ECLA Newsletter, May 2018

LEGAL NEWS FROM NORWAY

THE POTENTIAL OFFERED BY LEGAL AI-TECHNOLOGY –
LOOKING AT NORWAY

Bildschirmfoto 2018-04-30 um 15.48.07

In Norway, law firms will be important drivers for the development of legal artificial intelligence (AI) in the coming years, especially in the area of text analysis. Since the need for more advanced IT tools to support compliance with legal requirements has become more evident, tech companies now offer different tools related to security and data management.

Threats and dangers

At the same time, several law firms now realize that AI will pose a threat in the future. This applies especially to big transactions (M&A) for which numerous lawyers are hired. In order to mitigate the ‘AI threat’, law firms will need to enhance their legal services and provide better, faster and more comprehensive support to maintain their competitive edge. Several larger law firms in Oslo have already started experimenting with AI and other tools. The question is: Which solution provider will conquer this part of the Norwegian market? In any case, law firms will be important drivers for the development of legal AI in the years to come.

Compliance and legal technology

One of the biggest questions in this context is: Could legal technology play a role in better integrating compliance into work processes? One of the greatest threats to good compliance work is the sheer volume of expectations and requirements, not only from legislators (domestic and foreign) but also from customers and partners. The real challenge is to extract the necessary information from the mass of rules and regulations, to implement these guidelines and work processes, and to document the impact of the compliance work performed in the company.

Solution and perspective

When we can start using information to predict a company’s possible non-compliance (and remedy of the situation) in the future and are able to recognize in advance what effects this act of non-compliance could have, how we work will change dramatically. A tool that brings together legal requirements with everyday business activities in a contractual environment will dramatically change how we do business and also raise all stakeholders’ expectations on performance.

Eric Warberg 2

About the author:

As Chief Compliance & Legal Adviser at Computas AS in Oslo, Norway, Erik Warberg is responsible for GRC consulting (Governance, Risk & Compliance). He is a member of the Compliance Commission at the Lawyers Education Centre (JUS) and has been Head of the Association of Corporate Lawyers in Norway since 2010.

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