AI, Contracts & The Age of the Lawyer
How AI is impacting the legal landscape
AI is everywhere these days. One can barely avoid the headlines that talk of the end of the World or the end of work as all jobs get automated. It has even begun to penetrate the legal landscape, a world that has often been resistant to change. As with most other sectors where AI is being applied, it’s been met with a degree of skepticism. Are lawyers really in danger of being automated out of existence? Of course not. But is AI changing the game for legal? You better believe it. AI is already here. Those that embrace it will be the winners in this new “Age of the Lawyer.” Those that don’t will not be able to compete in an AI-first world. The possibilities for those who do, however, are vast.
This is not the end of the lawyer; this is the Age of the Lawyer.
Imagine a world where legal professionals can focus on using their minds to bring about creative solutions to business and legal problems for their companies. That’s one of the primary benefits of applying machine intelligence to legal work. So, how is AI making this possible? It’s all about identifying those elements in a lawyer’s work that are uniquely ripe for the kind of benefits AI brings to the table. Legal contracting is one such obvious place to look.
Akorda, which uses AI to power its smart contracting platform, has always been committed to transforming the contracting process into one that is more transparent, more streamlined for all sides, and — truthfully — more fun. Our aim is to help create a world where companies can contract without unnecessary friction, where obligations are easily understood, tracked and modified as needed and one where risk is well measured and calculated.
Risk taking should be done in a principled manner. It should be based on data not your “gut.”
You cannot improve what you cannot measure. Having seen firsthand what some of the biggest companies are doing when it comes to their contracting processes one can’t help but feel shocked at what’s NOT being measured. Too often companies fly blind when it comes to contracting. They lack a clear and actionable understanding of what they have agreed to in the past, what variations in contracting exist from deal to deal, or what exposure or obligations they have that are simply not being tracked. Ask a company a simple question like, “Are your customer contracts assignable?” Most, if not all, will tell you that they don’t know and would need to run a full audit of their contracts to figure this out.
AI applied in the right way has the ability to change contracting forever.
The beauty of machine intelligence — perhaps its greatest attribute — is that it need not be a time consuming, labor-intensive task. The great thing about machines is that they do the tiresome and tedious work humans prefer not to do. That’s what AI is all about.
Your executed contracts already have all the answers. Whether you’ve been working from an outdated playbook or operating without any type of playbook at all, every time you negotiate and execute a contract you are creating a potential playbook for future agreements. This playbook is inherent in all the decisions you make and with the right analysis it can be derived and documented for all your company to see and use.
To help companies learn more about AI, contracts, and how this technology can make you more powerful and effective in your role, take a look at our newly released white paper. Here you will see real world examples of how AI is truly changing the way we contract and making legal more powerful and nimble in today’s rapidly changing world. Join us on our journey to transform contracting through AI, data, and through making you 10x’s more effective as a lawyer.
