We have noted previously in this space that lawyers today face the erosion of their services as clients restrict their legal budgets and as paralegals and other non-lawyer providers step up their forays into traditional legal services. Lawyers Alert contributor Gerry Riskin notes the impact of such non-lawyer providers on how firms must view their futures in the industry ["Illuminating the Future,"]. Some new tech tools appear poised to delve even further into that crossover.
Legal Beagle
A new start-up based in Waterloo, Ontario, Beagle is an online software system that uses artificial intelligence to automatically review legal contracts and identify potentially important and/or problematic terms. In essence, Beagle seeks to distil at least the preliminary stages of legal analysis down into what the company calls "easy-to-read graphs and charts." The system identifies the relevant parties and highlights their responsibilities and liabilities, termination clauses, and other critical matters.
With commercial contracts ranging in length from dozens to hundreds of pages, one key advantage is that Beagle provides its results in moments, rather than the hours, days or even weeks typically required for a lawyer to physically read, research and report on a contract.
Critics of the new system argue that AI can never be "intelligent" enough to identify the deepest legal nuances of a complex contract. Not fully understanding such aspects can be fatal in commercial relationships. Beagle's principals respond that the AI can be at least as reliable as human involvement. They further argue that lawyers remain an important part of the contract review process; clients should still review their contracts with their lawyers, they will just have a better – and quicker – understanding of the key terms before they do. Beagle purportedly seeks to do away with only the (allegedly) inefficient portions of a lawyer's billable time.
Beagle is in the late stages of beta testing, with a final product expected sometime in November 2015. However, demonstrations are available at the Beagle website and the company says it already has several customers in Ontario and Australia. It remains to be seen where Beagle will ultimately fall within the existing legal landscape.
Instant legal advice in your pocket
Another new crossover service is already in action. Legalswipe is a free mobile app that provides instant legal guidance for people during encounters with police. The app's primary aim is to inform people of their rights and help them understand the process during questioning, detainment or arrest. The app refers to specific sections of relevant Canadian and U.S. legislation and will even suggest precise wording to be used in response to common police questions. Users tap and swipe their way through a relatively intuitive interface to receive the real-time guidance.
The app can use a phone's video camera to record encounters, uploading and/or emailing files as desired. It can also be formatted to send a personalized message to a user's contacts, identifying the user's location.
Legalswipe was designed by a recent graduate of the University of Ottawa's law school after he experienced some frustrating interactions with police.
Police forces so far appear to be cautiously supportive of Legalswipe. Certainly, citizens being better informed of their rights and obligations during interactions with police should be a positive, so long as the person's actual use of the app and/or the mobile device does not interfere with police performing their duties.
Legalswipe is currently available for iOS and Android devices.
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