The Chapter, which will be published in April, comprises of:

Part 1 considers the uptake of digital technologies, their promises and problems.

Part II expounds the principal current Adaptive Professional Practices; Legal Project Management, Uniform Task Based Management System and Alternative Fee Arrangements.

Part III considers taking AI to the next level with relevance to legal tech convergence.

The author Roger Quick explains that we live in a time of astonishing progress with digital technologies.

• Digital technologies have transformed our society, our economy and our daily lives.
• Almost everything we do creates data that informs AI - Google searches, social media, even the mere possession of a smart phone is generating data in addition to the apps we consent to sharing our information with.
• The use of AI creates myriad possibilities, but it also presents significant legal and social challenges.
• Two of the main advantages of digital technologies are efficiency and cost reduction.
• We must also make sure that digital technologies are developed, deployed and used responsibly so that we protect society and uphold the rights of citizens.
• No longer is it a question about whether lawyers should use these technologies but rather exactly what technology they should choose and the knowledge they should have.
• Lawyers need to be able to use AI tools to be able to discharge their duties of competence and act in the best interest of clients.
• AI may improve the quality of the lawyer’s work and give a better result for the client.

The Uptake of Digital Technologies

These promises and their problems are dealt with in the review of the embryonic literature on the technologies which follows:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) – a refresher on definitions

Generative AI and AI language models

The difficulties in using Generative AI

Minimising the risks of Generative AI. This includes: 

• The role of Lawyers in a digitally enabled society
• New ways of working
• AI Implications for legal profession, and courts or tribunals
• How Generative AI can be used safely to assist in legal practice
• Use of Generative AI in undertaking legal work, project managing legal work and in managing legal operations
• Use of Advanced Technologies by legal regulators and the courts

Regulation and Governance. This section covers: 

• AI risks and harms
• The role of regulators in the national and international digital world
• The Australian and UK government’s approach to regulation, and EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act of 2024

AI Regulation and Governance

• Regulation by standards, professional ethics and usage policies.

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Quick On Costs by author Roger Quick examines the law of costs, contemporary issues impacting on traditional costs law and a comparative evolution of costs law in Australia and England. It reviews the principles and practices of costs law applied in the Supreme Courts of the States and Territories, the Federal, Family and High Courts of Australia and the English High Court.

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