The need for actual lawyers will persist I think from my own experience. I attempted drafting a contract with some points myself using AI, but after several edits I wasn't sure if it was correct. Sending it to an actual lawyer ended up in so many corrections I couldn't imagine the first time. One big thing was the overly excessive protective clauses which didn't make sense for reality or conflicted with another.
Its just like code I suppose, if you can read and understand and validate, you can use it to scale and otherwise it could end up being a vibe effort.
The typical pattern is called “deskilling”. It doesn’t usually mean a skilled profession will disappear overnight. Instead, the job might be done by less expensive folks like paralegals.
An example is in the banking industry, where making a loan used to require deep analysis of a person’s credit worthiness. Now they use an algorithm (credit scores) which means someone with less experience can do it.
If law follows the same pattern, a job done by someone making $500/hour might be done by someone making $50/hour.
i don't think that's the point anybody is making. "good lawyers" is not the profession at risk here. a top tier courtroom lawyer won't be replaced by AI.
but how much of the revenue of the average law firm comes from that, vs the day-to-day "we need this relatively routine contract reviewed" sort of work?
> Instead, the job might be done by less expensive folks like paralegals.
So who is going to define your strategy, represent you in court, adapt the strategy to changing circumstances, negotiate with counter-parties on a mutually accepted settlement? A paralegal? An AI model? Please
Very little of corporate law is in court. The mass of things is “does this contract look good?” And “what do we need to change in our business when regulation X comes into force?”
Again, lawyers. That isn’t going to be replaced by AI.
But this is the same story that has played out in other industries. The top tier isn’t at risk. The artist who commands $100k for a commission is still making money. But the artist who makes a living creating background images for corporate presentations doesn’t have a revenue stream anymore. The software developer who makes novel, high-complexity applications is still making money. But the guy churning out Wordpress templates has lost his job. The law firm doing 90% boring corporate boilerplate is next.
Former attorney here. A good paralegal is worth 3-4 junior attorneys. A good paralegal with AI should probably still have a senior attorney oversee them but this will absolutely hollow out firms.
halamadrid · · focus · HN ↗
Its just like code I suppose, if you can read and understand and validate, you can use it to scale and otherwise it could end up being a vibe effort.
janalsncm · · focus · HN ↗
An example is in the banking industry, where making a loan used to require deep analysis of a person’s credit worthiness. Now they use an algorithm (credit scores) which means someone with less experience can do it.
If law follows the same pattern, a job done by someone making $500/hour might be done by someone making $50/hour.
samtp · · focus · HN ↗
notatoad · · focus · HN ↗
but how much of the revenue of the average law firm comes from that, vs the day-to-day "we need this relatively routine contract reviewed" sort of work?
rayiner · · focus · HN ↗
samtp · · focus · HN ↗
So who is going to define your strategy, represent you in court, adapt the strategy to changing circumstances, negotiate with counter-parties on a mutually accepted settlement? A paralegal? An AI model? Please
victorbjorklund · · focus · HN ↗
samtp · · focus · HN ↗
notatoad · · focus · HN ↗
But this is the same story that has played out in other industries. The top tier isn’t at risk. The artist who commands $100k for a commission is still making money. But the artist who makes a living creating background images for corporate presentations doesn’t have a revenue stream anymore. The software developer who makes novel, high-complexity applications is still making money. But the guy churning out Wordpress templates has lost his job. The law firm doing 90% boring corporate boilerplate is next.
citizenkeen · · focus · HN ↗