The digital surge of AI and robotization affects all economic sectors, including those that we thought were the most sheltered from the sirens of high-tech. Lawyers are changing, if not revolutionizing themselves. Digital, big data and even blockchain are entering firms and happily shaking up all traditions.
The engine of the law firm revolution comes from the United States and is called LegalTech. This relatively vague expression covers several initiatives and different application models depending on the targeted customer segments. All the meanings are based on the dynamics of Artificial Intelligence, which the Market & Markets firm predicts will grow by more than 62% per year by 2022.
The entire profession will be impacted. From case law research to the automatic generation of legal documents, including intermediation and networking platforms, the field is generating excitement that is gaining more and more ground. In France, LegalTech startups are not lagging behind their Anglo-Saxon colleagues.
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The most numerous and pioneering are those that offer individuals or companies legal documents online. To create your SARL, there is no longer any need to go through a lawyer, you just need to download the statutes and other incorporation documents for your company to be born, at the lowest cost. This type of service is not new and many companies occupy this niche ( Captain Contrat or Rocket Lawyer for example), but it is improving and profiling itself according to the selected targets. This is how the company wity has just raised 4.7 million euros for a service intended for startups. Young shoots will be able to find all kinds of documents there, but also legal, accounting and financial advice, to help them in their germination.
At first, lawyers were frowned upon by this type of service; but today many are participating in it. As platforms offer more and more services, they are becoming an ideal place to connect a client with the most suitable lawyer. Thus, rather than finding themselves marginalized, lawyers have become active partners in these LegalTechs. It is true that the business creation market, which should be the core business of business lawyers, is, according to Agefi, more than 30% disintermediated. And 50% is handled by accountants. There is little room for lawyers who see these new tools as a way to conquer a promising market.
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If the market for businesses is vast, the one for lawyers themselves is no less so. Some startups have positioned themselves on the service for lawyers: analysis of case law data, algorithms for predicting legal decisions and commercial or social disputes. This is the case of the Predictice platform, founded by lawyers and data scientists. It is establishing partnerships with business law firms that are increasingly fond of Artificial Intelligence. It is true that algorithms save a lot of time by defining, from the analysis of complex data, the angle of an attack or defense strategy. AI beat the world champion of Go, why wouldn't it be just as, if not more, effective in terms of legal strategy?
In this range of services for lawyers, legal monitoring is undoubtedly the most promising area. In our unstable societies where law and jurisprudence, where decrees and other regulations form insurmountable legal layers, Legal Analytics techniques provide real services. When Donald Trump signed his executive order against certain categories of immigrants, a wind of panic blew and not only in the communities concerned. Lawyers, attorneys, legal and social services, immediately found themselves on the front line. In the emergency, a collective initiative was launched to hastily build a platform to navigate the jungle of legislation and help lawyers to update themselves, almost in real time. As an extension of this initiative, the Airport Lawyer platform was born, intended to help individuals affected by the Trump decree and to put them in touch with competent lawyers. The platform is currently available in 17 international airports.
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Finding a lawyer specializing in a particular field can sometimes be difficult. Platforms are emerging every day with the aim of connecting lawyers selected on specific criteria with their potential clients. This is the case of lawcracy or jurifiable.com which allows you to choose online the specialized lawyer for a divorce, an industrial tribunal, a dispute over an inheritance or a contract. In a few clicks, the platform selects, using a specific algorithm, the professionals best suited to your problem and sends you a quote comparison as some sites already do for finding a plumber or consumer credit. Jurifiable is already making it possible to connect with around a hundred lawyers selected in more than 1,000 French cities.
Some platforms make some lawyers who are picky about ethics grind their teeth. This is the case of the legalup site, whose positioning is based not only on putting you in touch with a lawyer but also on finding the client's solvency.