Artificial intelligence and Indian legal industry

Posted on 18 March, 2023 by Adv Janmejay Pratap Singh

Abstract: Artificial intelligence (AI) is a developed technology that has grown around the world and gives people better and more efficient ways to supply across many industries. By giving the machine the ability to think for itself, AI intends to give the equipment a method to emulate human nature in areas like problem-solving and critical reasoning. In this study, we first took a broad overview of artificial intelligence and then discussed the current state of the technology in the Indian legal system, the benefits of AI for legal professionals, the difficulties associated with AI in Indian law, the effects of AI on the Indian legal system, and the future of law firms, concluding that In line with the European Data Protection Directive, the United Kingdom Data Protection Act (1998), the OECD Privacy Directive and Trans boundary Personal Data Flows Guidelines, 1980, and the United States Safe Harbour Principles, it calls for the enactment of comprehensive data protection legislation in India. Second, the government must establish adequate protections by first disclosing the extraction of information for certain users, or the information source.

Introduction

In order to fully computerise and ICT-enable all District & Subordinate Court complexes, the Department of Justice is carrying out the e-courts Mission Mode Project in close cooperation with the e-committee of the Supreme Court of India. The Artificial Intelligence Committee was established by the Indian Supreme Court to look at the application of AI in the legal field. This committee has principally highlighted process automation, legal research help, and the translation of judicial papers as applications of AI technology. The second stage of the e-courts, which has been in construction since 2015, does not, however, employ AI technology.

However, according to the draught Detailed Project Report (DPR), artificial intelligence (AI) could be employed for forecasting and prediction, improving administrative effectiveness, automating filing, intelligently scheduling cases, enhancing the case information system, and communicating with litigants through chatbots that could aid in early case resolution.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

The term "artificial intelligence" is defined as a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments in Section 5002(3) of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative (NAII) Act 2020.

Moreover, machine learning is defined as an application of artificial intelligence that gives systems the capacity to automatically learn and develop on the basis of data or experience, without being explicitly programmed, according to section 5002(11) e of the NAII Act 2020. ​

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, stated “technology is relevant insofar as it fosters efficiency, transparency, and objectivity in public government. AI is present to provide a facilitative tool to judges in order to recheck or evaluate the work, the process, and the judgments.”

Artificial Intelligence

A computer system with artificial intelligence (AI) can carry out activities that typically require human intelligence. These artificial intelligence systems are frequently powered by machine learning, occasionally by deep learning, and occasionally by really dull stuff like rules. This results from learning, which is acquiring the knowledge and guidelines for using the data. Owing to the growth of data-based service businesses, it is now both necessary and very popular.

Artificial Intelligence influencing our daily life

Artificial intelligence is a technology that is improving our lives and is also involved in daily problems like reminding us of appointments and offering articles and news that we might find interesting. Its effects are likely to spread to several database businesses in the near future.

Artificial intelligence has the power to significantly alter how people interact—for better or worse—not just with the digital world but also with one another, at work, and with other socioeconomic institutions.

All interested parties must participate in the discussions surrounding artificial intelligence if we are to guarantee that its effects will be constructive.

Regulating AI: Global and Indian Perspective

With the intention of ensuring that AI systems are secure and uphold the fundamental rights of all who come within its jurisdiction, the EU proposed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act in 2021. The act also seeks to prevent market fragmentation inside the EU. The proposed law has already generated debate on a global level. The suggestion led to the Brazilian Congress passing a Law to create an AI legal framework. In June 2022, Canada delivered the Digital Charter Implementation Act to the House of Commons. It includes three pieces of legislation that are intended to strengthen Canada's data privacy framework and ensure the progress of AI in an ethical manner.

• Supporting the passage of specific AI legislation in India

India is a member of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), a worldwide endeavour to assist responsible and human-centric development, as correctly noted by prominent tech journalist Zinnia Banerjee.

As of this November, India has climbed the corporate ladder and assumed the GPAI Council Chair post. Rajeev Chandra, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, (MEITY) essentially represented India at the GPAI meeting in Tokyo for the ceremonial handover from France.

• India's Current AI Regulation Strategy

There are currently no particular regulations in India that govern AI and ML. The executive agency for AI-related strategies, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), recently established four committees to develop an AI policy framework.

Seven responsible AI principles have been devised by the Niti Aayog, and they include dependability, equality, inclusivity and non-discrimination, privacy and security, transparency, responsibility, and safeguarding and promoting wholesome human values. These guidelines are meant to safeguard the public interest while simultaneously fostering innovation by fostering more adoption and confidence.

For some provisions to be enforced, the judiciary is essential. The Supreme Court and higher courts are required by the Constitution to uphold fundamental rights, such as theright to privacy.

SEBI According to those with firsthand knowledge of the situation, the regulator has created an artificial intelligence (AI) system that scans various stock market programmes and compiles a database of recommendations.

Picture-based Information News Accumulator and Important Information Analyser is how SEBI has dubbed it (Pinaka).

In order to better regulate banks and NBFCs, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to make considerable use of sophisticated analytics, AI, and ML to evaluate its massive database. This measure aims to improve the Reserve Bank's data-driven surveillance capabilities.

