Chatbots – which utilize pre-programmed phrases or AI algorithms to read and respond to customers via live chat – have become a standard tool for businesses online to collect customer data.
While not as intelligent as a human, these bots can provide quick responses to queries and gather information about a customer’s needs, even when a human employee is not available to chat.
Because of their data-gathering and question-answering capabilities, these bots are also beneficial for legal organizations.
Below are six applications for chatbots in the legal sector that are currently in use.
1. Directing Users to Site Content
Some law firms and legal organizations have started to blog and publish content on their website in recent years. Therefore, many of these firms have created extensive archives of legal resources that can be extremely valuable for visitors and potential clients. However, a search tool can only take visitors so far, and visitors may not even be aware of the available content.
A chatbot can guide visitors in the right direction. When asked for advice or to answer a straightforward question, the bot can quickly search through the various articles, resources, and tools a company provides on its website.
It can, after that, provide site visitors with a shortlist of the most relevant content available.
2. Filling Out Paperwork
It is not uncommon for people without legal expertise to quickly become overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork they must complete. Chatbots can help keep track of this by filling out the paperwork automatically.
This is the purpose of a divorce law chatbot developed by the creator of the DoNotPay bot, which helps people process traffic tickets. The divorce bot uses information from chat prompts to fill out court forms, significantly reducing the workload.
3. Responding to Complaints
Other chatbots can also help visitors respond quickly to legal complaints, valuable in the US, where individuals have only three weeks to respond. The bot also directs users to legal resources they can use once they have submitted their responses.
4. Answering Simple Questions
Chatbots can also serve as a more intelligent list of frequently asked questions, providing internal customers with quick information on topics they may not be familiar with.
If a visitor has a simple question or needs a definition for a legal term, they can send a short query to the chatbot and receive an answer. If their problem is more complex and they need solid legal advice, the chatbot can put them in contact with a lawyer or schedule a call.
These types of bots can be helpful for larger law firms that receive many of the same, simple questions from internal customers and don’t have the time to respond to each one.
They can also be helpful for law firms that don’t offer an alternative to calling to make appointments and get information. Sixty-four percent of people prefer a text message to a phone call, and chatbots are always available for a text message.
5. Automated Document Generation
Even with the most advanced voice recognition technology, chatbots are not lawyers and cannot handle complex legal cases or provide real legal support. However, they can take on more straightforward, repetitive tasks, freeing up lawyers and law firm staff for more critical tasks.
For example, drafting contracts and legal documents is often a tedious task that involves customizing standard legal texts with relevant information. Legal Chatbots, which are often used to automate the creation of contracts, policies, and legal documents, can relieve lawyers of some of this work.
Robot Lawyer Lisa can be used to create binding confidentiality agreements. The Spanish-language bot Legaliboo uses Facebook Messenger interviews to create legal documents. It is also common for chatbots to offer some automated contract and document creation for general legal purposes.
6. Collecting Information on Client Needs
Chatbots can be effective even when they are unable to handle a visitor’s request. Bots can quickly gather information about a client’s needs and the urgency of their request in a short chat session. The bot can then prepare this information for an advocate to facilitate the initial meeting with the client.
Using this information, the bot can also sort client requests and assign them to the best possible lawyer or staff member, depending on what a particular visitor needs.
How the legal industry Can Use Chatbots
Chatbots have come to be a popular tool for businesses looking to automate their communication and data collection. These bots can likewise be a powerful tool for the legal industry, and Bots can automatically create legal documents, direct visitors to relevant information, and help them manage paperwork.
Firms that use these bots can streamline their work processes and reduce much of the tedious work required for legal work.
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