President Donald Trump (Photo: Oliver Contreras/Pool via Bloomberg) President Donald Trump (Photo: Oliver Contreras/Pool via Bloomberg)

President Donald Trump's signing of an executive order which encourages the use of artificial intelligence could signal technology becoming more prevalent in the legal industry, according to experts in the field.

The order signed by Trump on Monday, known as the American AI Initiative, will direct federal agencies to prioritize AI investments, set governance standards and help to build a workforce in the AI world.

Jeremy Elman, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney in Palo Alto, California, said with federal guidance on how AI can be used, law firms may be more likely to find ways to adopt the technology. In the past, attorneys at law firms have been hesitant to adopt that kind of technology, while legal departments at companies are more likely to do so.

“I think that certainly AI being more a part of the national conversation, and an increasing share of clients are going to be using it day to day, so I think naturally more law firms that will be integrated with their clients will be using it,” Elman explained. “It's going to be a more regular part of corporate life.”

He said the national conversation around having standards on the use of AI will also make law firms more comfortable with using the technology.

“I think law firms will suddenly get a lot more interested in using AI if there is going to be more regulatory oversight and more topics and if there is going to be an AI czar in the White House,” Elman said.

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There has appeared to be a hesitancy in law firms utilizing AI. IBM Watson Legal co-founder Brian Kuhn told Corporate Counsel last month that, in his experience, legal departments are more likely to use AI technology than their firms are.

Ryan Blaney, a partner and chair of the privacy and data security group at Cozen O'Connor in Washington, D.C., said he doesn't look at the executive order as something directed toward private industry such as law firms, but he said it does start a conversation.

“In reviewing this executive order, I think it's more geared toward government and the agencies. President Trump is really directing his agencies and to do research around AI and to implement budgetary line items associated with the research and development of AI,” Blaney said.

Blaney, however, said he sees the order as a way to start a conversation on perfecting the technology.

“Law firms are making investments in AI and other technology to better serve our clients,” Blaney said.

He compared the use of AI in the legal profession to that in health care, saying right now AI is mainly used as an assistant rather than taking over a job.

“The same would be true for a law firm. Right now, AI is really being used as a means of assisting a lawyer to be able to provide legal advice,” Blaney said. “I think there is tremendous risk in having it be a stand-alone piece of advice.”

Blaney said he believes the executive order will spur collaboration.

“One of the good things about the executive order is that it seems to be an innovation for collaboration between the private and public sector and I think that's always the best type of guidance that can be provided,” Blaney said.