Looking Ahead to 2025: What In-House Legal Counsels Can Expect

The legal landscape is constantly evolving, and the in-house counsel will face a range of challenges and opportunities in the year ahead.

As we step into 2025, the in-house legal counsel is expected to face a dynamic and transformative year. Here's a glimpse into what lies ahead:

1. Embracing AI and Legal Tech:

• AI-powered tools are set to revolutionize legal work. Expect to see increased adoption of AI for contract analysis, legal research, and due diligence, streamlining processes and enhancing efficiency. For legal professionals, the AI-driven future necessitates adaptability. Continuous learning, understanding AI's capabilities, and its limitations, and focusing on uniquely human skills like empathy, judgment, and complex problem-solving will be crucial. Collaborating with AI tools, rather than viewing them as competition, will be the key to harnessing their full potential.
• Legal tech platforms will continue to gain traction, providing access to legal information, document management, and collaboration tools, transforming how legal teams operate. For in-house counsels, adopting legal technology is essential to navigate complex legal landscapes, improve operational efficiency, and ensure compliance. By strategically adopting legal tech tools, in-house legal teams can streamline legal processes, reduce costs, and deliver more value to their organizations.

2. Navigating the Regulatory Maze:

• India’s regulatory environment is a multi-layered system encompassing federal, state, and local levels. Despite reforms, hurdles such as, Lengthy approval processes for licenses and permits; Fragmented Regulations across states and sectors; Taxation Complexities & Ambiguities in interpreting tax laws, exist. The rise of digital ecosystems, powered by technologies like AI and blockchain, is making real-time regulatory tracking and compliance transparency more accessible. These digital solutions streamline processes, enabling companies to adapt swiftly to regulatory updates and maintain seamless operations across various jurisdictions. Recently, in a lecture, Justice Dipak Misra highlighting the growing responsibilities of in-house legal counsel in aligning corporate strategies with regulatory changes, stressed that compliance is not just a statutory obligation but a competitive advantage, stating, “Only a compliant entity is confident.”
• Data privacy remains a top concern. The evolving regulatory landscape, including the Indian Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA) with its upcoming Rules, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), will require ongoing vigilance and proactive compliance strategies. The DPDPA has a broad range, even outside of India, and applies to all organizations processing the personal data of Indian residents, including businesses operating in India, foreign entities, government bodies (with certain exemptions), and data controllers/processors.
• Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving. In-house counsel will play a crucial role in developing and implementing robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive data and mitigate risks. As India witnesses increased and rapid digital usage after Covid, Critical infrastructures such as financial services, banking, energy, manufacturing, and nuclear power plants are rapidly going digital, the need for a robust cybersecurity readiness takes center stage. Recent reports indicate a concerning trend, with approximately 83 percent of Indian organizations experiencing cybersecurity incidents in 2023, necessitating the inhouse legal counsel aligning legal proficiency with technical vigilance.

3. The Rise of ESG:

• Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations are increasingly important for businesses. In-house counsel will need to advise on ESG-related risks and opportunities, ensuring compliance with evolving regulations and stakeholder expectations. It is the in-house counsel who can reinforce the company’s commitment to sustainability and human rights, drive accountability across the supply chain, and mitigate potential legal risks associated with non-compliance.
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has said that companies can now opt for either 'assurance' or 'assessment' for Business Responsibility and Sustainable Reporting (BRSR) Core and ESG disclosures for the value chain. The Assessment will be guided by standards to be developed by the Industry Standards Forum (ISF) in consultation with SEBI.
• Supply chain sustainability is gaining prominence. India faces the challenge of balancing economic development with environmental sustainability. Green Public Procurement (GPP) can be a powerful tool to help address this challenge by leveraging India’s public spending, which accounts for nearly 30% of its GDP. Through green procurement, governments can reduce the environmental impacts of their purchases, while also supporting the market to shift to more sustainable practices. Legal teams will be involved in assessing and mitigating risks associated with ethical and sustainable sourcing practices.
• Ethical Sourcing in India, where the economy is deeply intertwined with diverse industries ranging from textiles to technology, ethical sourcing practices are becoming a benchmark for evaluating third-party vendors, influencing brand reputation, customer loyalty, and competitive advantage. In-house counsel have a responsibility to go beyond legal compliance and act as ethical stewards within their organization.

