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It’s safe to say that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here. While the stunning technology used to be reserved for Sci-Fi concepts, OpenAI’s Chat GPT, propelled by its biggest investor, Microsoft, is seeking to revolutionize the capabilities of AI, our expectations of it, and its uses. AI is being applied in virtually every industry, so it’s no surprise that the legal industry is learning how to apply it to the practice and business of law. The AI deluge raises an immediate question for lawyers: how is this going to affect my job?

This article explores the nuanced relationship between AI and law firms, examining whether it acts as a disruptive force or a valuable augmentation. We’ll examine how AI is affecting the business of law, how the role of the lawyer will likely evolve, and what skills the lawyer of tomorrow may need.

Keep Calm and Practice On

Before we get started, let’s make one thing clear: lawyers are not going anywhere anytime soon. The same can be said of legal assistants, paralegals, and legal administrators. Thus, law firms are not going anywhere. In fact, both lawyers and legal assistants/paralegals both have healthy job outlooks, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as they’re expected to grow by 10% and 14% from 2021 to 2031, respectively.

While the supercharged efficiency AI creates has the potential to drastically reduce operating costs for law firms, how law firms generate revenue is still relatively the same. That’s because the law firm’s most precious commodity remains unchanged: judgment.

Danielle Benecke, the founder and global head of Baker Mackenzie’s machine learning practice, said on Law.com’s podcast, Legal Speak, that the “ultimate driver” in the legal industry is a lawyer’s judgment. Benecke went on to state AI is a “significant advance along this continuum of technology advances that drive and grow our business model.”

Rather than replacing a lawyer’s judgment, Benecke and other lawyers see AI as a tool to “enhance” their judgement. For example, a novel use of AI that is being considered is using AI as a tool to predict legal outcomes, or the likelihood of the success of a case, which allows a lawyer to decide if they want to take a case on contingency or if they should advise their client to settle and more.

Tomorrow’s Lawyer: With Great Technology Comes Great Upskilling Required

AI is already being used to make legal professionals more efficient by automating simple yet time-intensive processes such as discovery, research, and drafting motions. What normally takes hours could be performed in a matter of minutes, which will allow both paralegals and lawyers to focus on higher-value tasks. In essence, AI will enable legal professionals to get more done in significantly less time using fewer resources, thus reducing operational costs.

A spike in efficiency and productivity throughout the industry will also create an even more competitive environment between lawyers. Ben Allgrove, the Chief Innovation Officer at Baker McKenzie, stated in a New York Times article that AI will force everyone, “from paralegals to $1,000-an-hour partners, to move up the skills ladder to stay ahead of the technology.” In layman’s terms, everyone is going to have to step up.

Breakthrough technology brings a Darwinian dimension to any business arena it affects: adapt or die. Such is the case with the legal industry. If lawyers are to have a bright future practicing law, it behooves them to understand AI.

If a lawyer is going to be proficient in AI, there are two major skills he/she should learn: prompt engineering and explainable AI (XAI.)

Prompt Engineering

Prompt engineering refers to the practice of fine-tuning and optimizing the inputs or queries given to an AI system to elicit desired outputs or responses. It involves carefully crafting instructions or prompts to guide the behavior of the AI model and achieve specific goals. The focus is on understanding how AI models interpret and respond to different inputs.

A lawyer with a strong grasp of prompt engineering will know what questions to ask a language model and how to word those questions to contextualize their situation. They would be able to ask a language model about a specific client’s needs, their scenario, and legal implications within which they’re working so the model can help them strategize.

For example, if a record label wanted to mint NFTs for a debut album of one of its artists, its in-house attorney would be able to ask a series of questions and provide a list of parameters to an AI model that would, in turn, produce say, a contract that covers royalties, IP law, and copyright law in just a few minutes.

While many in the legaltech space see prompt engineering as the next critical skill in the practice of law, the framework around how AI is regulated and taught still needs to be created. Regulations governing AI and the use of language models in law will develop as the market evolves, which will lay the foundation for legitimate curriculum law schools and colleges. Some universities and third-party services offer certificate programs; however, few accredited universities and law schools offer courses on prompt engineering.

Explainable AI (XAI)

Explainable AI (XAI) is a set of techniques and methods that help us understand how AI systems make decisions. It provides a window into the “mind” of the AI system, allowing us to see the reasons and factors behind its decisions. XAI aims to make AI more transparent and understandable, so we can trust and verify its decisions.

It may be a surprise to many, but AI has biases just like humans, so it’s critical for users to understand the steps and logic AI uses to reach a decision. Lawyers who use AI in the future will need to understand its biases so they can create more accurate work and minimize errors. XAI helps us trust and understand the decisions made by AI systems and the lawyers who will use them.