Legal Tech Trends in the Indian Legal industry

A late blooming but steadily expanding business, legal technology in India is quickly moving from the fringes to the centre of attention in the legal sector. Legal technology is shown significant potential in transforming the Indian legal sector, whether it is by enhancing professionals' access to justice or by optimising operations for both in-house teams and law firms.

Particularly since 2017, the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem has paid close attention to legal technologies. Several businesspeople are creating unique legal technology answers to issues that have gone mostly unsolved for decades, if not millennia. New start-ups in the field of legal technology are constantly emerging. Here are some of the top Indian legal technology start-ups as a consequence that have swept the Indian legal market.

Legit Quest is a website for legal research that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to draw links between diverse case laws, making it easier for legal researchers to undertake in-depth and exhaustive investigations. obtains highly relevant search results immediately from a brief, eliminating the need to convert case facts into searchable legal arguments (or other related legal documents).

ZAIAN is the first artificial intelligence-powered real-time case law analyzer in the world. Use Legitquest's unique methodology to create IDRAF (Issue, Facts, Arguments, Reasoning & Decision). Just choose the court, if you are familiar with it, and put the verdict into this box to behold the magic!

Legal Kart: Legalkart wants to democratise "Legal access" by making it unbiased and accessible. To do this, they are creating the world's first "Preventive Legal Care Ecosystem" for everyone.

Few tier-one companies have acknowledged the potential of AI and are fervently embracing it. By being the first Indian law firm to licence "Kira," a machine learning tool created by Kira Systems in Canada, they have made legal history. There is a need for AI-focused policies in India because of the Covid push factor and growth in online tech usage.

Future of AI with Prediction of Decision Outcomes

A small number of AI teams are developing machine learning models to forecast the outcomes of ongoing cases using the corpus of relevant precedent and the case facts as inputs. When they are improved, these forecasts will have a considerable impact on legal practise. They help legal firms simplify settlement discussions, cut down on the amount of cases that must go to trial, and pre-plan their litigation approach.

One such business, Blue J Legal, located in Toronto, is developing a legal prediction engine that uses AI and initially focuses on tax law. The company claims that 90% of the time, their AI can predict case outcomes with accuracy.

India could create a similar interface in the upcoming years as it will aid courts in reducing pending litigations and urgent matters where litigation cannot be avoided can be disposed of.

Is AI being a lawyer’s replacement?

Modern innovations in the legal sector have increased lawyer efficiency through methods like contract analysis, trademark search software, legal research software, and others. But none of the AI-based software seeks to displace lawyers; rather, it works to increase the precision and accuracy of research and analysis.

The law industry in India is still expanding, and more automatic and AI-based tools are on the way. These AI-based automated aid programmes will improve the efficiency and skill of attorneys while automating many menial chores. They won't substitute the analysis, classification, and decision-making needed by the legal field.

The legal industry has witnessed the emergence of a wide range of novel solutions where technology has enhanced the effectiveness of attorneys, contract analysis, trademark search software, legal research tools, and much more. However, no AI-based software or programme aims to replace a lawyer's employment, and all IA-based software and programmes are improving the authenticity, accuracy, and focus on results of research and analysis.

Analysis, decision-making, and representation are key components of the legal profession and cannot be automated. AI-based software and programmes can significantly decrease the time and effort required of a lawyer while also enabling law firms and individual attorneys to provide clients with advice that is more genuine and goal-oriented.

In India, the legal sector is still growing and eagerly awaiting new IA-based and automated aiding tools and software. Yet, these IA-based and automated aiding tools and software would really make lawyers more competent and efficient while automating certain administrative jobs. They wouldn't replace the lawyer's profession, which requires analysis, decision-making, and stratification.

Is AI important for Indian legal System?

In recent years, we have witnessed the implementation of artificial intelligence on a modest but very effective scale in a variety of industries, from automated amusement systems to robotic concierges in hotels. Numerous sectors have undergone change as a result of artificial intelligence.

The Indian legal industry has seen very little technological innovation, and modern attorneys are still at ease and depending on approaches and solutions that were developed in the past. Artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly alter how Indians practise law and perceive it.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly alter the practise of law, particularly in the area of legal study. With the use of artificial intelligence, attorneys can instantly gain unmatched insight into the complex and ever-changing Indian judicial system. A law firm's capacity to make money is currently considerably reduced by the significant amount of man-hours needed to complete legal study. However, with artificial intelligence, the entire legal community can be balanced. An artificially intelligent research platform can complete research in a matter of seconds, and whether it is used by a single practising attorney or a law firm with 400 attorneys, artificial intelligence can balance the costs associated with legal research while maintaining a consistent level of quality. It can give attorneys access to highly effective and cutting-edge tools that will improve their client counselling and litigation skills.

Many Indian legal tech startups, including SpotDraft, CaseMine, NearLaw, Pensieve, Practice League, etc., are developing Natural Language Processing [NLP]-based applications and launching next-generation legal research platforms that assist law firms in going beyond straightforward, keyword-based research and reduce the time required for it. Artificial intelligence research skills are rapidly expanding for many legal startups, some of which have their own AI research laboratories.

