There’s little doubt that In today’s rapidly evolving legal landscape, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into legal is poised to change the way lawyers operate. Clio’s unveiling of Clio Duo, a multifaceted AI tool designed to assist legal professionals, raises some interesting questions about the future of the legal profession, what constitutes success and how being a good lawyer is defined.
Clio CEO Jack Newton introduced Clio Duo today at ClioCon. According to the press release, Clio Duo will serve as a coach, intuitive collaborator, and expert consultant to legal professionals. Clio claims that Duo will enable customers to unlock their own data, become more effective business owners, and get better outcomes for clients. The video of the tool unveiled at the keynote showed a person asking Duo about the status of bills and cases, to summarize documents and for help getting ready for client meetings. Like so many vendor introductions in this arena, the Clio GenAI tool is a promise, not a reality today. But that’s perhaps to be expected, given how quickly the area is being developed.
Will AI replace lawyers?
But the Clio approach to the announcement was a little different. Before talking about Duo, Newton posed one central inquiry: Will AI replace lawyers? Newton, in his Keynote ClioCon address, offered some insights on this question.
Newton began by dispelling the common fear that AI will lead to a decrease in demand for legal services. Drawing parallels with the introduction of spreadsheets in the accounting field, Newton argued that disruptive technologies historically create new avenues for growth rather than rendering professionals obsolete. While the fear was that the spreadsheet would replace accountants, Newton cited data that the number of accounting professionals since its introduction actually increased. Why?
Newton noted that there
