1. Part one: Discuss the current impact of the use of GenAI in the legal profession.

Should the legal profession continue to use GenAI in the future?

For lawyers, the ability to conduct legal research is essential. Consequently, to properly

address a variety of legal issues, attorneys must always conduct legal study. Doing research is

a common practice, even if the goal and methods may differ from lawyer to lawyer.

However, measuring the effects of artificial intelligence (henceforth referred to as "AI") on

legal research enables one to gauge the impact of AI on the legal field. Furthermore, it's

clear that the legal industry is susceptible to change considering the introduction of Legal AI.

As a result, the impact of AI on research in the legal field in completing diverse lawyerly

activities by different legal experts are covered in this article. Technological developments in

Artificial Intelligence (AI) have brought about a transformation in the way we perform both

personal and professional tasks. The legal industry is not an exception to this trend. The

employment of intelligent virtual assistants and other AI tools is posing issues that are

changing the legal industry. The various ways artificial intelligence (AI) can be incorporated

into the legal profession to support attorneys and other legal professionals' work are

covered in this brief. It offers instances of how attorneys are already solving problems,

situations in which AI technologies could take over activities that lawyers have historically

completed, and samples of queries and requests for intelligent virtual assistants. This essay

examines legal and ethical issues pertaining to the integrity of the legal system, the

obligations of attorneys, and the defence of clients' rights as AI is further incorporated into

legal practice.
Varied viewpoints can lead to varied definitions of legal research. The terms "Legal" and

"Research" make up the phrase. As a result, any collection of facts, data, and information for

the purpose of expanding knowledge is referred to as "research.1" Similarly, a studious

inquiry or examination is what is meant by research, particularly an investigation or

experimentation that aims to find and interpret facts, change existing theories or laws in

light of new facts, or put such new or revised theories or laws into practical application 2. As a

result, research is the process of thoroughly and intently looking into a subject to find the

truth. Research is the trained scientific examination of the principles and facts of any

subject, founded on an original, first-hand analysis of authority or experiment. Another way

to conceptualise research is as a series of procedures used to gather and examine data to

improve knowledge about a subject or problem3. Analogously, research encompasses the

following processes: recognising an issue, gathering pertinent data, arranging, and

categorising it logically, applying logic (science) to understand the gathered and arranged

data, and drawing conclusions based on the data4. Research can be defined as an innovative

and methodical endeavour aimed at expanding the corpus of knowledge and developing

novel uses for pre-existing knowledge5.

1
Goltz N (Sean) and Dondoli G, ‘A Note on Science, Legal Research and Artificial Intelligence’ (2019) 28
Information & Communications Technology Law 239
<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13600834.2019.1644065> accessed 11 January 2024

2
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc (ed), The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (15th ed, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2007)

3
Salter M and Mason J, Writing Law Dissertations: An Introduction and Guide to the Conduct of Legal Research
(Pearson Education 2007)
.
4
Creswell JW, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research (4th ed, Pearson 2012)

5
OECD, Frascati Manual 2015: Guidelines for Collecting and Reporting Data on Research and Experimental
Development (OECD 2015) <https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/frascati-manual-
2015_9789264239012-en> accessed 11 January 2024.
AI has the potential to disrupt the legal profession in general and legal research in particular.

Susskind correctly predicted in 2013 that during the next ten years, artificial intelligence (AI)

technology will drastically transform the legal profession6. Susskind went on to say that it is

unimaginable that information technology will drastically transform every aspect of society

and the economy, and that legal practice will somehow remain unchanged7. It was

previously widely believed that only highly skilled legal professionals could perform lawyerly

tasks because lawyers are highly trained and skilled professionals who identify the legal

issues, gather pertinent facts, and determine the likely outcome of a court decision to

adjudicate a dispute by exercising judgement, using their experience and intuition, to assess

the merits of a case and determine the best course of action. Recent advances in AI,

however, have refuted conventional wisdom and demonstrated that AI is not exempt from

application in the legal profession. AI has therefore significantly disrupted legal research and

legal practice in general, and it will continue to do so8. Therefore, the notions of human

lawyer competence have been called into question by recent advances in artificial

intelligence (AI), including as machine learning and natural language processing. It is

encouraging to see that legal practice is not exempt from these technology advancements

because several intricate procedures that previously required human labour have been

automated in ways that save costs and provide increased accuracy and precision. Because of

