AI AND THE FUTURE OF LAW
How will AI and tech impact the skills and ethical considerations of the legal industry in next five to 10 years?
Professor Dirk Hartung, Assistant Professor of Law (ABD) at SMU Yong Pung How School of Law explores the evolving intersection of artificial intelligence and the legal field.
FUTURE VISION
How do you envision the legal industry evolving in the next five to ten years, especially regarding the integration of technology and AI?
I am a tech-optimist and a staunch believer in the legal profession as the cornerstone of justice and prosperity. Unlike a few others, I see legal professionals as innovative power brokers and creative business enablers in advanced societies, which leads me to predict a golden future for the profession. With new tools and capabilities, lawyers will help individuals navigate both private and professional challenges more effectively. Businesses, in turn, will seize growth opportunities, and judges and lawmakers will adapt the law to accommodate advanced machine learning tools, creating a reliable framework for future prosperity.
In ten years, I envision legal professionals being as relevant as ever, with their core societal roles intact. However, their methods will evolve to reflect technological advances. At the same time, those who currently lack access to justice should have better opportunities to be heard and more positive experiences in their interactions with the law. This evolution promises greater inclusivity and fairness across the legal system.
EMERGING TRENDS
What are one or two emerging areas of law you believe will gain prominence soon, and how should legal professionals prepare?
AI, like previous technologies, will necessitate its own set of dedicated regulations and the adaptation of existing ones. With its widespread application in private and professional spaces, AI’s growth indirectly influences various legal domains, calling for a nuanced understanding of both existing and new regulations.
Beyond the obvious areas like AI regulation, data protection, and cybersecurity, I am particularly interested in how AI will influence professional regulation and ethics as well as court procedure and organization. While AI offers immense benefits in enhancing productivity within the profession, we are only at the beginning of comprehending its impact on legal services and the administration of justice. I anticipate that we will have to answer two main questions:
1. How can we design a legal framework that encourages the adoption of AI to improve legal practice and enhance access to justice?
2. What measures are necessary to prevent misuse or the creation of harm to clients and citizens?
Finding effective answers will require robust dialogue among legal professionals, policymakers, and regulators. Events like the SICC Conference 2025 and organisations such as the Singapore Academy of Law or Yong Pung How School of Law can play a crucial role in facilitating these conversations.
BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY
In your opinion, what is the most significant benefit that technology and AI can bring to the legal profession?
In the current era, legal professionals face an unprecedented challenge due to the exponential growth in complexity. The volume of information lawyers and judges must process to perform effectively is surging at an unprecedented rate. To fulfil our professional obligations and provide high-quality assistance, we need a substantial productivity boost. AI and AI-enabled tools are instrumental in addressing this overwhelming information load and enhancing productivity.
Previously, technology was limited to managing low-complexity, high-frequency tasks, but now it spans the entire spectrum of professional legal work. By assisting in summarizing, drafting, understanding, and conceptualizing all aspects of a case, AI enables legal professionals to focus on their core competencies: exercising legal judgment and providing relevant legal context for personal and business decisions.
SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE
As technology continues to advance, what skills do you think will be essential for lawyers to thrive?
Beyond their established critical thinking and adaptability, I would argue that the technical proficiency lawyers require will vary with their career stage.
For the most senior members, a working knowledge of technology and knowledge management is essential to preserve and leverage their expertise. Slightly less experienced colleagues should understand enough to identify risks in technology and business models, which allows them to act as trusted advisors.
At the senior associate level, lawyers should be able to recognize how technology might improve processes or build scalable business cases. Junior lawyers, meanwhile, need to grasp the functionality of these tools to enhance productivity and remain relevant in their careers.
All of these above require a foundational understanding of the fundamental concepts of machine learning, practical experience with current tools, and an open mind to adapt their behaviour if it facilitates the better adoption of technology.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
With the rise of AI in law, what ethical considerations should legal professionals keep in mind?
My understanding of the primary ethical considerations in the legal field revolves around the concepts of agency and responsibility. Legal professionals are obligated to provide their clients with the best possible advice.
In the context of technology, this involves comprehending its proper use and application to address clients’ problems effectively. While some jurisdictions, such as the United States, have an explicit professional duty of technological competency, it is essential for all legal professionals to remain informed about beneficial tools to provide legal advice.
On the other hand, lawyers are accountable for the legal and, to some extent, factual accuracy of their outputs. This includes routine duties like verifying references generated by AI-driven research and drafting tools, but it also extends to advising clients when their intended use of technology could have adverse effects on society. As a profession with a dual responsibility to both clients and the legal system, we should actively engage in shaping the way technology influences not just lawyers and courts but society as a whole.
Professor Dirk Hartung is among leading legal experts, practitioners and thought leaders who will engage in critical discussions on the evolving landscape of international commercial law at the Singapore International Commercial Court Conference (SICCC) to be held on 14 and 15 January 2025.
He will deliver a keynote address titled “Collision Course: AI and the Law”. Formerly with Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Professor Hartung is the founder of the Center for Legal Technology and Data Science and the Co-Academic Director for the Bucerius Summer Program in Legal Technology and Operations and SMU / Bucerius Legal Tech Essentials. Among other hats he wears, Professor Hartung is a Non-Residential Fellow at CodeX – the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics at Stanford Law School, United States.
The Singapore International Commercial Court Conference (SICCC) commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Singapore International Commercial Court.
Register here for the SICCC.
