However, you should understand the potential risks of AI and carefully consider the different types of AI tools to bring into your law firm.
Keep reading to learn more about what AI is, its benefits and risks, and how to integrate AI responsibly in your personal injury law firm.
If you’re looking for an even more in-depth resource about how AI works, check out our on-demand webinar, “Demystifying AI in Personal Injury Law.”
Artificial intelligence (AI) aims to create intelligent machines that try to accomplish tasks that normally require human-level thinking. For over 75 years, researchers have been developing these systems. They can be grouped into three major categories:
1. Hand-coded systems use rules to address specific problems. For example, an email spam filter might identify suspicious emails based on predefined keywords.
2. Discriminative models use statistical methods and machine learning to analyze data. Sticking to the email example, this type of model can identify spam emails by learning from numerous examples rather than explicit rules. They require large datasets to be effective.
3. Generative models are pre-trained on massive datasets to develop a generalized understanding. They can be fine-tuned for specific tasks with minimal additional data or learn on the fly from a few examples, making them highly efficient but also unpredictable in decision-making. ChatGPT is the most popular example of a generative AI model.
When it comes to personal injury law, AI is revolutionizing how firms manage cases by helping with tasks such as drafting sections of demand letters, fact-checking, detecting missing documents, summarizing medical records, marketing, client communications, and more. With AI, personal injury firms can streamline their processes, improve outcomes, and provide better service to their clients.
Our on-demand webinar, Demystifying AI in Personal Injury Law, discusses more ways that personal injury law firms are using AI in their practice.
By leveraging AI, your personal injury law firm can significantly improve your operations, providing faster, more accurate services to your clients. In fact, according to a study from Adobe, of workers using AI, 92% say it has a positive impact on their individual and organizational performance.
Think of AI as the "Iron Man suit" for your legal team. It empowers your staff to operate more efficiently and effectively, amplifying their capabilities without replacing them.
AI can handle tasks that are repetitive and time-consuming, such as document review and data entry. This reduces the time you have to spend on these tasks, allowing you to focus on more complex and strategic aspects of your cases.
For example, tools like EvenUp use AI to draft demand letters and medical chronologies, freeing up time for your case managers, attorneys, and litigation team to focus on case strategy.
EvenUp's clear exposition of each injury and damage accelerates settlement negotiations with adjusters, leaving less room for low-ball offers. Plus, our platform can process thousands of pages of medical records and bills, ensuring that nothing is overlooked, and flagging potential issues such as missing bills or gaps in treatment.
Automating routine tasks with AI significantly reduces the number of hours required to complete them. This leads to lower operational costs, as fewer resources are needed to perform these tasks.
Additionally, AI can help you identify which cases are likely to be more profitable or have a higher chance of success. This means your firm can prioritize these cases and allocate your resources more efficiently.
AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants can provide your clients with immediate responses to their queries, offering 24/7 availability. This ensures that your clients receive timely information and support, which enhances their overall experience.
While AI offers significant potential to enhance efficiency, decision-making, and more in personal injury law, it also presents inherent risks that must be carefully managed.
Despite its potential, AI can pose major risks, particularly with generative models like ChatGPT, which lack the specific domain knowledge required for legal contexts, leading to incorrect or misleading information.
One notable downside is its tendency to fabricate information when uncertain, a phenomenon known as AI hallucinations.
You’re likely familiar with the 2023 headline about two lawyers who submitted a legal brief that included fake citations generated by ChatGPT. This is a good example of how AI models may respond to information they don’t know—instead of telling you they don’t know the answer, they’re likely to make something up that sounds confident and correct.
These models can deliver confident but inaccurate responses, so you should always include a layer of human review to verify facts.
EvenUp has the best of both worlds—AI and human expertise. EvenUp’s technology identifies case insights often overlooked by drafters, and each demand is meticulously reviewed by seasoned legal experts, ensuring quality and accuracy.
AI models may inadvertently perpetuate biases present in the data they were trained on, or even based on the way you word your prompt or question. In the context of personal injury law, biased outcomes could impact case strategies and decisions. It's crucial to assess AI outputs critically and include human oversight to mitigate any bias that may be present.
AI systems require large amounts of data, including sensitive client information and case details. Tools like ChatGPT might store and misuse personal health information, posing risks. Mishandling of or unauthorized access to this data could result in breaches of client confidentiality, regulatory violations, and reputational damage to the firm. You should never upload confidential or personal health information to ChatGPT.
Legal practitioners should choose AI solutions that adhere to stringent data protection standards, including HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance, which ensure rigorous data security and third-party auditing.
Integrating AI responsibly in your personal injury law firm requires a strategic approach to maximize its benefits while minimizing risks.
When evaluating AI tools, look beyond the hype. Assess the backgrounds of the developers and the ethical standards they adhere to. Ensure that the tools you're considering have robust data cleaning and preparation processes, as the quality of AI output heavily depends on the quality of the input data.
You should also make sure the vendors you're working with are putting all the measures in place, such as SOC 2 compliance, to keep your data safe and secure from people trying to penetrate that from outside of the business.
AI should be viewed as an augmentation tool rather than a replacement for human expertise. Particularly in legal settings, where the stakes are high, reviewing everything is crucial to verify the accuracy of the output and ensure that AI outputs align with ethical standards.
Introducing AI into your firm requires transparent communication and training for your team. The number one question we hear from the folks at the law firms we work with is, “will AI take over my job?” AI isn’t going to take over these jobs, but people who embrace AI will.
Make sure you're communicating openly with your team in terms of what your intentions are by implementing AI. Address concerns about job displacement by positioning AI as a tool that enhances capabilities, allowing them to focus on high-value tasks and client interactions rather than mundane and repetitive duties.
AI is revolutionizing personal injury law, providing tools that enhance efficiency, improve case outcomes, and scale operations. However, realizing AI’s full potential requires a balanced approach that incorporates data security measures, human oversight, and ethical considerations.
If you’re looking for an even more in-depth resource about how AI works, check out our on-demand webinar, “Demystifying AI in Personal Injury Law.”
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