AI Applicability in Law: Opportunities, Limitations, and Governance in a Hybrid Legal Ecosystem

Anjan Kumar Ojha

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, law, legal technology, large language models, compliance, access to justice, governance, ethics, predictive analytics, judicial decision-making.

Paper Type: Short papers / work-in-progress

TL;DR: AI augments—not replaces—legal judgment through hybrid systems governed by ethics, transparency, and human oversight.

Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the legal domain far beyond prior waves of digitization and workflow automation. Modern AI systems—including large language models, multimodal reasoning engines, neural retrieval systems, and predictive analytics—interact directly with core legal activities such as research, drafting, risk assessment, compliance, and public-facing legal information services. This white paper presents an original, holistic analysis of AI applicability in law, written specifically for this work and not derived from any public white paper. It examines how AI reshapes legal research, contract workflows, litigation support, regulatory compliance, courtroom practice, and access to justice. The analysis emphasizes limitations related to hallucinations, bias, explainability, and the professional responsibility constraints that govern legal practitioners. The paper argues that AI will not replace legal judgment but will become a pervasive co-pilot within a hybrid human–machine legal ecosystem. We conclude with a governance framework that enables responsible deployment while preserving the legitimacy and fairness of legal systems.

Submission Number: 31