Open Access Journal of Economic Research
ISSN: 3065-9035 | DOI: 10.64030/3065-9035
Barbara Hribar
The digitalization of the legal profession has evolved dramatically, as the advocates of new technology have succeeded in persuading large law firms to integrate AI algorithms, big data analysis, and blockchain technologies into their everyday legal routines. A number of companies offer legal services based on incorporated digital technology or combine new technology with business process outsourcing and other forms of standard economic efficiency practices. Furthermore, digital legal products have largely entered daily legal routines as procedures and outcomes of litigation, arbitration, legal consulting, legal risk and compliance, advisory and management, human resource management, or the resolution of agency problems have become quantifiable, predictable, and analyzable data sets. AI legal diagnosis tools, big data in litigation and arbitration, compliance applications in enterprise resource planning systems, or simple service bots that power all kinds of automatic knowledge management, NLP, or other standard office packages are part of many modern legal practices. This paper uses a qualitative research methodology, combining doctrinal legal research with case study analysis. Doctrinal research includes a critical review of academic literature, legal norms, professional codes, and regulatory frameworks from various jurisdictions. The case study analysis examines digitalization practices in legal firms and institutions, focusing on selected domains: real estate, insurance, and ehealth law. This dual-method approach helps contextualize the difficulties and legal effects of technological adoption within the legal profession, particularly to understand the deficiency of controlling digital apparatuses, how these affect legalities and ethical standards. Computer-based case law and commentaries are slowly but surely replacing printed versions, irrespective of a jurisdiction's laws on the use of legal technology or available technologies for law. The use of digital platform as a support means nothing but enhancing righteousness in supporting the use of digital technology as a platform to promote digital products and services. How do legal experts deal with these demands? What improvements could digitalization bring to the lives of busy law practitioners? Among many, digital legal information sources already support finding the material needed and then making it available. New filtering mechanisms for legal knowledge could diminish the problem of having too much data while experts find themselves with too little time. Technological progress has brought support tools for contract drafting, as well as management, while guaranteeing legal security in this regard. Additionally, new computer programs could provide 24-hour advice to them. Nevertheless, these new virtual advisors have not led to a decrease in the demand for legal advice and services from lawyers, but to an increase, especially from non-wealthy clients. Furthermore, if automation forces a change in old legal services' business models, such changes could only be positive, as not all tasks could be replaced by digital resources, particularly the special added value of the lawyer-human judgment, confidence, and insight in the field. Regarding the questions of balancing legality with economic efficiency in digitalization of legal profession, a significant emphasize must be given to questions, relating to a legality and relevance of AI translated documents, as it could happen that the true (legal) meaning of these documents can be lost with an AI translation. Through an analysis of case studies in real estate, insurance, and e-health sectors, this study gives real life examples. explores these challenges in depth. Our findings reveal that digitalization in the legal sector presents a unique problem without clear and suitable solution. Any acceptable solutions must align closely with established legal methodologies within the existing legal system. It is also essential to articulate and implement desired objectives to shape the trajectory of this evolving legal tradition. Currently, the IT applications used by legal firms lack specialized reliability functions that require extensive research and synchronization. Complex data is also seen as inadequate in delivering the full range of potential benefits. They primarily serve as costly third-party services capable of managing only a limited number of instances, similar to a notary, without accommodating the multifaceted changes that modern legal practice demands.