By J. J. Enoch

INTRODUCTION

The First Industrial Revolution kickstarted the industrial age when for the first time, goods and services were produced by machines.[1] Steam engines were a great driving force for industrialization since they provided energy at any location for any purpose.[2] The Second Industrial Revolution started in the mid-19th century and lasted between 1850 and 1970.[3] With the Second Industrial Revolution, innovations in steel production, petroleum, and electricity led to the introduction of public automobiles and airplanes.[4] Thereafter, the Third Industrial Revolution began in the 1970s and was distinguished by Information Technology (IT) and further automation through electronics.[5] However, in recent years, a new type of technology has ignited the start of the latest industrial revolution – the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.[6] It is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century.[7] The chief driver of this revolution is Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.

AI is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence.[8] AI makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs, and perform human-like tasks. Most AI examples often heard of – from chess-playing computers to self-driving cars – rely heavily on deep learning and natural language processing.[9] Using these technologies, computers can be trained to accomplish specific tasks by processing large amounts of data and recognizing patterns in the data.[10]

AI AND LEGAL PRACTICE

The legal profession stands out as one of, if not the most conservative profession there is in human history. Besides, even more conservative, is the legal profession in Nigeria, which perceives change as a call to drag in the mud, the noble standard of the legal profession. However, in recent years there seems to have been a change in the way and manner the legal profession is being regarded. The American case of Lola v Skadden[11] illuminated a unique position of what the ‘practice of law’ means. In its decision, the Second Circuit held that “tasks that could otherwise be performed entirely by a machine could not be said to fall under the practice of law.”[12] This decision certainly has no binding effect on Nigerian courts; however, it is indicative of the fact that the legal profession in Nigeria would very soon, have to bend fully to the supervening influence of AI technology as other countries have begun to. For instance, ROSS, “the world’s first artificially intelligent attorney” built on IBM’s cognitive computer Watson, was designed to read and understand language, postulate hypotheses when asked questions, research, and then generate responses (along with references and citations) to back up its conclusions.[13] ROSS also learns from experience, gaining speed and knowledge the more you interact with it.[14]

Furthermore, software such as Everlaw[15], Ravel Law,[16] and Lex Machina,[17] combine data and software to provide a winning edge in the practice of law. They predict the attitude and workings of a judge, the usual moves of opposing counsel, and the possible outcomes of cases by using a large volume of litigation information, court decisions, filing data, and legal processes.[18] So far in Nigeria, LawPavilion Business Solutions, the foremost Legal Technologies Company in Nigeria came up with Nigeria’s first AI Legal Assistant called TIMI.[19] TIMI works like a consultant that Lawyers can chat with. It converses with lawyers and helps lawyers get things done faster. It has been programmed to walk its user through the Civil Procedure Rules of Nigeria Courts.[20]

ADOPTING AI IN NIGERIA LEGAL PRACTICE

Across the globe, AI is already being used to do things like ranalyzing contracts to predicting case outcomes.[21] Nigerian law firms and lawyers may adopt AI in the following aspects:

  1. Legal Research

Across the globe, junior associates in law firms are kept busy conducting due diligence to unearth relevant information for clients. However, lawyers can use AI for the discovery phase, to rapidly confirm facts, expedite the process of finding background information, which can accelerate arbitration and litigation proceedings.[22]

  1. Due Diligence

With a machine quickly performing legal research, the lawyer doesn’t have to charge for that time, which can save clients thousands of dollars and eliminate research costs.

