Lawyers appear comfortable using technology as a tool to assist their work, but remain more cautious about artificial intelligence replacing aspects of their roles, highlighting the need to build greater trust around AI adoption in the legal sector, said Arpinder Singh, Global Markets & India Leader, EY Forensic & Integrity Services.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 5th Edition of the Commercial Dispute Conclave, held in New Delhi on September 11, Singh said the findings of the report discussed at the conclave pointed to a distinction between lawyers’ comfort with technology and their approach towards AI.“One thing which I found very interesting was the fact that a lot of people are comfortable with technology, especially lawyers, but they’re not that comfortable with AI,” Singh said.
According to Singh, this indicates that lawyers are comfortable using technology to assist them but remain cautious about AI replacing them. “There’s still a lot of trust which has to be brokered between technology as well as the lawyers,” he said.
Institutional arbitration, mediation gain traction
Singh said the report also reflected optimism around arbitration and its potential role in resolving disputes, particularly in the infrastructure sector, which attracts significant investment.
“Everyone’s very optimistic about arbitration and how arbitration will help the economy in resolving a lot of the disputes in infrastructure,” he said, adding that the overall findings were positive towards institutional arbitration.
However, he highlighted a growing preference for a hybrid dispute-resolution approach combining mediation and arbitration.
“I would have expected institutional arbitration to be number one, but people seem to be okay with a hybrid sort of arbitration,” Singh said.
According to him, the finding suggests a trend towards mediation, with parties looking to attempt mediation before moving to arbitration.
“That means people want to start with mediation first, and then go to arbitration, rather than go straight for arbitration,” he said.
Singh said mediation could therefore play a larger role in India’s commercial dispute-resolution landscape, with companies and lawyers considering it as an alternative before pursuing arbitration or court proceedings.
Greater role for domain experts as arbitrators
Singh also identified the appointment of domain experts as arbitrators as a potential emerging trend.
“One of the biggest changes will be getting experts also as arbitrators,” he said, citing construction disputes as an example where a construction expert could bring sector-specific expertise to the proceedings.
While retired judges bring significant value to arbitral panels, Singh said the inclusion of experts could add another layer of specialised knowledge to dispute resolution.
He also pointed to the potential for greater use of arbitration clauses in commercial contracts.
“As you attach more arbitration clauses in contracts, where the arbitration could be MCIA, or some of the Indian institutional arbitration, I think will be a recommended way forward as it’s more cost efficient,” Singh said.
