India’s legal firms – big or small — are united in shedding their tech-averse image and adopting artificial intelligence (AI) with a bang.
In a move to consolidate the adoption of AI, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) has entered into a partnership with Harvey, a leading generative AI platform tailored for legal professionals, making it the first Indian law firm to deploy Harvey’s full AI suite across all seven offices.
“This move strengthens SAM’s leadership in legal innovation, accelerating contract drafting, due diligence, legal research, and predictive analysis while upholding strict confidentiality and data security standards,” says Executive Chairman, SAM, Dr Shardul S Shroff.
Rohit Shukla, chief digital officer at Khaitan & Co, affirms that there’s a clear and accelerating shift in how law firms are engaging with AI. What was once a cautious, even sceptical approach is now giving way to serious investment in internal capabilities. KCo commenced its AI strategy almost two years ago when the firm started preparing its internal data ecosystems to responsibly leverage the potential of AI. Says Shukla, “We designed and launched our in-house AI platform — KAI (Khaitan’s AI), which is built around real, high-impact use cases that integrate directly into daily legal workflows. Importantly, the platform is firm-specific and secure, use-case led and multi-functional”.
Hemant Batra, lead and senior legal consultant, new ventures and growth at SAM said although AI is being widely used—especially in areas such as workflow automation and information retrieval—”there’s still considerable room for growth.”
According to a cross section of lawyers across large, medium and small law firms and independent practioners, automation is beginning to make a perceptible difference. A conservative estimate suggests that efficiencies associated with predictive coding alone will result in a revenue reduction of over $3-5 billion for law firms and lawyers over the next two years globally. Industry data reveals that approximately 40% of U.S. law firms already view AI as a key component of their business strategy.” If access to these AI-powered tools continues to improve, it could save billions of dollars for individuals who can’t, or prefer not to pay for traditional legal services,” says an industry insider.
Kartik Ganapathy, founding and senior partner of the freshly minted CMS-IndusLaw strategic partnership, concurs, “Yes, there’s a clear shift in how law firms are now using technology. All firms, and not just the longer standing/more traditional firms, are adopting AI tools while some are even experimenting with exploring partnerships with legaltech startups to offer hybrid solutions.”
Interestingly, however, adoption of AI varies. Top-tier firms in metro cities seem to be early adopters, while smaller or regional firms may still be hesitant due to cost or a more basic level of tech expertise or awareness.
But even as AI adoption spreads rapidly, several legal experts strike a cautionary note as well. Batra of SAM advises law firms “to carefully, assess and recognise the impact of AI. As AI takes over tasks traditionally handled by lawyers, billable hours could decrease, thereby affecting fees. Some clients may prefer a hybrid approach, utilising AI for certain tasks but still wanting lawyer review, which could lead to lower fees and greater efficiency in different areas of legal services and law practice.However, some tasks will continue to require lawyer involvement. To remain competitive, firms will have to embrace these AI tools, keeping in mind their limitations and the varying costs and learning curves involved in their implementation, thus positioning themselves advantageously in the market.”
Majid Afsar Siddiqi, co-founder of Lex Consult, a multi-practice boutique law firm, avers, ‘In the age of AI, being a boutique player is beneficial as we are better placed to incorporate automation into workflow and deliver much faster and more contextual work. This makes upcoming expert-driven and AI-enabled law firms more competitive, with the benefits seeping down to the client in terms of turnaround time and pricing.” In fact, Siddiqi predicts a scenario where AI will level the playing field against legacy models, and allow premium new age firms to deliver sharper, more responsive counsel.”
Concurs Parag Srivastava, Co-Founder of Bombay Law Chamber, a relatively new boutique firm specialising in corporate and transactional law among other verticals states, “For a small, lean firm like ours with a strength of 40-45 lawyers, technology and AI are enablers. It’s almost like having an associate attached to an associate who can largely handle the grunt work of checklists, data tracking, drafting etc. This leaves lawyers to concentrate on their core expertise like high-value advisory work, complex litigation, and bespoke transactional services.” In fact, Srivastava feels that more than small firms, it is the Big Law firms for which AI could prove a potential threat. Quips Srivastava, “ In Big law firms, efficiency is impeded due to structural issues, resulting in multiple associates being involved in basic tasks, which sometimes leads to disproportionate fees for the clients.”
Viewed from a Big Law perspective, Batra feels price competition in the market encourages some firms to leverage AI for offshore processing, raising new ethical considerations. “Some firms have started developing their own AI companies or partnering with temporary firms for AI resources, which could weaken existing knowledge barriers and threaten traditional revenue streams,” he cautions.
Balanand Menon, Head – Consulting and Partner at Vahura, leading governance and search and consulting firm, while acknowledging the “disruptor capability” of AI, feels that by taking away so much of the “essential non-value add activities,” AI will make “lawyers fall in love with law again by giving them time to focus on their craft.” However, he too feels “pricing models will have to change and clients will have to be more discerning.”
Dhruv Nagarkatti, Head, Practice Transformation at reputed legal firm Trilegal, said while many law firms are beginning to explore the potential of AI, adoption remains uneven. “By clearly defining practical use cases and actively lowering barriers to entry for our teams, we are steadily embedding AI into our workflow in a way that enhances efficiency without compromising quality or client confidentiality. This allows us to harness AI’s benefits responsibly and positions us to lead the evolution of legal practice in India.”