Corporate Legal Operations and the New Era of AI – Kira Systems Whitepaper

In popular culture, AI is often depicted as a threatening presence. Its ability to automate tasks typically reserved for humans inspires a fear that it will ultimately lead to our complete and total obsolescence. So it’s no surprise that early perceptions of AI in the legal industry were that attorneys were on the fast track to be replaced by computers. However, the truth is much less foreboding and a better understanding of AI means a shift in the narrative. 

Thankfully, rapid technological advancements and an increased desire to become more efficient have resulted in the now widely held belief that AI enhances and lends valuable context to the work lawyers do (rather than simply replacing it). 

In fact, in its ‘2019 Future Ready Lawyer Survey’, global information services firm Wolters Kluwer found that emerging technology and its impacts loom large.

Of the 700 U.S.- and U.K.-based survey respondents, which represented a cross-section of in-house counsel and attorneys in private practice, more than half expected to see ‘some impact from transformational technologies already here today’, including artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, machine learning, and big data.

Interestingly, however, fewer than 24% of Wolters Kluwer survey respondents say they understand those transformational technologies. In fact, 36% report their lack of tech knowledge as the main reason to resist it. That’s where our latest whitepaper, AI in Corporate Legal Operations and What It Means for You, comes in.

AI Augments Corporate Legal Teams

In the Association of Corporate Counsel’s 2019 “Global Legal Department Benchmarking Report,” data collected from 508 legal departments across 30 countries shows that 53% of large departments are using legal tech solutions, with the top three being e-signature (44%), contract management (41%) and document management (38%).

Last year, more than $1.2 billion was funnelled into over three dozen companies in the legal tech space. 

In our latest whitepaper, we examine how AI tools help corporate legal departments reduce costs and increase productivity by automating certain components of lower-level tasks and processes long known to consume attorneys’ valuable time (and cost the business money). 

For context, Kira is used at some of the world’s largest professional services firms, including firms from the AmLaw 100, Chambers Band 1, and Big Four. These firms regularly report that they complete their contract review and analysis projects in 20-90% less time, and are more confident in the accuracy of the results. Kira enables improved business processes and even entirely new business offerings that provide significantly greater value to clients.

However, while Kira was originally developed for contract review in M&A due diligence, where lawyers review hundreds or thousands of third-party contracts that are not already organized and might be in any number of file formats, our customers quickly discovered that Kira can just as easily be deployed in a wide variety of applications, whenever rapid and accurate search and analysis of contracts is required. This is possible because of Kira’s patented machine learning technology, and Quick Study tool which makes it easy to teach Kira to identify virtually any needed provision from any contract.

Whether it be transactional due diligence or contract lifecycle management (CLM), AI tools like Kira enable attorneys to scour and collect specific clauses among thousands, even millions, of documents within minutes.

An Investment in AI is an Investment in Your Team

In our ever-evolving legal landscape, in-house legal teams can quickly identify contract terms and anticipate risks, focus their time and resources on delivering high-quality services to clients, and reduce spending on outside counsel, by leveraging Kira’s features to easily find and gain actionable insights from the trusted information in your contracts and documents.

In short, AI frees attorneys to focus on critical issues that demand their attention. It allows attorneys to complete lower-level tasks with greater efficiency so they can shift their focus to more pressing matters. It also helps associates/junior attorneys move up the value chain, lending more purpose to their work and ultimately leading to better retention levels and lower incidences of burnout.

Future-Proof Your Business with AI

In an increasingly technologically-driven world, where leading businesses are making data-based decisions, it’s imperative that legal corporate teams see AI as a value-add rather than a threat. Safe to say, resisting the technology tidal wave would be an imprudent strategy for any lawyer, regardless of corporate or private practice. 

Want to learn more? Download our latest whitepaper, AI in Corporate Legal Operations and What It Means for You.

[ Artificial Lawyer is proud to bring you this sponsored thought leadership article by Kira Systems ]