Asia’s courts are drowning in paperwork. Can AI save them?

AI has made a bad name for lawyers over the years. Chatbots have generated fake case citations, fabricated legal arguments, and caused some lawyers – those who’ve relied on the tech too heavily – to issue apologies.

So why did the release of Anthropic’s new legal plugin in February help trigger what investors dubbed the “SaaS apocalypse,” wiping billions off software stocks globally this year?

Image credit: Ulla

The sell-off also hit Indian IT and software firms such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro, erasing nearly US$50 billion in market cap for the sector in February alone.

In another move earlier this month, Anthropic released 12 legal-specific plugins for Claude.

But the real opportunity for AI is not replacing lawyers entirely, says Sonam Chandwani, managing partner at KS Legal & Associates. Instead, it’s “about reducing the massive amount of repetitive, process-driven work surrounding legal practice.”

Much of this is currently handled by junior associates, who are becoming increasingly concerned that these new plugins could have an impact on their jobs.

“The fear inside the profession is real,” says Denise Farmer, general manager of Asia Pacific at Clio. She warns that firms could begin reducing junior hiring “without thinking about where the next generation of senior practitioners will come from.”

“Of course, we worry. It’s our bread and butter,” says Malaysia-based lawyer Nazirah Mannan. She is concerned some areas of legal work could eventually become obsolete.

Go local or go West?

Research firm Technavio estimates that the generative AI legal market will expand by US$2.1 billion between 2024 and 2029, growing at more than 34% annually.

Anthropic’s launch of the new plugins has intensified competition in a sector already flooded with money. US-based Harvey, for instance, raised US$200 million in March at an US$11 billion valuation.

Meanwhile, incumbents are rapidly reinventing themselves. Clio, founded in 2008 as a legal practice management platform, has repositioned itself as an AI-first legal operating system. It also acquired AI research company vLex in a US$1 billion deal last year.

Still, companies across Asia say the bigger opportunity lies in automating the mundane tasks of local court systems.

The AI battle inside courtrooms

Beyond fake citations