4. Building a Business-Focused Legal Function:

• Collaboration with business leaders will be paramount. In-house counsel will need to demonstrate a deep understanding of business objectives and provide strategic legal advice that supports growth and innovation. "Legal is no longer just the lifeblood of business in this digital age, it is the guardian and protector of a company's brand, reputation and stakeholder trust".
• Data-driven decision making will be essential. Legal teams will leverage data analytics to identify trends, assess risks, and measure the effectiveness of legal strategies. Leaders of legal operations teams are increasingly learning to use their data to inform strategic decisions, pinpoint areas for process enhancement, advocate for additional resources, and establish their position as business leaders within the organization.

5. Prioritizing Well-being and Professional Development:

• Work-life balance remains a critical concern. Every day another in-house counsel discovers the myth of work-life balance. And you are not alone. In-house counsel will need to prioritize their well-being and seek opportunities for professional development to stay ahead of the curve.
• Diversity and inclusion will continue to be a focus. In any organisation, ideas and perspectives are very important for the process of decision making. Whenever there is a bottleneck or a crisis, life experiences gathered by different team members help in navigating the organisation out of difficulties. This is exactly where the tenets of diversity and inclusion come to the rescue. Creating an inclusive and equitable workplace will be essential for attracting and retaining top talent.
• Continuous Learning and Development: Staying ahead in the legal field will require continuous learning. In-house counsel will need to keep up with the latest legal trends, technologies, and best practices through ongoing education and professional development

Looking Ahead:

2025 promises to be a year of exciting challenges and opportunities for in-house legal counsel. By embracing innovation, adapting to change, and prioritizing collaboration, legal teams can play a vital role in driving business success in the years to come.

#InHouseCounsel #LegalTrends #AI #LegalTech #ESG #Cybersecurity #ContinuousLearning

Originally published at My Linkedin Post

ChatGPT - Is it Compliant with the Laws?

As the ChatGPT and Aritificial Intelligence (AI) in general becomes more all pervasive in our lives, we have to ask ourselves this question - Is it Compliant with the Laws?

AI and/or ChatGPT relies on large data sets to learn and give answers and make predictions. The manner in which these large amount of data has been obtained, is a matter of concern. We can only hope that data privacy and data protection has not been compromised by these AI algorithms. Businesses should ensure to comply with data protection laws, and shall have to implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect personal data and obtain informed consent from individuals before collecting and using their data.

 Regarding, 

"whether ChatGPT is GDPR compliant will depend on how it is designed and used, and whether it collects, processes, or stores any personal data of individuals who are located in the EU. If you have specific concerns about the GDPR compliance of ChatGPT, I would recommend consulting with a legal professional." (link)

Legislators, especially those in Europe, are coming down hard on many of the biggest tech companies that use algorithms and AI with laws focused on privacy and consumer protection. 

 The various uses of ChatGPT – and other generative AI – can raise ethical and legal concerns regarding the violation of data privacy. While users can use ChatGPT to draft privacy notices., ChatGPT itself is under scrutiny from data protection experts. (link) 

#AI-powered interpretation of web search is the subject of study in the legal implications of artificial intelligence, and “the promise and the peril of the digital age..” in this link.

ChatGPT has been trained on vast quantities of data (prior to 2021), which may have included proprietary material. These may be used by ChatGPT in response, despite not being licensed by the copyright owner.

Confidentiality and data privacy are other concerns,.. employees might use ChatGPT in connection with work.

