Artificial intelligence (AI) has come a long way and is slowly transforming the legal industry. The 2024 MyCase Legal Industry Report revealed that 27% of lawyers have already embraced generative AI tools, and among firms yet to adopt this technology, 55% reported plans to implement it in the future.
However, with so many options, it's hard to choose what lawyers really need. In this guide, we’ll examine AI legal tools—highlighting their benefits, ethical considerations, and specific applications for personal injury lawyers.
Legal AI tools are specialized software applications that assist legal professionals by automating and making various tasks more efficient—such as text that’s based on user inputs (known as prompts). The technology behind these tools relies on advanced machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP).
In a nutshell, ML enables AI systems to learn from historical data and improve their performance over time without explicit programming. In the legal context, ML can predict case outcomes, identify relevant precedents, and assess risks based on patterns found in past cases.
On the other hand, NLP allows AI to understand, interpret, and generate human language. With this AI, lawyers can identify inconsistencies or missing clauses in legal documents, and organize documents into clusters based on their themes or topics for easier review.
Nowadays, the use of AI tools in law firms is not uncommon. According to the 2024 MyCase Industry Report, lawyers who use generative AI said that they use it to help with the following tasks:
The best thing about AI tools is that lawyers can use them for many different types of core tasks.
AI tools that are designed for legal research allow lawyers to input natural language queries and receive curated results within seconds. For example, a tax attorney can quickly locate a ruling related to corporate tax deductions, saving hours of manual searching.
AI tools can analyze contracts, highlight key provisions, and even suggest edits to ensure compliance. For instance, corporate lawyers can use AI to flag unusual indemnity clauses in merger agreements, preventing costly oversights.
AI tools can sift through large amounts of text to identify relevant information for a particular case, enabling faster and more accurate preparation.
AI can analyze past case data to predict likely outcomes and provide data-driven insights. These tools help lawyers decide whether to settle a case or proceed to trial by assessing the likelihood of a favorable judgment, comparing similar fact patterns, and evaluating judicial trends.
Below is a list of the most used AI tools in the legal field. The first consists of AI designed specifically for lawyers, while the second focuses on AI that’s used for more common/broad tasks.
Lawyers also use the following generative AI tools designed for broader tasks. They all come with free plans making them perfect for lawyers that need occasional help.
While each of these tools is free, ChatGPT (for instance), has a knowledge cut-off (last updated April 2024) and it can only process 16-24 pages of text.
The paid versions of these generative tools offer more flexibility, reasoning features, integrations, up-to-date data, and even search options.
Although AI can save time, minimize errors, and boost productivity, there are ethical considerations and best practices that need to be implemented.
The American Bar Association (ABA), on July 29, 2024, issued Formal Opinion 512, its first ethics guidance addressing the use of AI for lawyers—more specifically, generative AI (GAI) tools. Key points include:
Also if you are using AI tools to support your case, it’s better to be upfront and inform your clients.
All in all, while AI in law can be an incredibly powerful feature, it should support, not replace human judgment.
Personal injury lawyers can use AI tools to predict how their client’s case might pan out, predict settlement, and estimate demands that are based on empirical data from previous similar cases. AI can quickly analyze vast amounts of data regarding injury details and medical records.
Generative AI for lawyers can also benefit personal injury firms. Rather than consulting a 1000-page document, personal injury attorneys can ask their AI assistants to help them out. Or if they want to quickly generate hot topics for their personal injury blog.
Lastly, given that personal injury cases involve extensive correspondence and documentation, lawyers can use tools such as CASEpeer to manage client communications, organize case files, and track deadlines efficiently.
CASEpeer IQ is an upcoming AI feature exclusively for personal injury law firms. Its advanced features are designed to improve productivity, streamline operations, and enhance client satisfaction.
One standout feature is intelligent text editing, which uses AI to simplify document preparation. By identifying and correcting errors in legal documents, lawyers can save valuable time while ensuring accuracy. Additionally, CASEpeer IQ will provide a document summarization capability, which automatically condenses lengthy documents—allowing attorneys to quickly grasp key details without needing a full review.
CASEpeer also excels in comprehensive case management, offering tools to track case milestones, organize critical data, and centralize case files. This level of organization helps personal injury firms stay on top of deadlines and deliver efficient service. Moreover, the platform supports automated client communication, ensuring clients receive timely updates throughout their cases.
Overall, CASEpeer empowers personal injury firms to operate more effectively—providing the tools needed to meet the unique demands of their practice. Enjoy the benefits of CASEpeer, by booking a demo today. Also, join the CASEpeer IQ waitlist to get initial access of this AI feature as soon as it’s released.