Solicitor Kelly Waring is candid about the advantages artificial intelligence (AI) brings to her litigation work, which spans clients across New South Wales and southeast Queensland. “Evolve or die,” she remarked, reflecting on the transformative potential of AI in the legal sector.
As the 36-year-old principal director of the Lismore-based firm Parker Kissane, Waring introduced an AI program to her team a year ago. This innovation has expedited complex case summaries and streamlined accountancy and clerical tasks. “It hasn’t totally changed the game just yet, but it is on its way,” she added.
AI’s Disruptive Impact on Graduate Jobs
New research highlights that tasks traditionally handled by young lawyers are increasingly being disrupted by digital automation. This shift is expected to disproportionately affect female graduates, who dominate fields vulnerable to automation. “Women make up the majority of legal graduates today, but they’re concentrated in areas most vulnerable to automation, AI,” noted Meraiah Foley, lead author from the University of Sydney Business School.
Foley’s research, which focuses on gender inequality in the workplace, underscores the growing expectation for younger workers to justify their “value add” from the outset. “This puts a significant burden of adaptation on younger workers. They have to go above and beyond to prove themselves,” she explained.
Broader Economic Implications
The research aligns with findings from the United States, where AI’s encroachment on traditional graduate roles contributes to rising unemployment rates among university graduates. An Oxford Economics study reported an “unusually high” 5.8 percent unemployment rate among graduates, particularly in technical fields where AI has advanced rapidly.
While such trends have not yet been observed at the University of Sydney, Foley suggests this may reflect a lag rather than immunity to these transitions. “That could be reflecting some sort of lag, rather than whole scale immunity to these types of transitions and changes,” she said.
AI Reshaping, Not Replacing Jobs
Clinton Marks, a director at recruitment firm Robert Half, notes that AI is currently reshaping tasks rather than replacing entire jobs. “Graduate hiring in the past: it was almost a ‘rite of passage’ to do the most mundane tasks, reconciling a spreadsheet, writing up reports,” he said. “Generative AI is taking over some of those tasks.”
Murray Cassar, general manager for education at the Tax Institute, describes AI as a “superpower” for graduates, acting as a “wingman” to reduce time spent on tasks like analyzing large data sets. Despite a decline in major firms recruiting graduates this year, Cassar attributes this to market conditions rather than AI’s impact.
Adapting to Technological Change
Michael Legg, director of the UNSW Centre for the Future of the Legal Profession, emphasizes the importance of digital literacy for graduates. “You can’t sit still [as a graduate] and think, ‘Oh, it’s not going to have an impact on me because you know I’ve got a law degree,'” he said. “You need digital literacy, new technology skills … but also interpersonal skills and what I call the concept of ‘practical wisdom’.”
Stella Hayes, a fourth-year law student at Griffith University working at Parker Kissane, has witnessed AI’s deep integration into her role. “It’s an awesome tool you can use for administrative tasks like preliminary research and creating briefs,” she said. “I think we can definitely use it to our advantage to get things done a lot faster so that we have more time to learn the advocacy and the interpersonal skills to deal with clients.”
Future Prospects and Challenges
Waring predicts a transformative shift in how law firms operate, particularly the role of support staff. “Their skill set is simply going to change to a minimum of, ‘How do I prompt and review AI?’, and ‘How do I check and cross-reference AI with reality or advice from a senior lawyer?'” she stated.
As AI technology continues to evolve, Professor Legg anticipates consumers turning to it for straightforward legal tasks. “Obtaining basic legal information will be possible, you won’t necessarily need a lawyer for that,” he said. However, he cautions that such technology could also make mistakes, potentially impacting access to justice.
Waring remains unfazed by the prospect of reduced legal work due to AI-driven do-it-yourself legal tools. “As a litigator, the cheeky part of me wants to say that’s going to generate a lot of work for me,” she quipped, highlighting the potential for AI to generate new opportunities even as it disrupts traditional roles.
Ultimately, the integration of AI into the workforce represents both a challenge and an opportunity for graduates. As technology reshapes job roles and expectations, adaptability and continuous learning will be key to navigating this evolving landscape.