Although ChatGPT represents that it does not retain information provided in conversations, it does “learn” from every conversation. And of course, users are entering information into the conversations with ChatGPT over the internet and there is no guarantee of security in such communications. (link)

A report by CyberArk security researchers has stated that OpenAI's ChatGPT has reportedly created a new strand of polymorphic malware following text-based interactions, after bypassing the content filters preventing ChatGPT from creating malicious tools. Thanks to the ability of ChatGPT to create and continually mutate injectors, cybersecurity researchers were able to create a polymorphic program that is highly elusive and difficult to detect. (link)

The majority of security leaders expect ChatGPT to be at the heart of a successful cyber-attack within a year, including malware development and convincing social engineering scams. The top worry for the IT leaders was the technology’s ability to craft more believable and legitimate sounding phishing emails (53%), followed by allowing less experienced cyber-criminals to improve their technical knowledge and develop more specialized skills (49%) and its use in spreading misinformation (49%). In addition to cyber-threats, privacy experts have discussed how the AI model is potentially breaching data protection rules, such as GDPR. (link)  

So, is ChatGPT compliant with the Laws? We don't know yet.

Artificial Intelligence in the Law Courts - Judiciary in India

Artificial intelligence (AI) is now becoming a pervasive and persistent part of our lives and will continue to do so in the future. 

Now we find AI embedded in shopping algorithms, navigational aids, and search engines. Algorithms drive social media and vehicles. Diverse fields such as human resources, finance, and medicine all rely on AI. Crime detection is also assisted by AI which can detect financial fraud and insider stock trading. Facial recognition algorithms powered by AI are used by investing agencies. Certain AI applications identify tumors with greater accuracy than medical personnel as per medical research.

Law has not always moved in tandem with the changing technology. In the last few years, with the increasing implementation of technology in the field of justice, there has been a rise in the use of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Judicial systems worldwide are using AI to analyze large amounts of legal data to help lawyers identify precedents in case law, enable administrations in streamlining judicial processes, and support judges with predictions on issues. AI and machine learning are on the way to transforming the practice of law, the role of courts, and judicial practice in the courts.

The Chinese judicial community seems to have adopted the trend of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Supreme People’s Court in China, in 2018, launched smart courts, smart inspection, and rolled out key projects such as the “smart court navigation system” and “intelligent push system”. 

Shanghai’s “206” criminal case intelligent auxiliary case system (206 system), Hebei’s “smart trial 1.0” trial support system and other local courts launched artificial intelligence products, not only comprehensively improves judicial efficiency, but also provides convenient and efficient technical support for judges to hear cases. (link)

Countries such as Estonia have already established an AI judge in a move to streamline government services and clear a backlog of cases for judges.

“The Estonian government used an AI judge to adjudicate small claim disputes such as contract claims under €7,000,” says Professor Michael Legg. Applying an AI system to process small claims is efficient as they do not involve an exercise of discretion. Similarly in Canada, AI has been used in some areas of the law such as strata property disputes and motor vehicle claims below a certain amount. In British Columbia, the Civil Resolutions Tribunal (CRT) uses a form of AI called an ‘expert system’. It helps a person assess whether they have a claim, brings together the information needed to make a claim, and facilitates online communications to try and resolve the claim,” Prof. Legg says. (link)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still essentially machine intelligence based on big data, algorithms, and computing power, not organic intelligence. With this, human society seems to have entered a new “intelligent era” overnight.

In India, the Supreme Court of India has constituted an Artificial Intelligence Committee that has identified the application of AI technology in the Translation of judicial documents, Legal research assistance, and Process automation. The use of technology in Indian Courts has helped the Digitisation of court records, e-filing of cases and their virtual hearing, and live-streaming of court proceedings. However, Speedy, efficient delivery of justice, enabled by Digitisation has a long way to go in India.

The "use of technology in judicial proceedings can make 'ease of justice' a reality" to enable the Ease of Doing Business (link). 

