Machines v humans: The division of labour in the new legal workplace

Artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay and, like it or not, we are in a human-machine civilisation. The new arms race is all about AI. The question law firms should be considering now is not whether to embrace AI and robotics, but rather how to best use it to maximise productivity.

This article considers where the line resides between human and machine talent, how to attract the right kind of human talent in the present and future, and how to create harmony in the workplace between machines and humans.

AI in law today

As noted in my previous Managing Partner article 'Robot law', the use of AI in the legal ecosystem is already widespread.¹ Many lawyers use voice-activated AI assistants like Apple's Siri on their mobile devices to make calls, send messages, answer queries, and schedule meetings and reminders.

What's more, lawyers regularly store parts of their brains in the 'cloud' and then use machines to access and develop their thoughts, memories and insights. This is done through apps that:

• record, transcribe and send their
  voices to others (digital dictation tools);

• organise their written and spoken thoughts (productivity and mind-
  mapping apps);

• advise them how to develop their thinking in their areas of interest (digital bookstore recommendations); and

• suggest where to have client lunches based on their taste, budget and area (location-based dining apps).

The relentless march of industrialisation, wearable technology, AI and robotics will push the boundaries of what it means to be human, social and a lawyer in the next 30 years. The legal workplaces of the future will comprise AI, human and hybrid legal talent.

Redefining 'talent'

Let's consider what we mean by 'talent'. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as "a special aptitude or faculty e.g. a talent for music" and "high mental or artistic ability".

Many of us may believe that what differentiates great lawyers from average lawyers is a talent for law, where 'great' lawyering is inextricably linked with high mental ability. However, AI may soon be cleverer (high mental ability) and more efficient (special aptitude) than most people. How can lawyers compete with the newly-acquired talent of machines and be of value to their firm and clients?

In a deeply machine-dependant and technological-evolving legal world, it will be our emotional intelligence (EI) which will give humans the edge in the competition with machines for top-level results. EI is expressed through soft skills, such as communication, empathy, body language and creativity. This is something that technology isn't wired to do yet, although it is frequently used for business development and client relationship management.

However, lawyers tend to favour a more analytical than emotional approach to work and relationships. An analysis of Myers-Briggs psychometric tests reveals some key demographic differences in approaches to decision making. It defines these approaches as either 'thinking' (organising and structuring information to decide in a logical, objective way) or 'feeling' (organising and structuring information
to decide in a personal and values-
oriented way).

In the general population, the research found that men slightly favour the 'thinking' approach (57 per cent, versus 43 per cent for 'feeling'), while women strongly favour 'feeling' (75 per cent, versus 25 per cent
for 'thinking').

By contrast, the majority of lawyers
(81 per cent of men and 66 per cent of women) favour the 'thinking' approach. The problem is that feelings have always driven customer behaviour. The decision to buy is based on emotion and justified with logic.

AI is superior in logic, processing and analytical ability, and will very soon move into the realm of thinking, reasoning and judging through the use of decision-tree analyses. All that will remain for human lawyers to bring to the client table and provide value will be the skills that come out of right side of their brains: EI and creativity.

Logically, if lawyers genuinely wish to future-proof their livelihoods and understand their clients (and thereby persuade clients to buy from them rather than their competitors), they need to change their behaviour and take a more (unique) feeling approach.

In a world in which it will be increasingly difficult to differentiate the talent brilliance of humans and machines, and until AI evolves to harness EI and creativity, these two things will be the human lawyer's domain and unique selling points.

What the profession and clients regarded as top lawyerly talent in the past is not the kind of talent required or expected currently or in future. Lawyers must focus on their uniqueness by getting 'naked' (being authentic), developing EI and becoming entrepreneurial, innovative, creative, imaginative and dynamic by harnessing support technologies.

Lawyers need to be creative about who, what, where, when, why and how they provide legal services and products. For example, this means being creative about how you market yourself, how you identify talented lawyers and where and how you work to maximise productivity.

"Talent attraction and retention is still being undervalued in the real estate equation, despite being one of the key determinants of growth," says the head
of Jones Lang LaSalle's legal sector
group, Alexander Low, reflecting on
their research.²

"The office environment acts as a calling card for both clients and employees as a strong expression of organisational culture and brand, and plays an essential part in enabling the collaboration, creativity and employee engagement so critical to productivity and growth."

Employee evolution

The traditional way of lawyering is now increasingly being questioned, superseded and/or supported by other ways of operating and delivering legal services. It is abundantly clear that many legal businesses are moving towards the 'martini' way of working - anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

The new legal roles which Professor Richard Susskind predicted in 2013 in Tomorrow's Lawyers have been well documented and some are now indicative of the present. But not so well known, yet, are the roles that I envisage a) ought to be here now, and b) are likely to evolve very soon:

• the legal strategist;

• the pricing agent-provocateur;

• the value meister;

• the social collaborator;

• the SocialHuman lawyer;

• the big data guru;

• the data artist;

• the AI executive;

• the intelligent e-personal assistant;

• the iCyborg lawyer;

• the robot lawyer;

• the RoboManager (the robot
  lawyer supervisor/manager); and

• the RoboTechnician
  (the robot technician).

Many of these are roles that require creativity, imagination and EI (right side of the brain) - the talent realm of the 'pure blood' human lawyer. The human lawyer also needs to have the talent to oversee the machine, to reason and to judge - for now.

The idea of having a 'talent for law'
is shifting as technology increasingly infiltrates the legal ecosystem. The role of lawyers needs to evolve to accommodate machines that are far more talented than them in analysing precedents or constructing contracts.

Machines have a gift for searching, processing and analysing. For example, the technology used by the UK police to identify suspects in crimes has become so 'talented' that the average detective doesn't have to be very smart at all nowadays. The same could be said for lawyering in future.

Accordingly, a winning combined talent formula for legal services for the next 20 years would be as follows:

Machine = process, research, analytics, logic, IQ focus

Human = reason, judgement, creative, EI focus

Combined talent brilliance of machine and human =

Increased productivity and increased customer satisfaction =

Growth and future-proofed organisation and individuals.

Courage needed

Those involved in developing their law firm's people strategy need to ensure they are looking for the right skills in the right places. It takes courage to be creative, to dare to be different, to think and act differently, and to run to the other way when the herd is ambling along towards the edge of a cliff. It's much easier and safer to conform. But, remember, conformity is the slowest way
to kill your soul or, as John F. Kennedy said, "conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth".

Chrissie Lightfoot is author of Tomorrow’s Naked Lawyer: NewTech, NewHuman, NewLaw - How to be successful 2015 to 2045 (Dec 2014) and its prequel bestseller The Naked Lawyer: RIP to XXX - How to Market, Brand and Sell You! ?(Dec 2010). Limited offer: Save 20% and order her latest book today for only £76 (+p&p) - email publishing@ark-group.com or call +44(0) 207 566 5792 quoting ?code ‘MP-TNL’.

References

1. See 'Robot Law', Chrissie Lightfoot, Managing Partner, Vol. 17 Issue 6, March 2015

2. See 'Peer views on workplace strategy: Are you achieving the right balance?' Jones Lang LaSalle, 2013