Barriers to adoption of intelligent support systems by US lawyers

This paper reports some preliminary findings from a study of the potential adoption of future intelligent systems by US lawyers. This study is the first phase of a larger study of the adoption and use of intelligent systems by professional service organisations. This portion of the study examined some of the human, administrative, professional and technical barriers to the potential adoption of future intelligent systems by attorneys. The empirical research involved in–depth interviews with seventeen attorneys in several legal specialities. Two illustrative cases of potential adoption are described. The main findings are that in the foreseeable future, the trend toward adoption of expert systems and other enhanced electronic assistance by lawyers and their organisations will continue, but the adopted systems will be those that provide perceived improvements in the productivity of those legal tasks which already lend themselves to automation. Adoption of future intelligent systems which assist attorneys in their professional thought–processes, such as synthesis and interpretation, is not likely to be forthcoming before the end of the decade. Twenty major barriers to such adoptions were identified and are reported here.