“We are now past tense,” former University of San Carlos Law dean Cora Valencia said teasingly when we bumped into each other during the recent induction of officers of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City Chapter (congratulations, president Gimbo Hernaez, et al) at the Marco Polo hotel.
Cora’s joke may have been made in the context of our being past presidents of the chapter. Or maybe not. Not after the video message of Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo on the dizzying pace in the advances of technology that, he said, “are poised to transform entire institutions, industries and professions.”
He cited the emergence of artificial intelligence which he predicted to “change the practice of law” and shape the way lawyers work. That must have particularly struck the new lawyers in attendance, especially after the Chief Justice said that “more and more tools are being deployed to do fundamental legal tasks like drafting documents, creating and reviewing contracts and conducting research.”
He described as unsurprising the findings of some experts that the legal profession is the most exposed to AI such that eventually 44 percent of the legal work would no longer need lawyers because of automation by AI. Some of the developers have even gone further by developing so-called robot lawyers, he revealed.
The country’s top jurist tried to soothe the feelings of his audience by assuring that his Court was “intent on making sure that the country’s lawyers will do more than weather this wave of technology.” Just keep yourselves grounded and centered on the core of your profession, he told them.
Instead of wondering what would your place be in a world of robot lawyers and whether you would still be relevant in the digital era, you “would do well to remember that even as we harness these latest technologies to allow these wheels to turn as effectively and as efficiently as possible, innovation is no guarantee that justice will be served to those who seek it,” he urged them.
Amid the rapid advances in technology, the quality of justice still depends on your services, he told the lawyers. He also reminded them that whether online or offline, they are still bound by their oath and the ethical rules of their profession.
He also urged cooperation between the bar and the bench, warning that any malfunction will result in “catastrophic miscarriage of justice.” Lawyers should share the vision of a “judiciary that delivers in real time the best kind of justice that our people deserve.”
“Our imperative is to rise to maximize and optimize technology, harnessing it to improve dispensation of justice.” There will be no easing up in the pursuit of the “Court’s overarching goal to deliver justice in real time,” he assured the Cebu City lawyers.
“Timely and fair justice, transparent and accountable justice, equal and inclusive justice and technologically adoptive management.”
Robot lawyers or no robot lawyers.