this, machine intelligence will significantly disrupt the legal services business in terms of

discovery, legal search, document generation, brief generation, and case outcome

prediction.
6
Susskind RE, Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future (Second edition, Oxford University Press
2017).
7
Alarie B, Niblett A and Yoon A, ‘How Artificial Intelligence Will Affect the Practice of Law’ [2017] SSRN
Electronic Journal <https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=3066816> accessed 11 January 2024.
8
Northwestern University School of Law and others, ‘The Great Disruption: How Machine Intelligence Will
Transform the Role of Lawyers in the Delivery of Legal Services’ (2019) 13 Actual Problems of Economics and
Law <https://www.rusjel.ru/jour/article/view/25> accessed 11 January 2024.
AI is also a highly helpful tool for legal science in general and law in particular. AI applications

are supporting legal thinking by using knowledge to solve legal difficulties. Artificial

Intelligence offers methods and instruments designed to address legal issues. Legal science

acknowledges AI's value in legal study and thinking. A basic idea known as "legal reasoning"

describes the process of formulating and offering a convincing response to a specific legal

query9. For instance, by looking through databases of legal texts to determine which cases

are pertinent to the many ongoing court cases. Moreover, because AI technologies can weed

out extraneous material, they greatly simplify legal research for judges. Additionally, several

AI expert systems are capable of reasoning independently and coming up with precise

solutions to a variety of legal issues10. Like this, several AI applications are employed in a

variety of settings that are pertinent to legal study. Legal reasoning, for instance, is utilised to

model legal precedents, detect ambiguities in the language of legislation, and formalise

legislation11. AI's capacity to examine enormous volumes of data is also utilised in other

fields, such digital forensics. AI can also be used to make predictions, like predicting which

crime scenes will have the best chance of yielding a forensic sample12. Artificial Intelligence is

now being used by courts to make rulings. In the United States, courts employ sophisticated

algorithms to support the pretrial detention of defendants. For instance, 29 American

9
Alzbeta, K. (2017). Intersections between Law and Artificial Intelligence. International Journal of Computer 27
(1)
10
Sunstein CR, ‘Of Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning’ [2001] SSRN Electronic Journal
<http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=289789> accessed 11 January 2024
11
Sergot MJ and others, ‘The British Nationality Act as a Logic Program’ (1986) 29 Communications of the ACM
370 <https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/5689.5920> accessed 11 January 2024
12
Mitchell F, ‘The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Digital Forensics: An Introduction’ (2014) 7 Digital Evidence
and Electronic Signature Law Review <http://journals.sas.ac.uk/deeslr/article/view/1922> accessed 11 January
2024
jurisdictions use the "Public Safety Assessment tool" to assess the risk posed by

defendants13.

AI also made it possible to obtain all the legal information required from any location in the

globe14. Today's lawyers can do most of their legal research online thanks to the

development of AI. As a result, most of the legal research that solicitors do these days is

done online with the use of data suppliers like Westlaw and Lexis, freely accessible websites

like Justia (in the US) or CanLII (in Canada), or just plain old search engines like Google.

Current legal resources, including court rulings, legislation, and opinions, are all accessible

online and accessible from any location in the globe. This made a significant contribution to

the advancement of international legal research and legal scholarship. Accordingly, Westlaw

and Lexis have kept up their efforts to enhance legal research, producing more user-friendly

access mechanisms, thorough databases, and cutting-edge electronic research techniques 15.

For example, Westlaw is the main online legal research service in the USA, UK, and Australia,

with more than 40,000 databases of legal information, while LexisNexis now has 15,000

databases and over 9 million customers worldwide16.

As a result, research indicates that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot read legal writings like

lawyers can; apps can only partially understand legal texts. Machine language produces

results, but not narratives; AI typically isn't able to justify its responses to legal queries; Legal

