The Impact of AI on Legal Operations Jobs

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming knowledge-based professions, and legal operations are no exception. As legal departments grapple with increasing workloads and tight budgets, AI offers a way to enhance efficiency and effectiveness without the need for additional human resources. 

This blog post explores the implications of AI for legal teams, careers in legal operations, and the essential skills needed to thrive in this evolving landscape. 

What Does AI Mean for Legal Teams? 

Legal teams are increasingly required to do more with less. In-house counsel manages everything from corporate transactions, to litigation, to regulatory compliance, and they regularly interface with teams around the business including sales, procurement, finance, IT, and more. That breadth of scope means that legal teams need not only to manage a high volume of work, but also to switch rapidly between several different areas of expertise on a day-to-day basis. That requires organization, agility, and ready access to crucial business information — in short, impeccable legal operations. 

Despite ever-burgeoning workloads, however, hiring budgets for legal operations remain constrained. In fact, eighty-seven percent of surveyed legal departments in 2020 expected their total number of in-house, full-time employees to stay the same or decrease. This scenario necessitates innovative solutions to scale up operations efficiently. AI is poised to fill this gap by automating routine tasks, enhancing document review processes, and providing data-driven insights that enable teams to operate leanly while managing higher volumes of work. By leveraging AI, legal departments can optimize their resources, allowing human professionals to focus on more complex, value-added activities. 

What Does AI Mean for Careers and Job Skills? 

The integration of AI in legal operations is reshaping the skill sets required for success in the field. Professionals who can work effectively across functional silos and drive collaboration on multidisciplinary projects will be highly prized. These individuals will drive significant value for large organizations by bridging gaps between different departments and enhancing overall operational efficiency. 

To that end, tech-savvy individuals who embrace, leverage, and champion new technologies will thrive. The ability to adapt to and utilize AI tools to augment productivity — and enable co-workers to do so as well — will become a critical competency in the legal operations landscape. 

Getting Ahead in the New World of AI-Powered Jobs 

In a recent survey, 62% of respondents said that the effective use of generative AI will separate successful law firms from unsuccessful firms within the next five years. However, success is not as simple as just picking any AI platform and calling it a day. 

To excel in AI-powered legal operations, professionals must focus on (1) choosing the right technology, and then (2) providing what technology cannot: human intelligence and experience. Choosing the right technology entails understanding what AI can and can’t do, and which platforms offer the capabilities that the team truly needs. The human element includes making connections between different disciplines, understanding nuance and context, and fostering human relationships. 

Legal ops professionals must also recognize and value factual accuracy, ensuring that they’re using AI they can trust and avoiding decisions based solely on AI-generated information, which can sometimes be flawed or misleading when it comes from the wrong source. Furthermore, making value-based judgments about goals, costs, benefits, and strategies will remain a uniquely human responsibility. 

By combining AI capabilities with human expertise, legal ops professionals can navigate the complexities of their roles more effectively. 

Conclusion 

AI is revolutionizing legal operations by enabling teams to manage increasing workloads without expanding their headcount. As AI becomes more integrated into legal workflows, the demand for multidisciplinary, tech-enabled professionals will rise. Those who can provide human intelligence, understand nuance, and make strategic, value-based decisions will lead the way in this new era. Embracing AI while honing these essential skills will be key to thriving in the future of legal operations.