Blue J Legal: A major player in the legal tech sector
Niblett co-founded Blue J Legal, AI software for tax research, 10 years ago with colleagues, Benjamin Alarie, Osler Chair in Business Law, Professor Albert Yoon, and Michael J. Treblicock Chair in Law and Economics. Last summer, the U of T spinoff secured $167-million in financing led by two U.S. venture-capital firms.
“The technology’s capacity has just exploded in the last few years,” he says, reflecting on the rudimentary machine learning models of Bue J’s early days. “We don’t have to create or structure data in the same way we did ten years ago. The large language models can be asked very in-depth questions about how a fact pattern fits within the law.”
Niblett sees big changes on the horizon, as language models and computer processing speeds ramp up at a pace never seen before. “We predicted this world where people would be told – instantly – what you’re doing is lawful or not,” says Niblett.
“It’s not clear to me that we need to take years to decide these cases. A lot of courts are trying to cut through their backlog by using the facts of the case and AI. But where do you draw the line between instantaneous legal advice from a machine versus an instantaneous legal ruling from the machine?” He says that despite the increasing accuracy of current models, there’s still a role for the human lawyer.
The changing nature of legal services
“We teach students about legal reasoning, understanding the nature of legal argument and understanding how the law helps society as a whole. It’s not about teaching an ‘answer’, but rather, understanding the process. Otherwise, the law will just be a button-pushing exercise and that’s not what the law is.”
“Understanding what the law is –and what the law should beis an incredibly important part of what I’m trying to teach. But I think the nature of legal services will change enormously i – in the next ten years.”
Harrison agrees. He says AI has the potential to give access to legal services unavailable before, such as drafting wills, or navigating minor matters in court which can improve access to justice. He adds helping people and small businesses navigate these new technologies is a big opportunity, as the market for these types of services grow.
Tomorrow’s lawyer: Intersecting tech and AI
“My hope is that the development of this technology does create new opportunities for the legal profession. By automating routine, labour-intensive tasks like document review and preliminary legal research, AI frees legal professionals to focus on distinctly human, higher-value work: strategic analysis, creative problem-solving and ethical judgment,” says Harrison.
Harrison says, in this shift away from labour to a focus on wisdom and strategy, he also sees a new class of lawyer emerging at the intersection of law and AI: one that enables its development while also helping society understand how these technologies work. “We want to make sure the benefits of technology are enhanced by our ability to build connecting frameworks of trust and public benefit.”
By Nina Haikara