13
Taylor, B. S. (2019). The Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence in the Law. Gonzaga University Law
Review
14
James, L. H. (1991). Legal Scholarship and the Electronic Revolution. Law Library J.
15
Liu FY and American Lawyer Media (Firm) (eds), Pennsylvania Legal Research Handbook (2008 ed, ALM 2008)
16
Hannah A, ‘AI Is The Future Of Law—And Lawyers Know It - Dataconomy’ (17 March 2016)
<https://dataconomy.com/2016/03/17/ai-future-law-lawyers-know/> accessed 11 January 2024
reasoning is not understood by question-and-answer systems [110]; A tool could not also

consider how many scenarios can impact its responses, and most AI technologies are unable

to function completely independently of human assistance17. However, Susskind claims that

a number of issues and barriers have arisen and will persist in the development of legal

artificial intelligence (AI), including a lack of domain experts and knowledge engineers, a lack

of established design methodologies for the creation of expert systems in the legal field, a

lack of sufficient AI tools, challenges in ensuring the quality control of legal AI systems, and

the existence of grave concerns regarding the legal implications of AI tools18. Furthermore,

artificial intelligence (AI) is held accountable for other disruptive aspects of the legal

profession, including its complexity, its unsettling tendency to become more autonomous

over time, its opaque decision-making, and its technological vulnerability due to its heavy

reliance on data that may be incomplete, flawed, or biased19. Furthermore, one of the

biggest obstacles to the growth of legal AI now is the significant vulnerability of AI systems to

cyber-security breaches or assaults20. Concerns about who will bear the blame for errors

made by AI tools—which are essentially programmes or pieces of machinery—among users

and developers are also reasonable. As a result, many academics argue that the imperative

need for regulation and holding people accountable should be addressed by law 21. However,

there are also other notable barriers to the integration of AI in the legal profession, including

17
Ashley KD, Artificial Intelligence and Legal Analytics: New Tools for Law Practice in the Digital Age (1st edn,
Cambridge University Press 2017)
<https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781316761380/type/book> accessed 11 January 2024
18
Ballell TRDLH, ‘Legal Challenges of Artificial Intelligence: Modelling the Disruptive Features of Emerging
Technologies and Assessing Their Possible Legal Impact’ (2019) 24 Uniform Law Review 302
<https://academic.oup.com/ulr/article/24/2/302/5526861> accessed 11 January 2024.
19
Susskind R, ‘Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems and Law’ (2012) 5 The Denning Law Journal 105
<http://www.ubplj.org/index.php/dlj/article/view/196> accessed 11 January 2024
20
Semmler S and Rose Z, ‘Artificial Intelligence: Application Today and Implications Tomorrow’ (2017) 16 Duke
Law & Technology Review 85 <https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dltr/vol16/iss1/3>
21
McKamey M, ‘Legal Technology: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of the Law Practice’ (6 December 2016)
<https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3014408> accessed 11 January 2024
those related to technology, the difficulty of integrating AI into reasoning about law, the lack

of sufficient demand for legal AI (economic barriers), and the notably sluggish integration of

AI into the legal practice culture (cultural barriers).

Research indicates that legal AI technologies may have unfavourable effects on the legal

profession, including a high unemployment rate, concerns about data privacy, ethics, and

dishonest data use, as well as the unintended development of an artificial intelligence that is

too smart—a phenomenon known as the "singularity problem.22" However, there is a valid

argument that judges should have complete control and shouldn't assign decisions or a

particular administrative responsibility to an AI assistant23. In addition, a major long-term

obstacle to legal AI is the widespread belief that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot do legal

(analogical) reasoning or assessments24. Additionally, the difficulty integrating AI with the

legal profession was made worse by the fact that many judgements contain a discretionary

aspect, which is not the case for computer programmes that follow input-output logic 25.

Lastly, there is a strong case to be made that AI cannot always be relied upon to be impartial

and fair since it is subject to the bias and prejudice of those who created it 26.

22
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), WIPO Technology Trends 2019 – Artificial Intelligence
(Unknown) <https://tind.wipo.int/record/29084> accessed 11 January 2024

23
Thomas, J. B. (2018). Artificial Intelligence in Court Legitimacy Problems of AI Assistance in the Judiciary. <
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59db92336f4ca35190c650a5/t/5ad9da5f70a6adf9d3ee842c/
1524226655876/Artificial+Intelligence+in+Court.pdf> accessed 11 January 2024
24
Sunstein CR, ‘Of Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning’ [2001] SSRN Electronic Journal
<http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=289789> accessed 11 January 2024
25
Justice, M. P. (2017). iDecide: Administrative Decision-Making in the Digital World. Australian Law Journal, <
https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/digital-law-library/judges-speeches/justice-perry/perry-j-20190321> accessed 11
January 2024
26
Mirjana, S., Ravi, G., Bertrand, A., & et al. (2017). Exploring Legal, Ethical and Policy Implications of Artificial
Intelligence. Law, Justice, and Development White Paper, < https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Miriam-
Stankovich/publication/
320826467_Exploring_Legal_Ethical_and_Policy_Implications_of_Artificial_Intelligence/links/
59fbf3d4a6fdcca1f2930ad3/Exploring-Legal-Ethical-and-Policy-Implications-of-Artificial-Intelligence.pdf>
accessed 11 January 2024
An attempt was made to address the effects of AI on legal research in the legal field in this