"...ease of justice is equally important like ease of doing business and ease of living; Urges District Legal Services Authorities to speed up justice delivery system.." : PM Modi (Link)

Under the eCourts mission by the Govt. of India, Virtual Courts are being started. This website is about Virtual Courts – Transforming Justice Delivery through Technology where, on a pilot basis, the system is being used for adjudication of traffic and transport challans, in select cities in India.

ChatGPT - Will it replace Lawyers ?

From virtual courtrooms to online document management systems, technology is disrupting and transforming the way lawyers practice law.

The recently launched ChatGOT by OpenAI (on 30th November 2022) passed a law school exam and earned a passing grade after writing essays on topics ranging from constitutional law to taxation and torts. Professors at Minnesota University Law School gave ChatGPT four separate law school final exams and then graded the exams blindly, shuffling it with actual student exams. The bot passed with an average grade of C+. 

"We expect such language models to be important tools for practicing lawyers going forward; we also expect them to be very helpful to students using them (licitly or illicitly) on law school exams," said the Minnesota University Law School professors. (link)

The AI based ChatGPT is designed to answer every question, out of the info uploaded into it, from a vast amount of text data, including books, articles, and other written material said to be about 175 billion parameters.  

"In writing essays, ChatGPT displayed a strong grasp of basic legal rules and had consistently solid organization and composition". (link)

ChatGPT performed well on essay questions and drafting exercises, but struggled with multiple choice questions, and proves to be a mediocre law student.  

Use cases point out the fact that ChatGPT can be used by lawyers in legal research, with its ability to quickly process and analyze vast amounts of data, lawyers can swiftly identify relevant case law and statutes, saving precious time and improving the accuracy of their research. 

While artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT and similar technologies, can help lawyers with writing, parsing information, and predicting outcomes, artificial intelligence does not have the capability to completely replace lawyers at this point. The limitations of ChatGPT and other technologies make them ideal for delegating routine tasks, allowing lawyers to focus on more complex tasks. These technologies may also assist individuals without access to legal representation, by giving them a preliminary understanding of their legal issues and suggesting non-legal solutions to resolve their issues. (link)

In a matter of a few seconds, the ChatGPT can create what would appear to be a well-written contract, help write a law review article in an hour, or even write a brief to argue before the Supreme Court. It has the potential to change the way we do business forever, including how the law is practiced.

For example, an attorney may want to add a clause in a customer contract that grants permission to use the customer’s logo in company marketing materials. Instead of drafting one from scratch or searching for a Google template, the lawyer can type into Contract Assist: “Clause allowing company to use customer’s logo.” They then click on the “suggest” button and a proposed clause is produced, which they can edit further if needed. (link)

The field of law seems to be the best test ground for ChatGPT, as the law itself is a codified set of instructions. ChatGPT can very well be used to analyze legal documents, decisions, and precedents, then apply that knowledge to real-world cases.

The AI-powered software can analyze large amounts of data and identify potentially patentable inventions, faster and more accurately than human attorneys can. 

Regarding probable legal issues, ChatGPT appears to be unconcerned.

"I am not aware of any legal issues specifically concerning ChatGPT. As a large language model trained by OpenAI, ChatGPT generates responses to user input in a way that is similar to how a human would respond. The responses it produces will vary depending on the context of the conversation, and it does not simply copy content from the internet. As long as you use ChatGPT in accordance with the terms and conditions set by OpenAI, and obtain the appropriate permissions and licenses if necessary, there should not be any legal issues. It is always important to consult with a legal professional if you have specific questions or concerns about the use of ChatGPT or other AI technologies." (Link)

On the OpenAI website, the creators also note that ChatGPT shouldn’t be relied upon for advice and that it “sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers.” 

“Because ChatGPT is a machine learning system, it may not have the same level of understanding and judgment as a human lawyer when it comes to interpreting legal principles and precedent," the bot writes. "This could lead to problems in situations where a more in-depth legal analysis is required." (link) 

Like legal research platforms, publications, or legal software, ChatGPT is just a tool or service to be used by attorneys. Attorneys must recognize the strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT just like they do with any other tool. The review of work and legal advice rests squarely on the attorney.

