Legal Teams Embrace Generative AI: Prompt Engineers, Productivity Gains, and Precautions

In-house legal departments are starting to explore the use of generative AI, with some companies like ASML hiring dedicated “prompt engineers” to help lawyers take advantage of the technology:

Generative AI as a game-changer for legal teams: The large language models used by generative AI are transforming how in-house legal departments operate, as many legal activities are text-based:

• ASML’s chief legal counsel Sandrine Auffret believes generative AI will deliver substantial time savings and increase the quality of service for the company’s legal team.
• About 15 of ASML’s 100 lawyers are using a generative AI-powered tool from law firm A&O Shearman to draft and review contracts, with early feedback showing it saves time and boosts legal creativity.

Companies take different approaches to AI adoption: While ASML is hiring a dedicated prompt engineer, other companies like Conduent are taking a more cautious, collaborative approach:

• Conduent set up a working group of internal professionals with different specialities to explore how to apply generative AI and establish appropriate safeguards, rather than hiring one individual.
• Conduent has had mixed results experimenting with AI for contract review, but found an AI-powered translation program accelerated the approval process when working with global clients.
• Conduent’s general counsel Michael Krawitz believes companies should embrace AI but ensure it is used in a way that “protects our ideas, our data and our people.”

AI proficiency becoming increasingly valuable for lawyers: PwC’s AI Jobs Barometer found a significant wage premium for lawyers with AI skills, indicating the growing importance of AI in the legal sector:

• The future of in-house legal teams will likely involve lawyers with AI training working alongside engineers and computer scientists.
• However, many legal departments are still in the early stages of exploring generative AI and navigating the associated data governance risks.

Analyzing deeper: While the integration of generative AI is reshaping in-house legal teams and the value they provide, companies are taking measured approaches to adoption as they work through issues like data privacy, potential biases, and establishing proper human oversight. Dedicated roles like legal prompt engineers may proliferate as the technology matures, but successful implementation will require ongoing collaboration between legal and technical professionals to maximize the benefits while mitigating risks.