Business opened at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting and Convention with a thoughtful panel discussion about artificial intelligence, its impact on the law and how the technology will change the work of attorneys.
Keynote speaker Dr. Chris Mattmann, an international expert in AI, opened the session with a 50-year history of AI’s evolution and its legal, social and ethical impact. Lawyers, Mattmann said, will play a pivotal role in regulating the advancement of AI in intellectual property, privacy and possibly developing an AI Bill of Rights that codifies the relationship between humans and the technology.
“The legal community will be the most important of the next 10 years in sussing out these issues,” Mattamann said.
The panel brought together some of the top legal minds from public and private practice in the state. Panelists included Judge Glenn A. Grant, the acting Administrative Director of the Courts, retired state Supreme Court Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, retired U.S. District Court Judge Katherine B. Forrest, Patrick Fuller, chief legal strategist of ALM, Jennifer N. Sellitti, the New Jersey Public Defender and incoming NJSBA President William H. Mergner. Former NJSBA Trustee Thomas M. Scrivo served as the moderator.
“AI is one of the hottest topics in the law,” Mergner said. “As NJSBA president, one of my focuses for the next year will be to continue the Association’s review of the complex legal and ethical questions raised by AI and how attorneys can best use the technology to their advantage.”
The state Supreme Court recently issued guidelines on the anticipated effects of AI on legal practice, the duties of lawyers who use AI and the technology’s capacities, limits and risks. Judge Grant said the Judiciary surveys 6,500 surveys New Jersey legal professionals to help form its recommendations. Many respondents expressed concern about their lack of understanding about AI, their job security and requested more training to improve their practice, Grant said.
“You have this broad spectrum of individuals who are concerned about what I characterize as a disruption in society,” Judge Grant said. “Our challenge is to understand how this disruption will impact us positively or negatively.”
Many of AI’s immediate impacts will occur on the business side of practicing law – in automated billing, creating firm budgets and marketing content, according to the panel. Scrivo said clients, especially large companies, may one day rely on AI to weigh the cost of cases and create a new system of value-based legal services. Judge Forrest responded that the profession will likely see a significant change how billable hours are quantified, but the human element will always be a consideration in the cost of services.
“Billable hours come with experience, knowledge and the analysis you perform over decades. That’s going to have a value to clients no matter what,” Judge Forrest said. “While we come up with new ways of billing, I think lawyers will still be able to provide value that clients will appreciate.”
As the state public defender, Sellitti said she envisions that AI will help her office minimize repetitive and menial tasks.
“I would that this is an opportunity to put humanity back into our work,” Sellitti said. “As public defenders, if we can automate some of these tasks, we can spend more time with our clients.”