The buzz around XAI is not as intense as prompt engineering, and one could make a strong argument that XAI is more complicated and technically harder than prompt engineering, however, it is still immensely valuable. Lawyers with a strong grasp of XAI will be able to identify problems in AI’s logic and then solve them. A stout understanding of XAI will even augment a lawyer’s skill to engineer prompts.

Of course, once AI becomes ubiquitous, the most successful law firms will be the ones who utilize it in the most creative, practical, and critical manner. AI may be “smart tech”, but it is only as savvy as the practitioner using it, and how they use it to improve business outcomes for their law firm.

Third Party Legal Support Service Providers

Like law firms, third-party service providers will also be seeking to benefit from AI by enjoying increased efficiency, greater output, and greater accuracy. For Rapid Legal portal users, that will mean fewer court rejections, more intuitive commands in the ordering workflow, and a better customer experience. Stay tuned.

Conclusion

There’s a lot about AI and how it will ultimately affect the legal industry that we don’t know today. It’s in its nascent stages. But like the smartphone’s radical effect on modern society, AI will be a game-changer in the legal industry. And despite lawyers being famous for not adopting technology on the cutting edge, the benefits they will enjoy from AI are monumental. Yes, legal professionals will have to level up their skills, but the advantages AI will bring will far surpass any cost or challenge.

Contact Us Today

To learn more about Rapid Legal’s technological innovation and automation initiatives in the law firm, schedule a call or book a demo with a Rapid Legal team member today. Rapid Legal can also help your law firm with all its eFiling, court filing, and process serving needs.

In the digital age, cybersecurity is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. This sentiment doubles for law firms, which are being bombarded by ransomware attacks, data breaches, and a litany of other data-related issues daily.

As cyber threats continue to get more sophisticated, the methods firms need to take to protect themselves grow more complex, time-intensive, and expensive. As if running a practice and protecting themselves on the digital front weren’t enough, lawyers nowadays must go through technology training simply to stay current with data security practices.

If that all sounds like a lot, it’s because it is, which begs the question: is cybersecurity limiting the modern law firm? This article will explain the host of obstacles with which modern law firms grapple to cover their digital bases, what security capabilities law firms should look for in third-party vendors, and how third-party providers such as Rapid Legal are stepping up to give them peace of mind.

The Complexity of Cybersecurity:

Cost

One of the biggest challenges law firms face when implementing robust cybersecurity measures is the cost. Cybersecurity solutions can be expensive, especially for smaller firms with limited budgets. A survey from the International Legal Technology Association found that firms were increasing their spending on cybersecurity and security assessment software by 40% and 44%, respectively.

This increase in spending is substantial for big law firms that have the millions of dollars and resources to afford cutting-edge cybersecurity, but smaller firms with limited funds can easily find themselves shelling out more significant portions of their budgets if they’re to have top-of-the-line cybersecurity. This reason is why small firms are the most vulnerable to cyberattacks.

The cost of implementing and maintaining these solutions, as well as training staff on how to use them effectively, can add up quickly. Moreover, these costs can limit the ability of law firms to invest in other areas of their business, such as hiring additional staff or upgrading their technology.

Training

Employing cybersecurity measures, including training, is neither a simple nor an easy task. It requires technical expertise and knowledge that oftentimes requires law firms to get from an outside consultant. Law firms need to work with cybersecurity professionals to develop a plan that meets their unique needs and requirements, while small firms must sacrifice precious resources to protect themselves.

Regardless of the scope of the law firm’s needs, these security plans almost always require some sort of training for the legal staff. While this training is important to the overall data hygiene of the law firm, this process can be a time-consuming and complicated process that limits the productivity of legal professionals.

Technology training has become so commonplace in the legal industry that 75% of respondents in the 2022 Survey from the ABA reported having technology training at their firms. According to the survey, 100% of the firms with over 100 attorneys that responded to the survey had technology training available for their attorneys.

Interested in cybersecurity and other technology-related matters?

Check out this thought-provoking article:

Technology By Itself Does Not Make a 21st Century Law Firm

User Error

One of the most critical weak points of any enterprise’s cybersecurity is user error. Even with strong cybersecurity measures in place, law firms are still vulnerable to data breaches and cyberattacks due to user error. Human error may seem like an anticlimactic or even silly source of error, but studies have shown it can be difficult to remedy as scams and phishing emails have become increasingly sophisticated.

These errors can include everything from employees falling for phishing scams to leaving their devices unlocked and unattended. While it is becoming an industry standard to train legal professionals to spot scams, human error will be a constant weak point so long as humans are using their devices.

