While generative AI (GenAI) continues to make inroads with corporate legal departments and law firms, many legal practitioners still have reservations about the technology. Corporations and firms regularly deal with highly sensitive data and have legitimate concerns about GenAI security. Moreover, we’ve all seen the caveat that “this tool can make mistakes,” which is a troublesome statement for a profession that deals in precision. A simple “mistake” can cost an organization millions of dollars in legal fees and reputational damage.
For GenAI to continue to gain traction in the legal space, it must be responsible, reliable, and secure. Any legal technology vendor will say that they adhere to these principles, but how do they do it? Not everyone has taken the time to develop responsible AI principles and an AI assurance framework that serves as the foundation for the development of responsible, reliable, and secure AI models.
Wolters Kluwer has.
Wolters Kluwer’s AI assurance framework
We’ve created a five-step AI Assurance Framework that maps out our process for responsible GenAI. It combines business acumen, data science, and human oversight to ensure that our models meet our customers’ needs with accuracy, intelligence, and without bias.
Our AI process has a lot of human intervention, starting with step 1 – understanding the customer's business problem. We believe that having humans in the loop is essential to AI effectiveness because while the technology is exceptional at providing insights into billing efficiencies, law firm selections, and more, only our team members know how our AI can help solve our customers' challenges.
Our team of experienced data scientists continues working with our legal experts to refine our models throughout the process. They are heavily involved in all phases of model building, including data analysis, training, testing, and improvement, where our team adjusts models to provide customers with optimal intelligence. This extensive oversight ensures our models' accuracy, integrity, and dependability.
Wolters Kluwer’s responsible AI principles
Five guiding Responsible AI Principles support the AI Assurance Framework. These principles shape every model we build and include in our legal software.
- Fairness: We develop models designed to minimize bias and discrimination. Our expansive and diverse datasets contribute to highly accurate models that deliver inclusive predictions and recommendations across various applications.
- Governance and Accountability: We are committed to the highest levels of accountability for safeguarding customer data and ensuring the integrity of our AI solutions. Rigorous governance practices help us deliver accurate, dependable, and trustworthy systems.
- Privacy and Security: We prioritize protecting customer information by ensuring all data remains confidential and secure. We build our AI solutions with stringent security measures and never share information with third parties or public large language models.
- Transparency and Explainability: Our AI systems are built with transparency in mind. This enables users to clearly understand how outputs are generated and fosters greater trust in our recommendations.
- Human-Focused: We embed human oversight and judgment throughout the development process, ensuring our models remain accurate, secure, and aligned with human values and expectations.
The closing argument
As legal professionals continue to navigate the promise and pitfalls of generative AI, the need for clearly defined, trustworthy frameworks becomes paramount. Wolters Kluwer’s AI Assurance Framework and Responsible AI Principles demonstrate that innovation in the legal sector doesn’t have to come at the expense of reliability, security, or human judgment. By grounding our approach in expert oversight and ethical rigor, we ensure our AI is not just powerful—but dependable and aligned with the real-world needs of legal practitioners.
The future of legal AI isn’t just about what the technology can do, it’s about how responsibly and transparently it does it. At Wolters Kluwer, we remain committed to empowering our customers with AI that enhances decision-making, improves efficiencies, and protects what matters most: the integrity of their work and the trust of their clients.
Download our eBook to learn more about our approach to responsible, reliable, and secure AI for the legal industry.