paper. The law is neither completely anti-technological nor rocket science, as some

academics have attempted to argue. As a result, AI can have both beneficial and bad effects

on legal practice in general and legal research in particular. Attorneys are using more and

more AI and data analytics tools to increase productivity, automate processes, and provide

better legal services. Legal research and e-discovery, document automation, predictive legal

analysis, legal review, case management, legal advice and expertise automation, information

and marketing, and legal review are all being helped by intelligent virtual assistants built on

machine learning and natural language processing. But there are several ethical and legal

concerns with using AI in legal practice. The fundamental rules guiding the legal profession,

as well as the rights of clients and people, are altered by the employment of AI tools. These

include lack of human judgement and interpretation, job displacement, loss of domain

expertise, bias and fairness, privacy, data protection, conflict of interests, and the duty of

confidentiality. They also include accuracy and accountability, transparency, trust,

communication, and the duty of competent representation. Although AI technologies have a

lot of potential to help legal professionals in their job, it is still important to thoroughly grasp

the risks associated with using this technology and when to utilise it.

Word count: 1919 words

Bibliography

Alarie B, Niblett A and Yoon A, ‘How Artificial Intelligence Will Affect the Practice of
Law’ [2017] SSRN Electronic Journal <https://www.ssrn.com/abstract=3066816> accessed
11 January 2024

Alzbeta, K. (2017). Intersections between Law and Artificial Intelligence. International

Journal of Computer 27 (1)
Ashley KD, Artificial Intelligence and Legal Analytics: New Tools for Law Practice in the
Digital Age (1st edn, Cambridge University Press 2017)
<https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781316761380/type/book> accessed 11
January 2024

Ballell TRDLH, ‘Legal Challenges of Artificial Intelligence: Modelling the Disruptive

Features of Emerging Technologies and Assessing Their Possible Legal Impact’ (2019) 24
Uniform Law Review 302 <https://academic.oup.com/ulr/article/24/2/302/5526861>
accessed 11 January 2024

Creswell JW, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative

and Qualitative Research (4th ed, Pearson 2012)

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc (ed), The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (15th ed,
Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007)

Goltz N (Sean) and Dondoli G, ‘A Note on Science, Legal Research and Artificial
Intelligence’ (2019) 28 Information & Communications Technology Law 239
<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13600834.2019.1644065> accessed 11
January 2024

Hannah A, ‘AI Is The Future Of Law—And Lawyers Know It - Dataconomy’ (17 March
2016) <https://dataconomy.com/2016/03/17/ai-future-law-lawyers-know/> accessed 11
January 2024

Liu FY and American Lawyer Media (Firm) (eds), Pennsylvania Legal Research
Handbook (2008 ed, ALM 2008)

James, L. H. (1991). Legal Scholarship and the Electronic Revolution. Law Library J.

Justice, M. P. (2017). iDecide: Administrative Decision-Making in the Digital World. Australian

Law Journal, < https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/digital-law-library/judges-speeches/justice-
perry/perry-j-20190321> accessed 11 January 2024

McKamey M, ‘Legal Technology: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of the Law Practice’
(6 December 2016) <https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3014408> accessed 11 January 2024

Mitchell F, ‘The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Digital Forensics: An Introduction’ (2014) 7

Digital Evidence and Electronic Signature Law Review
<http://journals.sas.ac.uk/deeslr/article/view/1922> accessed 11 January 2024