While there are many different types of breaches and cybersecurity threats to be aware of, phishing is the most common. The 2021 Verizon Data Breach Investigation report found that phishing was present in 36% of all breaches.

Even more daunting, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA,) found that 90% of all cyberattacks begin with phishing, Intel’s International Security Quiz found that a staggering 97% of email users cannot identify a phishing email.

Compliance and Regulations

Law firms also face other obstacles when implementing cybersecurity procedures, such as compliance requirements, regulatory changes, and evolving cybersecurity threats. Compliance requirements can be complex and time-consuming to follow, and failure to comply can result in costly fines and legal action.

Cybersecurity has also affected the California state’s legislation. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) are two of the most notable pieces of legislation affecting law firms.

The CCPA applies mostly to mid to large-sized firms as it applies to companies and for-profit firms that gross over $25 million, firms that sell the personal information of 100,000 or more California residents, or firms that derive 50% or more of their revenue from selling consumers’ personal data.

To be compliant with the CCPA, a law firm must implement certain measures, such as ensuring transparency in their data collection practices and providing customers with the right to access, delete, and opt out their personal information.

These businesses and law firms must also have clear privacy policies that outline their precise use of the customer’s data, as well as train employees to understand CCPA requirements and undergo regular audits and assessments.

The CPRA builds off the CCPA and imposes additional obligations to protect the privacy of personal information. Sometimes referred to as “CCPA 2.0,” CPRA shares the same revenue criteria as CCPA, although it is far stricter and more thorough in its auditing of a firm’s data collection, processing, and storage practices. Failure to comply with either act will result in costly penalties for the firms.

Regulatory changes can also impact the way law firms handle client data and require them to update their cybersecurity policies and procedures accordingly. Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving, which requires legal professionals to stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices.

Court Rulings and Liability

Recent court rulings are making companies and law firms more liable for data security practices. In September 2022, the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals remanded a putative class-action lawsuit against ExecuPharm, a pharmaceutical company that suffered a data leak due to a phishing scam.

What’s notable about this ruling is that the District Court had previously dismissed the case due to its speculative nature since the lead plaintiff’s information had not suffered any identity theft. Upon review of the case, the Appellate Court ruled that the plaintiff still had a substantial risk of imminent injury due to the intentional nature of the cyber-attack.

The case, which was sued under the Class Action Fairness Act for negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of confidence, also determined that intangible injuries such as having your data stolen and the emotional distress of having your data leaked are sufficient to file suit against a corporation. Now more than ever, companies and law firms are liable for the security of their client’s data.

Third-Party Risks

Law firms often work with third-party vendors, such as eFiling service providers, court reporting services, and e-discovery providers, that may have access to sensitive data. If these providers have access to your firm’s system, their vulnerabilities can become yours.

Ensuring your third-party vendor has up-to-date security and is compliant is critical when choosing providers. For DLA Piper, who suffered a massive ransomware attack in 2017, their leak was caused by a compromised supplier.

Key considerations to verify when working with third-party vendors include:

1. Data Encryption: Does the vendor encrypt data both in transit and at rest? Encryption ensures that if data is intercepted, it is unreadable.
2. Compliance with Industry Standards: Does the vendor comply with all rules and regulations about data privacy and personally identifiable information (PII), cardholder data, and more?
3. Regular Security Audits: Does the vendor conduct regular security audits to identify and mitigate potential security risks?
4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans: Does the vendor have disaster recovery and business continuity plans? These plans ensure that if there is a security breach or other disaster, your data is safe, and your business can continue operating.
5. Access Controls: Does the vendor use strict access controls? This ensures that only authorized users have access to sensitive data.
6. Redundancy: Does the vendor store their data in multiple data centers? Having their data stored in multiple data centers will ensure your data will be available and secure in the event one of those data centers is compromised.

How Bad Are Data Breaches, Really?

The recent high-profile data breaches have underscored the need for robust cybersecurity measures in the legal industry. For example, in 2016, a Panama-based law firm, Mossack Fonseca, suffered a significant data breach, which led to the leak of 11.5 million confidential documents. The Panama Papers leak exposed the financial dealings of some of the world’s most powerful individuals and companies, resulting in significant reputational damage to the law firm.

Similarly, in 2017, DLA Piper, one of the largest law firms in the world, suffered a significant ransomware attack that affected their systems in the United States, Europe, and Asia. This cyber-attack was so severe that it required the firm to shut down its systems entirely.

Aside from the massive reputational blow data breaches deal, there’s also a crippling cost element that comes with a major data breach. A 2022 report by IBM and the Ponemon Institute calculated the average cost of a data breach to a US company to be a staggering $9.44 million. Suddenly the exorbitant cost of cybersecurity doesn’t seem so steep.

