Will Computers Soon Replace Your Lawyer?

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An article by Timothy P. Harkness and Dana L. Post posted on the Pmf Legal website.

This article looks at the use of computer technology in the legal profession, and discusses the possible impact on the practice of law from the use of such processes as predictive coding.

The article states, "Computers, once thought of as tools for lawyers, are well on their way to replacing much of the work that lawyers do altogether. This profound change took a giant step forward recently when two courts endorsed what is cryptically called “predictive coding” —the use of sophisticated algorithms to enable computer software to determine the relevance of documents.

Predictive coding is not something most lawyers think about much. Many probably have not even heard of it and you likely will not see it featured anytime soon on your favorite law-themed television shows. However, attorneys unwilling or incapable of adapting to the shift towards the use of e-discovery technology may find their jobs in peril."

The article further mentions recent court decisions that have provided some judicial level of encouragement for attorneys to use predictive coding and other forms of technology assisted review.

P.S. Certainly the authors of this blog agree that technology assisted review processes will reduce the number of attorneys needed for document review.  However, the first sentence quoted above is likely overstated in that computers are NOT likely to replace "much of the work lawyers do altogether".  In fact, as the article does point out, there has been a movement toward temporary lawyers, and off-shore legal services, to handle document reviews over the past several years.  Document review is not a primary function of the majority of attorneys.