Mirjana, S., Ravi, G., Bertrand, A., & et al. (2017). Exploring Legal, Ethical and Policy
Implications of Artificial Intelligence. Law, Justice, and Development White Paper, <
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Miriam-Stankovich/publication/
320826467_Exploring_Legal_Ethical_and_Policy_Implications_of_Artificial_Intelligence/
links/59fbf3d4a6fdcca1f2930ad3/Exploring-Legal-Ethical-and-Policy-Implications-of-
Artificial-Intelligence.pdf> accessed 11 January 2024
Northwestern University School of Law and others, ‘The Great Disruption: How Machine
Intelligence Will Transform the Role of Lawyers in the Delivery of Legal Services’ (2019) 13
Actual Problems of Economics and Law <https://www.rusjel.ru/jour/article/view/25>
accessed 11 January 2024

OECD, Frascati Manual 2015: Guidelines for Collecting and Reporting Data on Research
and Experimental Development (OECD 2015) <https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-
technology/frascati-manual-2015_9789264239012-en> accessed 11 January 2024

Semmler S and Rose Z, ‘Artificial Intelligence: Application Today and Implications

Tomorrow’ (2017) 16 Duke Law & Technology Review 85
<https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/dltr/vol16/iss1/3>

Sergot MJ and others, ‘The British Nationality Act as a Logic Program’ (1986) 29
Communications of the ACM 370 <https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/5689.5920> accessed 11
January 2024

Sunstein CR, ‘Of Artificial Intelligence and Legal Reasoning’ [2001] SSRN Electronic
Journal <http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=289789> accessed 11 January 2024

Susskind R, ‘Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems and Law’ (2012) 5 The Denning Law
Journal 105 <http://www.ubplj.org/index.php/dlj/article/view/196> accessed 11 January 2024

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University Press 2017)

Taylor, B. S. (2019). The Ethical Implications of Artificial Intelligence in the Law. Gonzaga
University Law Review

Thomas, J. B. (2018). Artificial Intelligence in Court Legitimacy Problems of AI Assistance in

the Judiciary. < https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59db92336f4ca35190c650a5/t/
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Part Two: Reflection

The module has been a demanding yet gratifying experience that has forced me to

overcome challenges and learn new abilities. My capacity to adjust and gain knowledge from

difficulties was one thing that worked effectively for me. Referencing seemed like a difficult
assignment at first, but with constant practice, I was able to get better and gain more

confidence in this area.

There were certain things that could have been done better, though. Time management

turned out to be a major difficulty, which resulted in submissions at the last minute.

Although the surge of adrenaline that comes from finishing a task under pressure might be

inspiring, this is not the best or most sustainable way to work. I must use more effective time

management techniques in the future to save needless stress and guarantee the calibre of

my work.

I was interested in learning more about the current state of GenAI in the legal field because

of its potential future ramifications and relevance. Technology is advancing, and this

presents practical and ethical issues that need to be carefully considered when it is

integrated into disciplines like law that have historically relied on humans. I investigated

reliable sources for the research, concentrating on Google Scholar, WestLaw, and Lexis in

particular. This made it possible for me to read academic papers and peer-reviewed

publications, guaranteeing the accuracy of the data I collected. To give a thorough

understanding of the subject, I also looked at a variety of viewpoints. Time management

proved to be a significant obstacle, requiring an overnight session to finish the work. I now

understand how critical it is to set reasonable timelines and divide work into digestible

chunks to address this. Finally, last-minute rushes would have been avoided if I had

organised my research findings earlier in the process.

Anxiety and enthusiasm were mixed during the study process. There was a sensation of

overwhelm due to the abundance of viewpoints and information regarding GenAI in the

legal profession. To tackle this, I ranked important concepts and themes according to how

well they related to the essay question. This assisted me in organising my ideas and reducing

the tension brought on by information overload. I was able to organise my ideas, make sense

of difficult GenAI concepts, and strengthen my arguments by using ChatGPT. It was helpful to

me in developing a well-organized essay and in expressing my ideas in a logical manner. This

interactive AI method helped me to improve the overall calibre of my work.

To sum up, the module taught me important research techniques, time management, and

flexibility. Even if there were difficulties, the experience helped me improve both

academically and personally. Not only did the subject of GenAI in the legal field pique my

curiosity, but it also gave me the opportunity to critically examine new technology. I'll apply

these lessons going forward to ensure a more methodical and effective approach in my

initiatives.

Word count: 488 words

I declare that all of the words and ideas in this essay are my own, unless otherwise
cited. I have properly cited all sources that I have used to support my arguments. I
understand that plagiarism is a serious offence and that I will be held responsible for
any instances of plagiarism.”

Signature.....Dhani Modi.............................................................
Date ..............11/01/2024............