AI-based solutions are playing a growing role in helping lawyers not only in automating everyday administrative tasks such as translations, managing correspondence or creating summaries, but also in core areas of legal work, in particular, legal research, analysis of legal acts, and drafting of documents.

AI in legal research – when does it come in handy?

Legal research is one of the areas where AI tools can be used freely without concerns regarding breaching professional secrecy, personal data protection or trade secrets. Of course, in certain cases – when the subject of the research may reveal information about a specific case – you should be particularly careful. However, in most situations, especially when carrying out a preliminary analysis, AI proves to be a very effective and safe tool.

Below we present three tested tools that we recommended to in-house lawyers for their daily work.

Perplexity – smart search engine with a summary function

Perplexity is a state-of-the-art search engine-like tool that provides a quick access to organised knowledge on various topics, both legal and technical ones. It is a perfect tool for preliminary examination of a problem.

The main functions:

1generating synthetic summaries based on sources available online;

2presentation of specific sources in the form of active links;

3option to upload your own documents for analysis within the so-called Spaces.

OrzeczeniaGPT – searching for judicial rulings without “hallucinations”

This personalised tool based on ChatGPT architecture, created by Michał Szczęsny, enables its users to search case-law in the SAOS system (Court Ruling Analysis System) database. This tool stands out as it does not generate “fake” rulings – all cited documents come directly from the SAOS database.

What you need to know:

1searching for rulings according to criteria available in the SAOS (e.g. case file number, date, court, phrases from the justifications);

2option to instantly verify the source of rulings;

3intuitive chat interface.

It is a practical alternative to traditional ruling search engines, especially when analysing a legal status or drawing up opinions.

NotebookLM – analysis of your own documents and legal acts

NotebookLM (provided by Google) is a tool that enables interactive analysis of documents – including court rulings, legal acts, articles and contracts. Users create a notebook to which they add sources (PDF files, links, text excerpts), and then can ask questions or request summaries, mind maps or content comparisons.

How it helps:

1answers are generated solely on the basis of the materials uploaded (no risk of fake content);

2useful for analysing large data sets (e.g. sets of rulings, draft contracts);

3supports effective work with internal documents – without the need to share them externally.

Summary

AI tools in legal research are a real support for the work of in-house lawyers. They enable quick access to knowledge, error-free case-law search, and in-depth analysis of source documents. However, it is crucial to use these tools cautiously, taking into account the specifics of the case and the applicable confidentiality rules.

Our JDP team actively tests and implements AI solutions in counselling practice. If you would like to discuss the use of AI tools in your organisation, do not hesitate to contact us.

In next issues of our newsletter, we will discuss further steps for the safe implementation of AI in legal practice.

Contact

Contact our team specialising in new technology law if you:

Michał Pietrzyk – Attorney-at-law, Senior Associate in the IP/IT Team, Digital Transformation and Automation Lead