  1. Review Documents and Contracts

AI-powered software improves the efficiency of document analysis for legal use and machines can review documents and flag them as relevant to a particular case.[23] Once a certain type of document is denoted as relevant, machine learning algorithms can get to work to find other documents that are similarly relevant.[24] Machines are much faster at sorting through documents than humans and can produce output and results that can be statistically validated. [25]

  1. Prediction of Legal Outcomes

AI has the capability of analyzing data to help it make predictions about the outcomes of legal proceedings better than humans.[26] With the use of AI that has access to years of trial data, lawyers are able to better answer such questions.[27]

AI’s IMPACT ON THE LEGAL INDUSTRY

According to Deloitte, 100,000 legal roles will be automated by 2036. They report that by 2020 law firms will be faced with a “tipping point” for a new talent strategy.[28] If anything, now is the time for law firms in Nigeria to start adapting relentlessly, AI and all the advantages it comes with. In 2018, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report predicted that 75 million jobs worldwide will be displaced by automation between 2018 and 2022.[29] For the same period, it predicted that 133 million new jobs will be added to the global economy, but in most cases, the workers who would lose their jobs will not have the necessary skill set to fill the new vacancies made available.[30] Consequentially, it is audible to the deaf that AI in the legal industry in Nigeria has come to stay. However, Nigerian legal service providers must understand that this reality only presents one option, which is re-skilling and upskilling to meet the legal demands that artificial intelligence cannot meet, which are exclusively within the purview of human intelligence and capability. By streamlining the mundane, time-consuming tasks through the use of AI systems, law firms will be able to free up lawyers’ time to focus on high-level tasks.[31] Seen through the lens of optimism, the disruption caused by AI only gives room for innovation in providing legal services.

In light of the above, some African law firms have keyed into the world of opportunities that Artificial Intelligence provides, such as Bowmans, which has invested in Kira, an AI solution, to improve efficiencies in certain key legal processes, primarily in the mergers and acquisitions, private equity and compliance areas.[32] The software automatically identifies and extracts information from contracts, using machine-learning models.[33] If this can be done in South Africa, Botswana and some other African countries, it can be done in Nigeria.

CONCLUSION

In the 2018 World Economic Forum ‘Future of Jobs Report’, the emerging skills needed in sub-Saharan Africa, which Nigeria is part of, are originality and initiative, complex problem-solving, leadership and social influence, and emotional intelligence among others. A critical observation of the requisite skills provides that what legal service providers would need to learn to do in the wake of AI’s influence, is to be more human and less robotic. Current AI technology cannot represent clients in negotiating deals, presenting cases before a court; neither can it unravel complex legal problems that needs good understanding of human behaviors and interactions. It is appropriate to state that data is right at the center of AI,[34] however, data is not everything when it comes to decision-making [and lawyering]; experience, intuition, hunches, imagination, and judgment all matter too.[35] Although intelligent software tools cut down the amount of time and money spent on certain tasks and generally improves efficiency and accuracy, human legal services would still be required in a new and dynamic way.

About the Author

J.J. Enoch is a First-Class lawyer and an alum of the prestigious Venture in Management Program (ViMP), at the Lagos Business School. [email protected]

[1] IBA Global Employment Institute, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics and Their Impact on the Workplace, (2017) <file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/AI-and-Robotics-IBA-GEI-April-2017.pdf> accessed 3rd June 2020

[2] Ibid

[3] Richmond Vale, ‘Second Industrial Revolution: The Technological Revolution’ (Richmond Vale Academy, 21st July 2016) <https://richmondvale.org/en/blog/second-industrial-revolution-the-technological-revolution> accessed 3rd June 2020.

[4] Ibid

[5] IBA Global Employment Institute (n 1)

[6] Klaus Schwabb, The Fourth Industrial Revolution: What it means and how to respond, (World Economic Forum, 14th January 2016) <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/> accessed 3rd June 2020

[7] Ibid

[8] ‘What is Artificial Intelligence? How does it work?’ (Builtin) <https://builtin.com/artificial-intelligence> accessed 9th June 2020

[9] ‘Artificial Intelligence, (Growth Sense) <https://growthsense.co.uk/capabilities/artificial-intelligence/> accessed 8th June 2020

[10] Ibid

[11] No. 14-3845-cv, 2015 WL 4476828 (2d Cir. July 23, 2015)

[12] Ibid

[13] Matthew Griffin, ‘Meet ROSS, the world’s first AI Lawyer’ (Robo Revolution, 11th July 2016) <https://www.311institute.com/meet-ross-the-worlds-first-ai-lawyer/> accessed 8th June 2020

[14] Ibid

[15] Ron Miller, Everlaw announces $62m Series C to continue modernizing legal discover’ (Techcrunch, 10th March 2020) <https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/10/everlaw-announces-62m-series-c-to-continue-modernizing-legal-discovery/> accessed 8th June 2020.

