Law Times

Law Times • June 15, 2015 Page 9 www.lawtimesnews.com FOCUS Legal profession slowly embracing artificial intelligence By Marg. BruineMan For Law Times rtificial intelligence is slowly seeping its way into the practice of law. The profession is already using some automated processes and the use of ma- chine learning to create prod- ucts such as intelligent docu- ments is catching the attention of those who are watching. The concept of machine learn- ing — using computer-based ana- lytics in a process that improves performance in specific tasks over time by detecting patterns in data — has some appeal to a profession searching for efficiencies. Among those keeping a watch- ful eye on what's available and what's developing is Andrew Foti of Ottawa-based Avokka LLP. "Our job is to know our supply chain and know what's available," he says. "We need to be aware of the evolving trends. We're keep- ing an eye on the future so it doesn't arrive as a surprise to us." IBM's cognitive computer, Watson, made a splash with its appearance on the quiz show Jeopardy! a few years back. Now there's ROSS, an application de- signed by University of Toronto students that can assist with case research. It may sound fu- turistic, but the technology is available and is becoming more accessible. Foti sees potential in the use of intelligent documents to help automate and predict the pro- cess. The value in law is judg- ment decisions and the most efficient process is through hu- mans. But lawyers could save both time and money for their clients by identifying where products such as intelligent doc- uments could come into play. University of Colorado law Prof. Harry Surden says some applications are already in the legal sphere. "Machine learning is being used currently in law, albeit to a quite limited degree," says Surden. "Primarily, it is being used in automated document review in litigation discovery in order to filter large sets of documents such as sorting through large batches of e-mails that might be relevant to a pending lawsuit." There are also startups that now offer technical services such as document analysis and analyzing contracts. But as Surden points out, the use of machine learning technology is still fairly rare in law. And for the most part, the machine simply filters the e- mail for a lawyer to analyze and doesn't make the hard legal de- cisions about relevance. Given the current capabilities, the technology may not meet the thorough and precise standards required by lawyers. Surden sees the use of machine learning pri- marily in tasks where the level of precision isn't so demanding. "For instance, in litigation document review, the task is often to sort through hundreds of thousands or millions of documents. The vast majority of these documents are irrelevant to the case. Many of the most obviously irrelevant documents can be quickly sorted away by machines. For the remain- ing documents at the margins which require analysis as to whether or not they are relevant, lawyers are still needed to make the determination," says Surden. Right now, he says, machine learning can't match lawyers for many high-order legal tasks such as problem solving and legal analysis. But he notes it's possible to automate the more mechanical tasks they routinely perform. One startup aiming its auto- mated process at the legal field as well as other markets is Koneka Inc. in Ottawa. Its platform uses machine learning to automati- cally develop intelligent docu- ments through components and applications containing a vari- ety of data and rules that govern clause addition, deletion, and modification. The product includes custom and standard legal agreements with embedded business rules and a process designed to remove the risk of clause omission, con- f lict or redundancy. "This is really about putting the legal model upside down," says Koneka chief executive of- ficer Pierre-Olivier Charlebois. He calls it collaborative technol- ogy and his goal is to partner with legal firms to tap into what he describes as a vast legal technical space valued at $300 billion in the United States. One international law firm is looking the future in the eye and corralling it. Dentons has launched NextLaw Labs, a California-based legal business accelerator designed as a global collaborative innovation plat- form to develop and invest in new technology to transform the practice of law. Here in Canada, Andre Gar- ber serves as director of Dentons Canada LLP's startup program. Garber, a young lawyer who says he's focusing his professional life on "this new world of law," serves as something of a bridge between where the practice of law is com- ing from and where it's heading. "There's been lots of buzz about the production of legal services and documentation that would speed up or make the process more efficient," he says. And efficiency, of course, is the driver of change. But as he points out, the intelligent docu- ment is an augmentation tool that still requires lawyers. The big benefit is for the cli- ent. Years of knowledge plugged into intelligent documents result in an efficient process that gives clients what they require in a timely way and takes the redun- dancy out of the work. That's where Garber feels lawyers can be very proactive and anticipate the needs of the client. The bigger picture many law- yers hope to see in embracing technology is increased access to justice through solutions that help fill the current gaps in services. "I think it [artificial intel- ligence] has a long way to go, but we can feel that the pulse is strong and people are very inter- ested," says Garber. Alexandre Thibault cut his teeth on mergers and acquisi- tions law, but for him leading- edge technology is where the excitement is. With his interest in that area, he has managed to carve out a career bringing more technology to law through his family business. Edilex Inc., a company cre- ated in 1991 by his parents, Gilles Thibault, a lawyer, and Denise Trottier, a paralegal, creates intel- ligent documents for businesses. It began with paper templates, evolved to CD-ROMs, and went online in 2000. "Now we try to harness tech- nology to improve the template to make them more intelligent," says the younger Thibault. Earlier this year, Therrien Couture Lawyers LLP purchased the family company, something Thibault says was an acknowledg- ment of the need for the law firm model to evolve. "If you're able to harness great technology . . . you are maybe able to do greater things," says Thibault, who works in To- ronto for the Montreal-based company. "We are at a point where the technology is starting to be there to do cool things." But there has been a hesitation in the legal community in part due to the cost and the need to invest. And looking back on law school, Thibault says there was little incentive to point future law- yers in new directions, create their own jobs, and think beyond the traditional paths in law. So the legal profession, de- spite focusing heavily on intel- lectual pursuits, has been slow to embrace technology and the advantages presented by artifi- cial intelligence. But Thibault points to his own firm as well as Dentons as examples of where the law is catching up. LT September 8, 2015 | Four Seasons Hotel Toronto Emcee Gail J. Cohen, Editor in Chief, Canadian Lawyer/ Law Times 6:00 – Cocktail Reception 7:00 – Gala Dinner and Awards Presentation Seating is limited | Business Attire For Table Sales and Sponsorship inquiries, please contact CarswellMedia.Sales@thomsonreuters.com or call 416-649-8841. Platinum Sponsor Bronze Sponsor For further information please visit www.innovatio-awards.com Media Sponsor Untitled-2 1 2015-05-19 3:29 PM A 'We're keeping an eye on the future so it doesn't arrive as a surprise to us,' says Andrew Foti. This August, she'll present the first justice design project, a five- day, non-credit course meant for both lawyers and non-lawyers to address access to justice issues. The design challenge will be to de- velop the courthouse for the 21st century. The focus could be on the facility's interior or exterior "or maybe the courthouse of the 21st century is online," says Aylwin. The law school, too, encourages students to reach for more cre- ative ideas when it comes to both careers and the practice of law. Besides introducing a legal information technology class, the cur- riculum includes exploring innovative ideas to address issues such as access to justice. "I think we're starting to unwrap and unravel what those skills are and how to teach them," says Aylwin. "This is just the beginning of thinking through projects like this." While Hagan sees many law school graduates transition to tradi- tional jobs at law firms, the expectation of making partner isn't there like it was in the past. As a result, she sees something of a pushback developing in the future and more of a drive towards entrepreneurship and the development of different approaches to the practice of law. "People are hungry . . . for different ways of doing things," she says. "I think there's going to be more hybrid professionals." LT Continued from page 8 New thinking touted

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