When it comes down to brass tacks, cybersecurity is indubitably a critical part of any law firm’s digital infrastructure. While staying current with cybersecurity regulations and technology is difficult and time-intensive, practicing good digital hygiene can save your law firm from a catastrophic data breach or malware attack.

Rapid Legal’s Portal Delivers Professional-Grade Security and Compliance

As a certified eFiling service provider with 35+ courts in California, including the largest court system in the nation, Los Angeles Superior Court, Rapid Legal’s litigation support service portal is used daily by thousands of legal professionals to file and serve their legal documents. That’s why it’s built with security in mind. We follow industry best practices to ensure the privacy and security of our client’s data.

Professional Grade Security and Compliance

• Advanced Firewalls – military-grade data encryption
• Rigorous registration and authorization protocols
• Certified Electronic Filing Service Provider (EFSP)
• PCI Compliant

Industry-Leading Technology Integrity

• Amazon Web Services enabled
• Highly automated, redundant, and scalable
• On-Demand availability 24/7

Ultimately, cybersecurity is both a nuisance and a salvation for the modern law firm. One cannot overstate its importance to the security of a firm’s and its client’s data, however, the growing complexity of these practices, training employees, and staying current with industry-standard practices and compliances is a massive undertaking.

Perhaps the more critical issue is how sophisticated scams are becoming. It almost seems that the moment a breakthrough security innovation happens, a new malware or hacking program cancels it out. Thankfully, with blockchain technology, AI, and even quantum computing (which is on the far horizon,) law firms and their IT partners will be able to combat these malicious issues and hopefully solve them once and for all.

Do You Care About Cybersecurity? So Do We.

If you’re interested in a vendor that offers secure, reliable eFiling, court filing, or process serving, schedule a call or book a demo with a Rapid Legal team member today!

We also have an extensive resource library where you can find guides, checklists and other resources to help you eFile documents according to the local court rules in each county as well as what qualities to look for when selecting an eFiling service provider or process serving vendor.

Ever caught yourself thinking, “I can’t possibly work any harder?”

We may not be able to help you work harder but we can help you work more efficiently, and some days that may be all you really need to manifest your inner eFiling rock star.

To help you get there, we’ve hand-selected eight hacks that unlock time-saving features when you eFile court documents in the Rapid Legal portal. Read on, bookmark this page, and use it like a get-rich-quick scheme for your productivity.

8 eFiling Hacks

1. Concierge Service

Our Concierge Service is the ultimate shortcut for the world’s busiest legal professionals. Hand over the entire eFiling to a Rapid Legal expert who formats and assembles your document. This personal service includes checks and corrections to verify:

• Documents are not corrupted or password-protected.
• Font size and style are correct.
• Pages are paginated correctly.
• Summons matches the complaint.
• All mandated forms are attached.
• Exhibits are electronically bookmarked.
• Text is text-searchable.

This service may be the fastest headache reliever available for many legal professionals. However, Concierge Service is only available to registered account owners, so if you’re not yet a Rapid Legal account owner and you know you’re going to need capable and experienced backup, create an account now.

Concierge Service Does More!

See all of the services you get with Rapid Legal’s Concierge Service on our website.

2. Fees Tab: Your eFiling is less likely to be rejected by the court if you pay close attention to the Fees Tab, so take charge of this seemingly small detail. Even if the rest of your eFiling is bulletproof, an improper fee amount will send your efforts off the rails.

Each time you see the fees tab, remember:

• You must enter the correct fee amount in the Fees tab. If your fee amount is incorrect the order will be rejected.
• Selecting the option to authorize Rapid Legal to advance the fees does not automatically pay the fees to the court.
• Subpoena Witness Fees can trip you up. If you’re not sure when a Subpoena Witness Fee is required check The Code of Civil Procedure of California.

3. Document Management System Integration with iManage and NetDocuments: Use this new integration to upload and download documents for your eFiling orders directly from the Rapid Legal portal. If you’re a high-volume eFiler this will save you hours of time over the long haul.

Using this streamlined feature is simple:

• Log into the Rapid Legal portal for direct access and use the search tool to locate a specific document.
• To place an eFiling order, select documents from your NetDocuments or iManage account once it’s time to upload the documents.
• Court-stamped documents are automatically saved to your NetDocuments or iManage account.
• The document(s) the courts return will transmit directly to your DMS account — and you don’t have to do a thing.

And just like that, you eliminated the need to download, import, and rename files on your local computer.

See it in action! Watch the video and discover how legal professionals use this integration for seamless document transfer.

