Many of us are familiar with chatbots from online shopping or smart devices –assistants- that we carry every day. Their main goal is to help people through code patterns. Utilization of chatbots has been considered as a part of digital transformation. Therefore, their popularity and applications are on the rise. Together with other sectors, the legal industry has been working on the adaptation of chatbots. However, it creates a big challenge for lawyers hence chatbots might steal the role of lawyers. We, as p.Xel Digital Agency, have investigated the place of chatbots in the legal industry regarding the latest developments.

What are chatbots?

Before going into details, it would be useful to start by defining chatbots. Chatbots are pieces of software that enables a person to interact with a computer database using natural language. In fact, their working mechanism is quite similar to search engines. Nevertheless, users need to ask relevant questions in order to find a solution to their problem.

Primary forms of chatbots

Being able to search, to put inputs, is the first form of chatbots. Searching is prerequisite for chatbots whether they are designed for complex jobs or not. It enables users to ask questions and get responses in return.

NLP, also known as Natural language processing, allows chatbots to determine queries asked by users.  This determination process could be done through speech recognition or text blocks. Well-programmed chatbots analyze queries and find the most suitable answer.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies detect user inputs and learn from them. As users keep engaging with AI-supported chatbots, the language gets even more natural. However, we have not reached to Turing-territory yet.

How can chatbots be useful for law firms and lawyers?

According to a recent Legal Trends Report, lawyers state that they work more than they planned because of pushing papers. Overwork and unbilled tasks steal lawyer’s time from their clients. In addition, law firms wish to increase efficiency that can save time and money for them. Through the help of chatbots, legal industry can allocate time to topics such as R&D or content marketing. Therefore, law firms can optimize the working process by saving time and money.

The first legal bot

DoNotPay is the first legal bot which is created to oppose unfair issuance parking tickets in the UK. Since then, they have become popular and developed their service. For instance, it is possible to sue airway companies if you have DoNotPay on your smartphone or computer. So, how does the first legal bot work? DoNotPay checks the eligibility of your claim in a small claims court through its system. After that, it produces a demand letter and wants you to fill out necessity court forms. Then, it files your case with the court. The only thing remains is to appear on your court day. You can learn more about DoNotPay by clicking here.

Benefits

Most of the lawyers think that chatbots are a threat to their profession but it is not the case. It can be true that digital transformation is eliminating existing jobs. On the other hand, it also creates new sectors and opportunities. As mentioned above, chatbots will allow lawyers to focus on cases and developments in the industry. The pace of digital transformation is tremendous so every profession needs to follow developments in their industry.
Chatbots provide 24/7 availability for law firms which clients demand the most. 67% of surveyed clients claim that they choose a law firm, which promptly answers their email or phone call. Chatbots will fulfil this demand by increasing the productivity of law firms.

Lawyers sometimes can get lost among mountains of information when they deal with different cases. On the other hand, chatbots can scan huge volumes of data in seconds to find necessary information. They can also show similar legal cases together with prejudications.

Ailira

The legal industry has already started to engage with chatbots. Let’s take a look at one of the successful examples. Ailira, also known as Artificially Intelligent Legal Information Research Assistant, is a chatbot, which is developed by an Australian Law Firm. It is possible to use Ailira without going to their website since Ailira has Facebook Messenger connection. Ailira aims to make legal services more accessible to all people in Australia. Click here to learn more about Ailira.

Conclusion

It is a fact that the adaptation of digital transformation into the legal industry will not be easy. This ongoing process can speed up if law firms accept technology instead of preferring traditional methods. Legal bots can help you to become a client-centric law firm.

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