Effect on the face of future Law firms?

The degree of competition in the legal sector has increased significantly over the past few years, not just in India but also worldwide. It is now essential for law firms to capitalise on competing advantages by comprehending technological advancements and customer needs. Sadly, those who chose to ignore those developments would become outdated within a few years.

Future law firms would not resemble anything like the ones we typically see today. Let's clarify a few traits that would characterise the cutting-edge law firms:

1. Client-service innovations:In the future, how clients are served and treated will change significantly. Law firms would approach their clients with a few fresh concepts as well as more genuine and cost-effective legal solutions. The billable hour approach, also known as the time-based billing model, is now used by law firms in India to charge clients for their services. However, this pricing model will soon become obsolete. Law companies would consider implementing, for example, a Performance-Based Pricing Strategy [PBPS] to innovate their pricing strategies and better serve their clients: As the name implies, this pricing structure would be very client-friendly because clients would only be required to make payments after achieving their goals. It would also improve the rapport between clients and law firms on a professional level.

2. The focus has shifted from raising revenue to higher profits. But, if we look closely, the rivalry among law firms has been escalating and the demand for legal services has remained static, making revenue growth exceedingly challenging. As a result, law firms would prioritise bigger profits and margins in the future rather than revenue.

3. Using technology as the cornerstone for growth: During the past few years, there has been a noticeable increase in the development of new AI-based solutions targeted at streamlining and improving the client experience in the legal industry. A variety of legal tech businesses have emerged to simplify the lives of a lawyer or firm, from E-Discovery tools to automation in contract writing and trademark search. Artificial Intelligence-based legal solutions assist law firms in becoming more effective, with the potential to save expenses and increase revenues. In addition to using these technologies, the future law firm will collaborate with other businesses to develop AI-based solutions that might further advance the legal industry.

4. Strong emphasis on brand value: In the future, law firms will put a strong emphasis on their brand presence. A law company needs to rely on AI-based legal solutions and platforms as well as tech-savvy lawyers in order to build its brand value because just a few people's careless or shoddy counsel may quickly harm a business's image. Moreover, law firms must host more conferences and participate in more media outlets cross border seminar and workshops.

Areas where Artificial Intelligence are helping the legal industry

It is believed that artificial intelligence has great scope for Indian Legal Sector and a combination of artificial intelligence and law will witness immense growth in the near future. Currently, there are many fields or arena in which artificial intelligence in law is proving to be useful these are as follows:

Due Diligence -To review a contract, conduct legal research or performing electronic discovery functions to do due diligence, AI legal software are proving to be helpful and time effective.

Prediction Technology- Artificial intelligence legal software also predicts the probable outcome of the cases being adjudicated before the Court of Law.

Legal Analytics- Artificial Intelligence provides for the data points from past case laws, and also provides judgements and precedent law to be used by lawyers in their present cases.

Automation of Documentation- By just submitting the required documents which you wish to incorporate in your legal document get your documents ready within minutes.

Intellectual Property- Tools of artificial intelligence helps in providing the insights into the IP portfolios i.e. search and registration of a trademark, Patent, Copyrights etc.

Electronic Billing- Artificial intelligence legal software also helps the lawyer and Firms in preparing the invoices as per the work done by them. It makes for accurate billing for the work done by a lawyer. Thus, helps both lawyers and clients.

I hope that the use of Artificial Intelligence would start from what is traditionally known as the “Bar” and then shall extend itself to the “Bench” wherein even Judges could utilize the power of NLP Summarisation to gather the sum of the contentions of both parties Judges could quickly deduce which part contains merit as per the Acts/Statutes and the latest case laws on the subject of law pertaining to the dispute.

Based on the above discussion I don’t find a single reason for which Artificial Intelligence is going to take over the jobs of professionals. In fact, IA based program will make the professionals more productive, efficient, better, more accurate and output focused.

CONCLUSION

The framework within which the judicial system operates has changed as a result of technological advancement. It is challenging to predict the future of the legal industry without taking a close look at the programme Al that is emerging on legal IT markets. The buyer is now in charge of the legal business. It only takes one click to access legal information. Online software is used to do legal research. Law firms and advisers provide assistance with the drafting, review, and case management of these items' agreements. So, a legal framework governing AI is very necessary if we are to manage the legal tech industry and safeguard customers from data misuse. The level of Al use and incorporation must be monitored, and a suitable legal framework must be developed. If AI violates a data protection framework and is held responsible for the lack of human involvement, the Indian data protection system is terrifyingly vulnerable to keep up with the pace of AI development. The only piece of legislation that, broadly speaking, "touches" this issue is the Information Technology Act 2000. There is no doubt that Sections 43A and 72 of the Act contain certain data protection and privacy safeguards, but due to the murky language of these sections, the measures fall well short of providing actual protection. In accordance with the European Data Protection Directive, the UK Data Protection Act (1998), the OECD privacy policy, and the United States personal and Safe Harbor principles, it calls for comprehensive data protection regulations in India. In this situation, India needs a robust data protection law. Second, the government must establish adequate protections by first reporting the extraction of information for certain users, or the information source.