Are lawyers at risk of being replaced by AI? How will AI impact the future of legal marketing?
These questions and many more are top of mind as lawyers and legal marketers begin to adopt artificial intelligence in their marketing strategies.
We spoke with Conrad Saam, long-time legal marketing veteran, author, and founder of Mockingbird Marketing – a digital marketing agency for law firms – to discuss how attorneys and other legal professionals are using AI (or not), where they’ve been successful, and what the early roadblocks have been. Here’s what we learned.
Are lawyers at risk of being replaced by AI?
Conrad discusses the common misconception that AI might replace lawyers, pointing out that this idea oversimplifies what lawyers actually do. Sure, some lawyers might just focus on generating documents, but the profession offers much more, like valuable insights and expertise.
Saam believes that as long as lawyers keep using their analytical skills, they won't be replaced by AI. Instead, he sees AI as a tool that can help more people access legal services. Huge numbers of Americans currently go unrepresented in their legal issues. The many new AI tools can boost efficiency within the profession and allow lawyers to provide this needed benefit to society. Even though AI might cut costs on paperwork and research, Saam highlights that we still have a long way to go to ensure everyone in the U.S. has access to justice—an area where he expects AI will make a significant impact.
How will AI impact the future of legal marketing?
As a person who has spent a considerable amount of time working with lawyers, Conrad emphasizes the importance of generating content – citing that even two years ago, the focus was heavily on video content and the need to engage across multiple platforms. But now, thanks to technological advancements, lawyers can use AI to create video content that is virtually indistinguishable from reality. This means attorneys can produce hundreds of hours of AI video tailored to their chosen topics and use it to scale marketing for their firm.
Moreover, Conrad points out that AI is already being used to engage on social media platforms like LinkedIn. This leads to an intriguing question: how does this shift toward AI-generated content impact how lawyers market themselves? Conrad describes how today, lawyers are able to generate a high volume of low-cost content that strongly resonates with the target audience, yet none of it is real. This transformative approach could fundamentally change the legal marketing landscape.
How CallRail's AI helps law firms analyze phone calls for better outcomes
In the fast-paced realm of legal practice, quickly sifting through hours of phone call recordings has transitioned from a cumbersome task to a streamlined process, thanks to AI. Law firms are leveraging AI technologies like CallRail’s Premium Conversation Intelligence™ to enhance their operational efficiency. Picture an AI system that not only transcribes calls accurately but also identifies key information rapidly. This allows lawyers to spend more time strategizing cases rather than on administrative duties.
CallRail’s AI goes a step further by analyzing conversations and detecting emotional cues and tone changes to offer deeper insights. The technology can sift through extensive data, pinpointing critical phrases, legal terms, and emotional markers vital to case proceedings. Such sentiment analysis can reveal hidden insights or shifts in a client’s or witness’s perspective.
This revolution in handling phone call data has significant implications. By incorporating CallRail's AI into their workflows, legal teams can operate more efficiently, focusing on client needs and enhancing case strategies. Ultimately, this integration drives superior legal outcomes, making the practice more efficient and effective in delivering justice.
Why are lawyers hesitant to start using AI?
According to Conrad, there are two major reasons lawyers don't want to work with AI. The first one is that lawyers are trained problem-identifiers. The legal industry, by definition, is trying to help people avoid problems. As a result, lawyers can spot problems everywhere, and there are tons of issues that can come up with AI, whether real or imagined.
The second reason is the very real and public instances of AI's spectacular failures. For example, AI often struggles with accurately rendering human fingers in images, producing creepy and highly publicized results. Additionally, there have been instances where AI has "hallucinated" and cited non-existent legal cases, leading to severe consequences for the lawyers involved. Such failures, attributed to both the limitations of AI and user laziness, serve as cautionary tales. Consequently, these examples make lawyers wary of adopting AI, fearing the potential for significant errors and career jeopardy.
How can lawyers use AI to create marketing content?
Conrad compares using AI to a middle schooler. AI has the skills but needs close supervision to avoid embarrassing mistakes. Regarding AI blunders in marketing, just like bad content can slip through with mediocre writers, AI can make some cringe-worthy errors.
Conrad notes that a writer's job now involves prompting and editing AI-generated content. It's a major shift, especially with the surge in AI-generated content. You can often tell when companies use AI to boost their page count. For instance, if a lawyer wants content on “motorcycle accident lawyers” for nearby towns, AI can produce it, but quality varies – especially when agencies are churning out massive volumes.
The big question is, will this flood of AI content work for SEO? Conrad is skeptical. While AI can generate content quickly, human editors must polish it off before it goes live. His "middle schooler" analogy fits perfectly — AI needs someone to check its work. Ultimately, Conrad stresses that human oversight is essential to ensure quality content.
Bonus topic: How will the end of third-party cookies impact legal marketing?
In this bonus question, Conrad discusses the evolving landscape of data privacy and its implications for legal marketing, emphasizing the importance of reach and engagement. Conrad asserts that two key factors contribute to effective outreach: the size and engagement of a law firm's CRM system and their social media reach.
With increasing consumer privacy, Conrad explains that meaningful connections now stem from social media followings and CRM opt-ins rather than traditional cookies. In essence, clients choose to follow attorneys on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, signaling their interest and growing the firm's engaged audience. He highlights that these modern "opt-ins" are crucial for expanding a firm's database and maintaining active, valuable interactions with potential clients.
July 2024 update: As of July 22, 2024, Google announced it will no longer deprecate third-party cookies. Instead, Google promised to introduce a new feature that lets people make an informed choice that applies across all web browsing. In light of this, we recommend continuing to prioritize the capture of first-party data. Focusing on direct interactions with your customers allows for more reliable and compliant data collection, ensuring your marketing strategies remain effective regardless of industry changes.
Key takeaways
Our chat with Conrad Saam shed light on how AI is being used in the legal industry. First, don't expect AI to replace lawyers anytime soon—their work is too nuanced and analytical for that. However, AI does offer some valuable tools to make legal services more accessible. It can also boost legal marketing by churning out a high volume of engaging content inexpensively, though humans still need to keep an eye on quality.
Lawyers are a bit hesitant to jump on the AI bandwagon, mainly because they're problem identifiers and have seen some spectacular AI flops in the field. All in all, AI has a lot to offer, but human oversight is still key to making sure everything runs smoothly and reliably. It’s not the AI tool that maintains the law license.
