Business opened at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Annual Meeting and Convention with a panel discussion on the staying power of artificial intelligence and its reach within the legal profession.
Keynote speaker Andrew Perlman, the dean of Suffolk Law School, delivered an opening address on why generative AI is likely to transform the delivery of legal services in the years ahead and offer practical - and ethical - tips for using it.
In his remarks, Pearlman said that for years technology has supplanted classic legal services like basic wills, small business incorporation and pre-paid or bundled legal assistance offered to individuals, families or businesses. The debut of ChatGPT in November 2022 accelerated these trends and slowly created new expectations for lawyers.
“Even though we’re not at the point right now where lawyers have an ethical obligation to use these tools, I think we will be there soon,” Pearlman said. “We are at a transition moment. Every lawyer in every practice area needs to be thinking about how they will deploy these tools, because we will reach the point where lawyers who aren’t using them are doing their clients a disservice.”
Pearlman noted the difference between AI – which has been available in the legal profession for many years in the form of legal databases and e-discovery – and generative AI, which absorbs large volumes of information to create new content. AI tools are useful in creating a first draft for legal documents and updating and analyzing legal documents, he said.
“I believe generative AI is not only the next type of technology that is world-changing, but it will be more transformative for all of us than anything that has come before,” Pearlman said.
As a cautionary note, generative AI is not faultless given its tendency to “hallucinate” or produce inaccurate information, Pearlman said. But the technology is quickly evolving and attorneys soon will be able to use these tools within the existing legal framework.
“This is the worst the tech will ever be. It is getting better all the time,” Pearlman said.
The panel brought together some of the top legal minds from public and private practice in the state. Panelists included retired U.S. District Court Judge Katherine B. Forrest, Michael G. Donahue of Stark & Stark, Joshua S. Levy of Gibbons P.C., and Stephanie Schmidt with Prudential Financial. Former NJSBA Trustee Thomas M. Scrivo served as the moderator.
“At the end of the day, if you think that you’re not using AI, you probably are somewhere,” Donahue said. “You should get excited about using it. There’s so much opportunity here. There are so many different ways you can improve the efficiency of what you’re doing on a day-to-day basis.”
For those who use AI frequently, Judge Forrest stressed the importance of checking the technology’s work for accuracy.
“It is up to us as lawyers with our responsibilities to our clients to ensure that the output is correct. You can’t just take it as correct, even if you’ve had a few good experiences,” Judge Forrest said. “That’s included in the duty of competence.”