[Music] Welcome to the Millennial Lawyer Podcast. I’m Evan Mack and I’m here with New York litigation attorney Mark Shirian. Today we’re diving into the role of artificial intelligence and digital tools in modern legal practice, especially in personal injury law. Mark, are you ready to talk about the machines taking over, sir? 

Absolutely, Evan. Let’s get going. 

So, how are AI tools being used in personal injury law? First of all, I didn’t know they were, but how are they being used? 

I want to start this conversation with just one note in that, you know, personal injury lawyers work on contingency. We don’t bill by the hour like most other lawyers do, like our adversaries do. 

I didn’t know that. 

Yeah. So with AI, it’s been a complete game changer because we are now completing tasks at a much shorter rate than we were before. So as far as you know these tools with AI, we’re analyzing medical records, predicting case outcomes, spotting patterns in evidence. It’s like having a super smart paralegal working 24/7 to streamline our cases. 

Do you, sidebar question, do you think this is ever going to build any redundancies in law? You know, that’s not going to be like, it’s not going to, do you think it’s going to get so advanced that people can practice, you know what I mean, without you guys or without paralegals? Without human beings? Do you foresee that happening at all? Or do you still need that human mind to be able to, you know, pursue certain cases? 

My theory on that is that as long as we still have a trial by jury sort of system it is going to be very hard to try a case with an AI robot or with a layman using GPT to try a case. At the end of the day, the leverage that you have in an injury case is that you can prove the case to a jury. That’s your leverage in every case. So, if you don’t have that leverage, if you’re completely trying to handle a case, I don’t recommend trying to handle a case using AI if you’re not an attorney. I just don’t and I don’t see AI taking over. Yeah, you could I’m sure you could train AI to to try a case. But at the end of the day, when you’re looking about how the system is right now where you need an advocate, you need an attorney to try a case, which is ultimately your leverage, you need an actual human for that, I believe. So, absolutely. 

Can you give me an example to the people at home like how your firm is streamlining case preparation with the use of AI? 

Yeah. So we use AI to scan thousands of documents for key terms, estimate settlement values based on past cases, you know, and you could even now recreate accident scenes digitally to strengthen arguments. So when you’re talking about putting together images, drafting complaints and lawsuits and certain letters, it’s been an absolute game changer. 

You say it is a game changer. How reliable is it to you? You know, is there still some way to go? Is it if you break it down, if you’re as detailed as possible, do you feel it’s reliable? 

I believe if you’re inputting it the right way, it is reliable. So AI can estimate settlements by crunching data from similar cases, but it’s not full proof. We know that it’s reliable for trends, not guarantees. You know, human judgment still calls the shots when it comes to that. But it’s a nice guiding tool. It’s not the end all be all, but it’s certainly I think eventually, maybe not right now, I think it’s a matter of how open both sides will be to share information. You know, if the defense is sharing information and plaintiffs are sharing information on how much these cases are worth and where the, you know, how often they’re resolving and in what burrows are they, you know, is a broken arm worth X in the Bronx as opposed to Nassau County. I think once all this information’s out there, it will be more reliable trying to figure out how much these cases are worth. I actually was at a conference and they discussed this that eventually, you know, before cases even get mediated, they may want you to go to AI and after inputting what happened, the injuries, who the judge is, where is the case venued, how much like they’ll give you a range of how much the case is worth, and then based on that range, the parties will go and mediate the case. I see that happening a lot sooner than you’d think. But I think it’s just a matter of getting the information exchanged by both sides because both sides have a tremendous amount of information and that could be a guiding tool as far as getting these cases resolved more expeditiously. 

Any privacy concerns? You know, attorney client privilege type things when you’re using AI. Any that I’m curious about because I know you got to kind of go into detail about certain cases. 

Well, big time AI can mishandle sensitive client data if it’s not secured. Uh, ethically overrelying on algorithms risks dehumanizing cases. So we balance tech with personal care, but we’re very sensitive to make sure that all of our clients’ data is being secured and protected. 

I just wanted to know if you, you know, have a specific person to kind of help with that security to make people feel comfortable about you guys using AI because it’s so new and still so foreign to people. So immediately someone’s thinking that their information is going to get leaked when they hear a computer is handling it. Do you have anyone specifically tailored to help you guys with that security? 

We use an IT specialist who assists us with all that. So we also pay for some of the programs and that in and of itself secures the data that we use. 

That’s awesome. In what ways can technology empower, you know, solo small firms without compromising your service quality? 

Well, I think AI tools level the playing field when you’re talking about a small firm or even a medium-sized firm, you know, automating research, case management, even marketing. You know, solo lawyers can handle big cases without sacrificing the personal touch that clients love. 

So, Mark, what does the future look like for AI litigation? You know, depositions, discovery, how you do things, you know what I mean? Does it make you a better lawyer? You know, how are you feeling about AI and technology right now? 

I definitely feel like it’s making me a better lawyer. But I would say expect AI to transcribe depositions in real time, flag inconsistencies, and even simulate juror reactions. It’ll transform discovery, but lawyers still need to stay sharp, to guide it. So, it’s an exciting time in this field. 

I think in every field, right? So you don’t see a future far far away like an artificial robot standing above the jury giving a final statement. Do you ever foresee that happening like the craziest sci-fi movie? 

I think that’d be miserable. I think there’s such a human element. 

I agree. 

We’re talking about a jury. We wouldn’t want a bunch of jurors that are robots deciding our future. We want actual members of our community that’s representative of our community to be on the jury. Uh and again, like I said in the beginning, it’s our leverage, what a community thinks. So I I don’t see that happening and I hope that does not happen because that would really change the way our society functions. So absolutely. I don’t think that’s a very sensitive part of our society that you just cannot replicate with a robot. I don’t see it. 

Thank you for your time, Mark. And thank you for reassuring the people that everybody’s safe. We’re good, man. We still need lawyers, y’all. Thankfully. Technology is transforming the legal landscape, but human insight remains key. For more about how Mark Shirian combines strategy with innovation, visit shirianpc.com, subscribe to the Millennial Lawyer Podcast, and join in on this incredible conversation. Thanks, Mark. Thank you so much. 

Thank you, Ed. 

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