In recent months, Uberisation the syndrome of a profession by new technologies has struck again. He fed the fantasies of a gradual disappearance of lawyers who are victims of websites and software that could read and analyze legal documents and processing cases more quickly, more efficiently and completely without the intervention of a lawyer.
In short, an ideal form of life: a world without lawyers!
In fact, not only these fantasies were essentially relayed by the very people who did business with their sites and their software, but especially the latest scientific studies, including realized the United States, just show otherwise without minimizing the challenges of the legal profession.
Indeed, these studies indicate that in reality, the relationship between technological progress and job cuts is more complex and nuanced than the forecasts of some catastrophées.
In November 2015, McKinsey & amp; Company published a study concluding that new technologies have removed less jobs than they have turned into, including distinguishing between automation tasks automation employment. In reality, less than 5% of jobs could be fully automated on the basis of existing technologies in the next three to five years.
Similarly, a study by the School of Law at Boston University found a positive correlation between the level of new technologies in a particular category of employment and job growth in that category. More technology means more jobs!
Another MIT study shows that if the jobs the average income in the US have actually suffered a significant decline in recent years, the fact remains that the Automation has equally completed that replaced those jobs. In fact, in the future, new technologies will continue to replace the routine jobs, but will result in parallel increasing the qualification of jobs that require flexibility, adaptability and greater creativity; and therefore better for better pay.
Because, in reality, new technologies such as artificial intelligence, will never replace many human activities, such as intuition, innate, the feeling, creativity, but the error, critical, dialogue.
A recent study “robots can be lawyers?” two American professors from the University of North Carolina School and MIT analyzed the different aspects of the work of a lawyer that could be automated. After analyzing the actual hours billed, they divided into different categories of tasks work done by lawyers to eventually identify the work that could be replaced by automation technologies.
But between councils, negotiations, housing status of the proceedings, pleadings, reading and analysis of documents, which is the most “automatable” task actually represents a relatively small share of a lawyer’s activities.
In fact, the researchers noted that most tasks that lawyers practice are not codified. Because the work of lawyers remains a particular alchemy of knowledge, experience, creativity and a certain idea of the defense, it can never be reduced to an artificial intelligence that would human than what IT can try to structure and program. Now all these new sites and software can not set this alchemy formula that contingencies are so many and so random. Never bit like life.
In conclusion, the researchers estimate that only 13% of all the legal work could eventually be automated and standardized. Now these 13% will actually automated over a long period that will allow non-lawyers to succumb, but to adapt it and to provide a more efficient, more competitive and more secure.
Last lesson: the websites that help in the preparation of documents or legal proceedings mainly affect underserved markets (litigation small and formalities) rather than in moving services existing legal.
In fact, new technologies, including artificial intelligence, of course, continue to take an important place in the trade of lawyers, but changing the way of working; and not ending it.
Thus, in litigation for companies such reinvent the work of the lawyer, it is first assess customer risk as a whole to advise at best customers to choose the most suitable procedure (judicial, extrajudicial way, transaction) while taking into account the overall cost compared to the stakes.
Then it is to make customers enjoy productivity gains from a standardization of procedures. Indeed, by Pareto law enforcement that 20% of products generate 80% of profitability, the use of some standard procedures or a common treatment process meets the needs of 80% of clients.
Finally, it is the work of the focus not on ancillary tasks lawyer but his legal expertise on the various types of current and operational disputes, so to share the added value of this legal expertise with all customers.
Therefore, new technologies are above all a tremendous opportunity that requires lawyers to reinvent their business by giving customers an adapted and reactive organization, experts lawyers in their areas of competence, legal certainty strengthened by controlled and updated process of judicial and competitive fees through an economic model integrating client priorities.