4. Expert Review: Our in-house experts spot errors prior to court submission to increase the likelihood that the court clerk will accept your eFiling. This service increases your court eFiling acceptance rate and helps you reclaim the time you’d spend doing a detailed review yourself.

Each expert review places a laser focus on your documents to verify that:

• Signatures and dates are entered as required.
• Document titles are correct.
• Court locations and addresses are entered correctly.
• Names and parties on the documents match.
• Case numbers match and documents are conformed (if applicable).
• Correct document titles are selected (this assures fees are correctly paid to the court).

There’s more to the complete Expert Review audit that we can list here. Visit the Expert Review page on our website to see what the full scope of this premium service offers.

5. Stand-alone eService: Get exactly what you need, when you need it. Place stand-alone eService orders on the Rapid Legal portal independent of a court eFiling order.

Here’s how it works:

• Party A sends an email to Party B, notifying Party B that a court document(s) has been served.
• The email identifies the court document(s) by the document’s specific name.
• The email contains a secure link Party B can use to view and download the court document(s).

Stand-alone eService is available in two workflows:

1. Workflow for California courts that have eFiling.
2. Workflow for California courts that do not have eFiling.

Better eFiling Pricing? Yes, You Can.

Find out how many large companies drive down vendor prices and get preferred treatment by How Law Firms Can Get Better Pricing and Service with a Single, Preferred Provider on the Rapid Legal blog.

6. Manage Cases: A simple solution to track the status of your orders for any of your cases in your Rapid Legal portal.

To navigate the Manage Cases feature, follow these simple steps once you log into your Rapid Legal account:

1. Click on Manage Cases and search your case by its name or by its order number.

2. Search for any case that has been active over the last 90 days either by case name or case number.

3. Select the green plus sign to expand the case, then select the order for details.

Manage Cases is where you can also find your conformed copies or proofs of service. Select the Documents tab to locate and view all documents related to the specific order.

Case not found?

If you receive a “Case not found” error message when attempting to place an eFile order, check other filings you may have done for the format of the case number. Most cases have letters at either the beginning or the end of the number.

7. PDF Preparation: Alerts from the Rapid Legal portal can help you stay on top of potential errors when you’re creating a PDF. Still, you want to strive to create an error-free PDF before it leaves your desktop, so use these tips to keep your eFiling on track and out of the rejection bin.

• Make your PDFs searchable.
• Compress PDFs correctly.
• Do NOT make PDFs locked or fillable.
• Do you have a fillable document that’s giving you fits? Print the document to PDF or print and rescan then upload on the Documents tab.

Received a “corrupted or invalid PDF” error message?

If this happens, check the top left-hand corner of the screen to see whether the document is locked. The court will not accept locked documents.

You can resolve this error by:

• Printing and scanning the document and saving to desktop or
• Saving the document to .pdf then saving it again to the desktop.

PDF larger than 100 pages?

If you’re working with a particularly unwieldy PDF remember this important rule: the deadline for court documents that exceed 100 pages is 1 hour earlier than the normal deadline.

8. Support: You have several options to work through issues that may crop up when you eFile, including email and phone support. You may also use Rapid Legal’s chat feature as a time-saver when you need to connect with a member of our operations team.

Regardless of the method you select, use the table below to find a hack that will get the fastest, best results from your support session.

You’ve only scratched the surface!

We’ve got even more resources to help you develop your eFiling expertise. Tools such as our Infographic: 5 Secrets to Successful eFiling and [Updated] The Complete Beginner’s Guide to eFiling in 2022 and Beyond can improve the results you’re getting from your eFiling no matter your experience level. The Rapid Legal blog also has exclusive content tailored to sharpen your expertise for the litigation support services you use most. You’ll get the best in technical guidance, professional development, and roadmaps to visualize how your law firm will leverage technology in the 21^st century.

It’s all there to view, download, and share for free. If you’re a bargain hunter, think of it as the best deal you’ll find for leveling up your career.

Get started now with our recommended reading list:

• How to Map Out Your Law Firm’s Digital Transformation
• Proof of Service Boot Camp: What Every Legal Professional Should Know
• [Updated] Los Angeles Superior Court eFiling and eService Guide
• 5 Signs It’s Time to Switch Your Legal Support Service Provider
• Technology By Itself Does Not Make a 21^st Century Law Firm

Visit the Rapid Legal blog for our complete library of content created especially for the working legal professional.

Need more information?

Is there a hack you want to know more about? Be sure to check out our after-hours support or how we can provide data about your performance and our performance to help your firm operate efficiently and save money.

Contact us today to find out more. Schedule a call or book a demo today!