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Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in legal operations trails other sectors. The tech seemed to emerge in 2023, primed and ready to use, but many in-house lawyers have struggled to take full advantage. The roadblocks are many; lawyers still have an entrenched aversion to tech, experts have preached caution amid ethical concerns, and questions exist over application of the tech. 

Indeed, application of generative AI remains an ongoing challenge. The tech has evolved with an unrivalled rapidity: new iterations arrive every few months, new competitors emerge every few weeks, new platforms emerge every few days. The tech is so fast-moving that governments find it and, it is evolving at such an accelerated pace that many users are struggling to realise the best applications.  

Using generative AI is simple. But using it effectively is difficult. In this article, we explore how the best in-house lawyers will use AI to streamline operations and how legal teams will evolve as a result.  

How AI can streamline legal operations 

Nearly three-quarters (70%) of lawyers agreed that companies should use the latest cutting-edge technology, including generative AI, according to a recent ½Û×ÓÊÓƵ report. And nearly half of in-house lawyers believed that they would use generative AI in the next 12 months.  

It is beyond doubt that AI will play a substantial role in legal teams. But, at present, application of the tech remains minimal, at least compared to other sectors. According to the ½Û×ÓÊÓƵ report, for example, the three main uses of generative AI are legal research (66%), document briefing (59%) and document analysis (47%). All are useful, but capabilities reach far beyond such applications. And, even within such applications, in-house lawyers can use the tech in a much more effective way. 

In-house lawyers are using generative AI to research, but they are mostly using the tech as a faster search engine, writing basic prompts, gathering basic information. That approach does provide benefits, but it also raises ethical concerns – the potential introduction of bias in data sets, data protection and privacy issues, and so on – and concerns around quality of output – outdated information, inaccurate outputs, a reliance on disreputable or indeed invented sources. 

Legal teams should instead rely on trusted AI platforms, specifically built for legal work. These platforms often boast human oversight to prevent low quality and introduced bias, curated sources to keep data sets accurate and up-to-date, and targeting and filtering systems to help users find the best results. Such platforms can streamline legal research, saving in-house lawyers time and money. 

Generative AI can help lawyers to draft documents, as shown in the report. But, in terms of drafting, lawyers can employ the tech far more effectively. Generative AI can draft emails, memos, presentations, and checklists. It can support ideation and brainstorming. It can support PR and marketing efforts, outreach for media site, or even content creation for websites. 

Using AI for document analysis, cited by 47% in the report, again demonstrates the limited use among legal teams. In-house lawyers can indeed analyse documents with generative AI, but they can also create, edit, and negotiate documents. They can also review legal and vendor invoices and support the sharing and management of so much documentation. And generative AI, using the right platform, can sift through vast amounts of documentation, finding trends, patterns, anomalies, and errors. 

In addition to all the above, generative AI can perform all sorts of important tasks, including project management, high- and low-level data analytics, due diligence on mergers and acquisitions, and the creation of modifiable templates. Indeed, it is likely that every area of legal operations, in full or in part, could be optimised by generative AI. Legal teams can gain an advantage by locating areas of routine and repetitive work, identifying organisational needs and objectives, and finding the best ways to utilise the tech.  

How legal teams will evolve in the future 

Generative AI may require new skills from in-house lawyers, and certainly new forms of engagement and it is likely to reshape how jobs are conducted, augmenting rather than replacing them. A recent study from the , a UN agency, echoes the above point, suggesting that generative AI may improve efficiency, boost productivity, but not eliminate excessive job roles.  

It will reshape jobs. And that, in turn, will reshape legal teams. We’ve already seen shifts towards specialist roles, pushed partly by an increasing embrace of tech since the pandemic. Generative AI will push organisations further towards specialism. They will hire people in legal teams that have a broad understanding of tech application, and across the wider business we’ll likely see generative AI experts. 

The tech will also force greater collaboration. In the future, legal teams will need to work with tech and to find quicker and more effective solutions, streamline operations and processes, inform and develop business goals, and so much more. Collaboration will prove a daily endeavour, with tech specialists relying on in-house lawyers, and lawyers relying on tech specialists. 

In addition, businesses will expect in-house lawyers of the future to have generative AI skills. Training and development, as we are already witnessing, will shift towards generative AI. Organisations will likely invest in in-depth training programmes, often tailored to the needs of the business.  

But in-house lawyers can upskill in advance, using any one of the many cost-effective resources on generative AI, including courses from and . Companies championing AI provide great resources: Google offer , for example, and Microsoft have tons of . Failing that, in-house lawyers could turn to generative AI platforms to learn about generative AI, signing up for an AI-based learning management platform. 

Generative AI will define the future of legal teams. Generative AI will reshape existing jobs, make room for new specialist jobs, and force greater collaboration across businesses. And, importantly, organisations will expect all in-house lawyers to possess at least basic knowledge of generative AI.