[16] John O’ Grady, ‘LexisNexis Relaunches Ravel Law as Context: Analytics on Judges and Expert Witnesses with Daubert Scorecard’ (Dewey B Strategic 29th November 2018) <https://www.deweybstrategic.com/2018/11/ravel-context-analytics.html/> accessed 8th June 2020

[17] ‘Lexmachina: Using Legal Analytics to Help Lawyers Win Business and Cases’ (Relx) <https://www.relx.com/our-business/our-stories/lex-machina-using-legal-analytics> accessed 8th June 2020

[18] Ademola Adeyoju, ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Law Practice in Africa’ (Tekedia, 16th December 2018) <https://www.tekedia.com/artificial-intelligence-and-the-future-of-law-practice-in-africa1/> accessed 8th June 2020.

[19] Theodora Kio-Lawson, ‘Lawpavilion unveils Nigeria’s First Artificial Intelligence legal assistant’ (Business Day, August 2018) <https://archive.businessday.ng/professional-services/article/lawpavilion-unveils-nigerias-first-artificial-intelligence-legal-assistant/> accessed 8th June 2020.

[20] Ibid

[21] Peters Ifeoma, ‘LawPavilion Unveils ‘TIMI’; Nigeria’s First Artificial Intelligence Legal Assistant’ (DNL Legal & Style, 21st August 2018) <https://dnllegalandstyle.com/2018/lawpavilion-unveils-timi-nigerias-first-artificial-intelligence-legal-assistant/> accessed 8th June 2020.

[22] <Three ways Law Firms can use Artificial Intelligence’ (Law Technology Today, 19th February 2019) <https://www.lawtechnologytoday.org/2019/02/three-ways-law-firms-can-use-artificial-intelligence/> accessed June 29th 2020.

[23] Bernard Marr, ‘How AI and Machine Learning are Transforming Law Firms and the Legal Sector’ (Forbes, 23rd May 2018) < https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/05/23/how-ai-and-machine-learning-are-transforming-law-firms-and-the-legal-sector/#3b7aa30f32c3> accessed 29th June 2020

[24] Ibid

[25] Ibid

[26] Op cit. (n 23)

[27] Ibid

[28] Caroline Hill, ‘Deloitte Insight: Over 100, 000  Legal Jobs to be Automated’ (Legal Insider, 16th March 2016) <https://legaltechnology.com/deloitte-insight-100000-legal-roles-to-be-automated/>

[29] World Economic Forum, ‘The Future of Jobs Report’ (2018) <http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2018.pdf> accessed 7th June 2020

[30] Ibid

[31] Ademola Adeyaju (n 14)

[32] Cathy Truter, ‘Bowmans among the First in Africa’s Legal Market to Invest in Artificial Intelligence’ (Bowmans, 14th May 2018) < https://www.bowmanslaw.com/press_releases/bowmans-invests-in-artificial-intelligence/> accessed 8th June 2020.

[33] Ibid

[34] Richard Kemp, ‘Legal Aspects of Artificial Intelligence (v2.0)’ (Kemp IT Law, September 2018) <https://www.kempitlaw.com/legal-aspects-of-artificial-intelligence-2/> accessed 8th June 2020

[35] Stefan Stern, ‘Don’t Panic – the debating robots aren’t coming for our jobs, yet’ (The Guardian, 20th June 2018), <https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/20/debating-robots-jobs-ibm-project-debater-artificial-intelligence> accessed 8th June 2020.