vincent AI, which was upgraded in October 2023 to include generative AI features available in beta. This tool can be used to create a research memo, build an argument, spot legal issues, draft headnote summaries, conduct a search by uploading a document, and obtain related authorities. It can also be accessed directly in Microsoft Word when drafting a memorandum of law or other documents.

Pricing isn’t available on the website.

Copilot

Finally, another option is LawDroid’s Copilot. Copilot was launched in beta in January 2023 and released publicly last month. With this product, users can conduct legal research using Copilot’s generative AI legal assistant interface. It can also be used to draft, translate and summarize documents.

The cost is $19 per user per month, and a free trial is also available.

When the time is right

Generative AI can be a game-changer for legal research, allowing you to access and analyze information more efficiently than ever.

However, built-in capabilities and costs can vary greatly, so choosing the right tool for your firm isn’t always easy. Given the rapid rate of technological advancements, there’s no better time than now to review your options and learn more about generative AI-powered legal research tools.

Whether you adopt these tools right away or down the road, by obtaining foundational knowledge about this technology, you’ll be better equipped to wisely invest when the time is right.

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Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based attorney, author and journalist, and she is senior director of subject matter expertise and external education at MyCase, a company that offers legal practice management software for small firms. She is the nationally recognized author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers and is co-author of Social Media for Lawyers: The Next Frontier, both published by the American Bar Association. She writes regular columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Law, has authored hundreds of articles for other publications, and regularly speaks at conferences regarding the intersection of law and emerging technologies. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @nikiblack, or she can be reached at [email protected].

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This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.

It’s that time of year again. The ABA’s annual technological showcase—the ABA Techshow 2024—starts Feb. 14 and runs through the weekend in Chicago at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

What better way to spend Valentine’s Day than with your favorite lawyers, legal professionals, technologists and thought leaders who will be on hand to teach lucky conferencegoers about all the latest trends and developments in the field of legal technology?

As always, the ABA Techshow has something for everyone—neophytes looking to learn about basic technology and productivity tips, more advanced lawyers and legal professionals looking to supercharge their practices, and even experts and thought leaders who seemingly know it all.

And while generative artificial intelligence tools are at the top of many people’s minds, this year’s ABA Techshow will boast plenty of sessions and panels dealing with other things, including cloud computing, document automation, cybersecurity and wellness.

The event kicks off Feb. 14 with the Startup Alley annual pitch competition that involves legal tech companies giving quick summaries of who they are and what problem that they purport to solve. This year’s competition will involve 15 companies listed here.

This Legal Rebels Podcast episode’s guest is Sofia Stefanie Lingos. She is the managing attorney of Trident Legal, a Boston based law firm that serves small businesses, entrepreneurs and startups. She is also a co-chair of this year’s ABA Techshow.

Lingos talks with the ABA Journal’s Victor Li about what’s new with this year’s show and what we can expect to see.

Register for this year’s ABA Techshow here.