How can Blockchain change the legal industry?

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October

2021

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Blockchain is an example of a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), in short this means a distribution of independent computers which are also referred to as nodes. These nodes are responsible for recording, sharing, and synchronizing transactions in the ledger. A great advantage of this is that the transactions are decentralized instead of being centralized in one local ledger. These ledgers can be used to distribute digital assets without the need of copying or transferring, to facilitate access to the ledger from anywhere due to the decentralized form, and it generates trust in the asset due to the prevention of changes created by the transparency of the ledger.

Learn How To Integrate Blockchain In Legal Industry | by Robert Smith | Medium

The legal industry will be affected by the Blockchain ledger in multiple ways. Firstly, cost reduction and automation due the introduction of smart contracts. Smart contracts provide a way to change the way of working in the legal industry, traditional static documentation will be otiose in the future since smart contracts can automate the process of terms and conditions application. Smart contracts can automatically detect if terms and conditions are met or not, after this it can automatically execute the effects of this contract. This results in a less labor intensive more effective process for both parties which means a cost reduction.

Another interesting area where blockchain can affect the legal industry is in transactions of ownership of digital and physical assets. Legal firms often need to supervise big transactions to secure a secure and fair transaction for both the buying and selling parties. Human errors can be minimized if legal firms would use blockchain technology to settle transactions. Agreements and restrictions can be automatically followed since they are integrated in the protocol code of the blockchain.

Lastly, Blockchain will bring an extra layer of integrity and transparency in the legal industry. Legal documents which are transferred or stored in an insecure way are a big target for hackers with bad intentions, information shared and created by lawyers can be valuable and publicizing this information can have many negative effects for the owner of the information. Legal offices can decide to store sensitive legal documents in private append-only ledgers where information is immutable this results in more integrity. Hash values will not match if data is changed or tampered which warns the legal firm for any violations.

Summarizing from the above, blockchain can change the legal industry in a positive way. Automation and smart contracts will result in cost reductions for all parties, and Blockchain data storage will result in integrity and transparency of legal information.

Sources:

Evans, J. (2018). Curb your Enthusiasm: the real implications of blockchain in the legal industry. J. Bus. Entrepreneurship & L., 11, 273.

Goldenfein, J., & Leiter, A. (2018). Legal engineering on the blockchain:‘Smart contracts’ as legal conduct. Law and Critique, 29(2), 141-149.

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AI in the courtroom: a threat to the justice system, or an opportunity to improve it?

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October

2021

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The application of artificial intelligence (hereinafter: AI) is rapidly influencing and transforming several fields of our society, such as science, business, and even medicine (Pannu, 2015). As enthusiasts are continuously experimenting with new ways to create value, several opportunities in other industries are yet to be discovered. Speculations arise about AI entering one of the most emotionally sensitive workplaces in our society: the courtroom. Since the legal industry is filled with large amounts of data and huge textual files, there seems to be a lot of opportunity for improvement through AI. However, legal experts seem somewhat reserved: would introducing AI into the courtroom be a threat to the justice system, or an opportunity to improve it?

AI-driven judges …

Our current justice system contains several limitations, for example with reference to jurisdiction, which is the process of a court coming to a judgment in a disputed matter. A seemingly unlimited and growing amount of data, large files, and relevant case law cause this process to be inefficient, time-consuming, and subjective (Elstgeest, 2020). One might think that a possible solution to these problems would be the introduction of AI-driven judges and having them replace human judges. AI-driven judges could provide fast data-driven assessments of disputes, and therefore could be more accurate and objective in their decision-making than human judges (McKay, 2020). However, a large share of organisations and individuals involved in jurisdiction seem to put up a lot of resistance against this idea, as they fear that AI will eventually take over control and don’t trust algorithms to make human, ethically responsible decisions (Elstgeest, 2020). All in all, they believe that AI-driven judges might cause more harm to the right to a fair trial, one of the fundamental principles of our justice system, than they would do good.

… or other applications?

Because of the previously mentioned objections, introducing AI-driven judges might not be the right solution to improve the limitations of the current justice system. However, this does not mean that there is no place at all for AI in the courtroom at this moment. For example, by assisting judges, lawyers, and district attorneys in discovering patterns in data and selecting relevant case law, AI can prove to be a relevant and useful tool in increasing efficiency and speed in the courtroom (Elstgeest, 2020). While exploring AI-related opportunities, clear ethical guidelines should be set out, decision-making should be clear and explainable to human rationale, and AI-tools should be monitored and updated frequently (Elstgeest, 2020). In that case, AI can benefit the right to a fair trial, and therefore improve the justice system as a whole.

References

Elstgeest, M., 2020. AI biedt kansen in de rechtspraak. [online] ibestuur.nl. Available at: <https://ibestuur.nl/podium/ai-biedt-kansen-in-de-rechtspraak> [Accessed 5 October 2021].

McKay, C., 2020. Predicting risk in criminal procedure: actuarial tools, algorithms, AI and judicial decision-making. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 32(1), pp.22-39.

Pannu, A., 2015. Artificial intelligence and its application in different areas. Artificial Intelligence, 4(10), pp.79-84.

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