Trained on the basis of human inputs, ChatGPT, and other artificial intelligence writing programs, do come with bias built in. Bias may be political, gender-based, religious, racial, or the like. AI is only as 'unbiased' as it's programmers. In some instances pointed out by the users, ChatGPT has proved how duplicitous programmers will inculcate their OWN biases into whatever code & algorithms they program it with. 

As they say, Garbage In, Garbage Out.

AI and Machine Learning are still in their infancy. ChatGPT is still a prototype. 

Airplanes have a complex system of autopilot and, during a flight, are controlled mostly by computers, but pilots are there sitting and tuning the computer’s controls whenever needed. Humans understand their customers, brand, and values. And this means, for the foreseeable future, a person will need to chart a logical course for every business. (link)

Richard Susskind, the pre-eminent “legal futurist” said: “we are seeing here the makings of a solution to the global access to justice problem - the emergence of tools that will empower people with no legal knowledge to understand and enforce their legal entitlements; systems that will enable people to draft their own documents, secure legal guidance without lawyers, and assess their own legal risks. We are still at the foothills but the road ahead is clear." (link)

The law is available on the internet and all contracts are machine-readable, but ChatGPT is not a threat to lawyers who argue over the finest of details and judges that make calls on the closest of cases. 

ChatGPT provides a powerful tool into the hands of users, one that does not require tech fluency. It can help them cut through the opacity and expense of retaining counsel. It can also help to demystify legal process, procedures, and language. (link)

Line judges in pro Tennis lost their jobs to technology. Don’t be the next line-judge. Stay current and knowledgeable on tech trends in your industry if you want to be in demand in the future. 

The future belongs to those who can embrace change and find ways to use technology to improve their legal services while maintaining quality control.

 

ChatGPT - Should we be Afraid?

 As we read more and more news of ChatGPT passing the Wharton MBA exam, US Medical licensing exam, and the bar exam, fears of Artificial Intelligence (AI) replacing doctors, lawyers, or business professionals, are also spreading fast. 

And then more News comes in:

• January 18th 2023: Microsoft announces 10,000 employees will be terminated
• January 23rd 2023: Microsoft to invest $10,000,000,000 into ChatGPT
• January 24th 2023: CEO Satya Nadella announces plans to roll out across all Microsoft products.  

What is ChatGPT?

OpenAI has  

trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. ChatGPT is trained to follow an instruction in a prompt and provide a detailed response.

Launched on November 30, 2022, ChatGPT is trained using Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) on an Azure AI supercomputing infrastructure, is the latest step in OpenAI’s iterative deployment of increasingly safe and useful AI systems, achieved by the use of reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF). 

GPT-3 (Generative Pretrained Transformer 3) is a state-of-the-art language processing AI model developed by OpenAI. It is capable of generating human-like text and has a wide range of applications, including language translation, language modelling, and generating text for applications such as chatbots. It is one of the largest and most powerful language processing AI models to date, with 175 billion parameters. Its most common use so far is creating ChatGPT - a highly capable chatbot. 

With its 175 billion parameters, ChatGPT is restricted to language, and its abilities include everything from writing poems about sentient farts and cliché rom-coms in alternate universes, through to explaining quantum mechanics in simple terms or writing full-length research papers and articles. 

However, ChatGPT's training data cuts off in 2021 (what ChatGPT does not know). 

And unlike Google, ChatGPT doesn't crawl the web for information on current events, which means that it is completely unaware of current events, trends, or anything that happened after its training. It can only generate responses based on its own internal knowledge and logic. (see link)

ChatGPT is changing everything. The AI chatbot has proven to be very capable of technical tasks, such as writing and coding. But it can't do everything - yet. But it still has its limits.

It's a tool that could make each better if used properly.

Don't fear technology.

Learn to use it.