AI material ‘burden’ for in-house teams
A report from global law firm Dentons’ Dublin office has found that legal departments are being “flooded” with AI-generated correspondence, placing a “significant burden” on in-house legal teams.
The firm says that employee grievances, customer complaints, and GDPR requests are now routinely drafted using AI tools.
“Producing polished, professional-looking text is now nearly cost-free, and AI-assisted drafting now seems to touch most incoming disputes, subject-access requests, grievances, and customer complaints,” it states.
Interviews with in-house lawyers
The Dentons report, ‘From AI adoption to AI advantage’, is based on in-depth interviews with senior in-house lawyers at a mix of Irish and international companies.
The research was conducted by Dentons’ Dublin-based technology, media, and telecommunications partners Carlo Salizzo and David Kirton.
According to the report, the main issue for companies is not reading AI-generated correspondence, but working out which parts of it matter.
It says that some in-house teams have turned to AI to deal with the sheer volume of AI-generated submissions.
‘Narrow’ tasks
Almost every interviewee said that AI was being used for narrow, well-scoped repetitive tasks, rather than being given free rein to take on legal work.
Many companies emphasised the importance of centralising legal data. A number use a wide variety of AI tools to work with that data.
"This research shows that in-house legal departments are not replacing employees with AI, but they are finding ways to use AI to help staff be more productive – including using AI tools to help cope with a raft of AI-generated submissions," said Salizzo.
Kirton said that the days when governance was the exclusive territory of legal departments were over.
“This research shows that most companies have found that the advent of AI has meant that good governance requires the expertise of multi-disciplinary teams,” he stated.
The economics of AI
The report also identifies what Dentons describes as “significant changes” in the relationship between external counsel and in-house lawyers, with the latter exploring alternatives to the billable hour.
Some argue that it may die out, while others see alternative models as a way of passing efficiency gains back to clients.
Interviewees also raised issues linked to the economics of AI, as the technology shifted from predictable, flat licence fees towards consumption-based pricing.
“Usage management, ROI [return on investment] and mitigating the anticipated 'cost cliff' is becoming a major strategic priority,” the report states.
“Each of the interviewees expressed similar challenges with demonstrating ROI, particularly because many companies tend not to have a clear and measurable baseline of how work was completed before AI arrived,” it adds.