Use this button to switch between dark and light mode.

Harnessing Generative AI – A Guide for Australian Barristers

By: Nina Packman

In today's rapidly evolving legal landscape, embracing innovative technology is crucial for staying ahead. Generative AI, with its remarkable capabilities in language processing, offers Australian barristers an unparalleled advantage in managing and executing their daily tasks. This technology is not about replacing human expertise but instead, enhancing it, enabling barristers to work more efficiently and effectively.

In the following discussion, I delve into the key considerations and benefits of integrating generative AI into your practice. For barristers, the adoption of these tools offers a range of benefits, but it also necessitates careful consideration.

While some may view the hype with scepticism, the relevance of generative AI to the daily practice of law—rooted deeply in language—is undeniable. The legal field has undergone significant technological transformations in recent years, and generative AI represents the latest wave of innovation.

WHY ARE LEGALLY TRAINED LARGE LANGUAGE MODELS (LLMs) SUPERIOR TO GENERIC LLMs SUCH AS ChatGPT OR CoPilot?

Out-of-the-box AI solutions may not work particularly well for legal use cases without proper training data and adequately designed safeguards.

As a barrister, every day is different, and each case requires a specifically crafted strategy to account for the distinct aspects of that case.

The practice of law is all about understanding, synthesising, creating, and communicating language. Because of their ease with language, LLMs are particularly well suited to use in fields like law. An LLM trained in vast amounts of text data can produce fluent responses to text drafted by the user (prompts). However, generic LLMs such as Chat GPT or CoPilot are not specifically trained for legal use cases, and the underlying data they access may not be current. (For example, when you interrogate ChatGPT it will eventually admit that its training data is current up to October 2023.)

In general, AI systems designed for legal contexts offer a greater assurance of accuracy and usefulness. While LLMs find “plausible” responses to your prompts, they lack the “reasoning” needed in legal research and strategy, and they can’t replace your expertise in addressing a matter that has come to you for a reason.

Unlike generic LLMs that draw their answers from the World Wide Web, Lexis+ AITm draws only from trusted LexisNexis® content. This process is known as Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) which means that we point the AI model at our content, and it bases its responses only on our content.

WHAT SHOULD AUSTRALIAN BARRISTERS CONSIDER WHEN LOOKING AT LEGAL AI SOLUTIONS?

While the adoption of generative AI can save you incredible amounts of time, there are several key considerations for barristers.

  1. AI won’t replace your expertise

    Clients are entitled to expect that any work that is done on a brief is a barrister’s own work and reflects the application of their skill, knowledge, experience, and judgment.

    It is important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the GenAI tools you use so that anything you produce, is work:

    • on which you have exercised independent forensic judgment,
    • on which you have advised independently,
    • which you have reviewed and edited where necessary,
    • which you believe is correct and reliable based on your training, expertise, and research, and therefore you can independently explain and support.
  2. The importance of safeguards

    Let’s talk about safeguards. It’s important that before you embark on using AI, you understand how to use it effectively but also understand its limitations. The NSW Bar Association, Qld Law Society, and the Supreme Court of Victoria have already issued guidelines on the use of generative AI in litigation. The main premise of these guidelines is that if AI tools are to be used, the barrister must ensure that the use of AI supplements and does not substitute the barrister’s legal skill.

  3. Prompting effectively

    Learning how to optimise your prompting (often described as prompt engineering), is a key consideration when seeking time efficiencies in your daily work. Whether that’s in summarising lengthy and complex case law quickly and easily, analysing your opponents’ submissions to quickly familiarise yourself with the salient points, or asking it to provide you with a first draft in short order, you and your practice will benefit from the time saved.

HOW DO YOU WRITE EFFECTIVE LEGAL AI PROMPTS?

When you’re crafting Legal AI prompts, consider these three things:

  1. Clarity

    Keep your prompts clear and unambiguous. Most importantly, it is crucial for users to recognise and clearly articulate their desired output in detail (e.g., cease and desist letter, explanation of a specific legal standard, case summary).

  2. Context

    Just like a colleague who has been assigned legal research or a drafting task, case-specific context is necessary if you want the AI to return relevant and reliable results. This includes specifying the jurisdiction, parties, key terms, or any other material fact that has the potential to impact content that you want to retrieve or generate. The clearer and less ambiguous the context provided, the better.

  3. Refinement

    Rather than using one long complex prompt that tries to cover off on all points in specific enough detail, do be prepared to refine prompts/responses with follow-up prompts or in new conversations. This requires users to critically evaluate how well prompts are being understood by the AI, and whether there is missing context or a lack of clarity in the prompt or corresponding output. Testing and refining your legal AI prompts is an ongoing process that ensures continuous improvement.

INTRODUCING Lexis+ AI

LexisNexis launched Lexis+ AI in Australia in June. It’s like having a well-read, trusted colleague with an encyclopedic memory that you can converse with, and who can complete many of the tasks that are the staple of your daily work, including analysing and applying LexisNexis integrated legal content for you.

There are four main ways barristers can use Lexis+ AI in their workflow today, which could provide a significant competitive edge.

  • Conversational search with an AI assistant to supercharge your legal research.
  • Generate a first draft of an email, letter or clause with ease and precision.
  • Summarise a case at the click of a button with the essential elements extracted.
  • Upload and securely analyse multiple legal documents at once, extracting legal insights with linked citations.

HOW ARE BARRISTERS AND LITIGATORS USING Lexis+ AI?

Trial preparation – this is often a time-consuming and technical task requiring the analysis and synthesisation of copious amounts of content. Generative AI can save you time by finding relevant cases and providing summaries of relevant judgments, giving you a springboard to determining your strategy.

Catching cases - Generative AI can support your research and ensure that you’re ahead of the curve by making sure you don’t miss a case or uncover cases that your opponent hasn’t identified.

Reviewing opposing arguments – uploading your opponent’s submissions will allow you to have a summary of their approach at your fingertips in moments. This gives you back time to dedicate to how you will tackle their arguments from a strategic point of view.

IN SUMMARY

Integrating generative AI into legal practice represents a significant leap forward for Australian barristers. By leveraging AI's capabilities, barristers can enhance their efficiency, verify the responses quickly to be sure of the output, and maintain a strategic edge in litigation.

Using traditional legal research methods in combination with the AI responses from Lexis+ AI will arm you with more objective and decisive data points.

As with any type of research, using AI is a tool. The responses will always be your first “useful” draft, and the need to check and double-check against citations will remain to ensure completeness, reliability, and accuracy.

FURTHER READING

  • How to write effective AI legal prompts by Jake Nelson, Sr. Product Manager, LexisNexis Read it here.
  • AI GLOSSARY: A plain English guide to key AI (Artificial Intelligence) terms for the Australian legal profession. NSW Law Society and LexisNexis ©2024. Read it here.
  • Generative AI Market Survey Report. LexisNexis surveyed over 560 lawyers and legal professionals throughout Australia and New Zealand to better understand overall awareness of generative AI. Download the survey report here

LexisNexis AI Hub: Resources and reports on how generative AI is transforming legal research and workflows. Learn more here

Subscribe to our Newsletter