Legal affairs consultation support system

Abstract

To provide a legal affairs consultation support system for promoting the efficiency of legal affairs consultation cases including examination work on a contract and legal affairs consultation work.SOLUTION: A legal affairs consultation support system which has a database for storing consultation information acquired from a client and reply information on replies to the consultation information from a person responsible for legal affairs includes steps of: respectively summarizing the consultation information and the reply information by using generative AI so as to generate summarized consultation information and summarized reply information; and associating the summarized consultation information with the summarized reply information so as to store them.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a legal consultation support system. [Background technology]

[0002] As so-called digital transformation (DX) technology in the legal field, technology that supports contract review work (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3) has been disclosed. On the other hand, technology for smooth communication between legal personnel and contract personnel (on-site personnel) has also been disclosed (Patent Document 4). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-013524 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2021-174474 A [Patent Document 3] Patent Publication No. 2021-117844 [Patent Document 4] JP 2020-166870 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, when it comes to legal consultations, for example, if a question is the same as one answered by a legal officer in the past, or if a question is a frequently asked question from the field, it is more efficient if the legal officer can check the answer that the legal officer gave in the past (to the same person or a different person). Also, when a field officer communicates with a legal officer to obtain an appropriate template, it is more efficient for the officer to refer to past communications or templates provided in the past for similar cases.

[0005] The present invention aims to improve the efficiency of legal consultation cases, including contract review work and legal consultation work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the present invention, A legal consultation support system having a database for storing consultation information acquired from a client and response information given by a legal affairs officer to the consultation information, A step of summarizing the above-mentioned consultation information and answer information using a generative AI to generate summarized consultation information and summarized answer information; A legal consultation support system is obtained, which comprises a step of storing summary consultation information and summary answer information in association with each other. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the efficiency of legal consultation cases, including contract review work and legal consultation work. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a legal consultation support system (hereinafter referred to as the "system") according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of legal consultation. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The present invention will be described below with reference to the preferred embodiments. [Item 1] A legal consultation support system having a database for storing consultation information acquired from a client and response information given by a legal affairs officer to the consultation information, A step of summarizing the above-mentioned consultation information and answer information using a generative AI to generate summarized consultation information and summarized answer information; A legal consultation support system comprising a step of storing summary consultation information and summary answer information in association with each other. [Item 2] The method further comprises the step of accepting corrections to the generated summary consultation information and summary answer information. The legal consultation support system according to claim 1. [Item 3] The method further comprises a step of displaying a list of the summary consultation information and the summary answer information. The legal consultation support system according to claim 1. [Item 4] analyzing new consultation information newly acquired from the client and displaying the summary response information; 4. A legal consultation support system according to claim 1. [Item 5] The method further comprises a step of associating a non-display flag with the summary consultation information and the summary answer information so that the summary consultation information and the summary answer information are not displayed. The legal consultation support system according to claim 4.

[0010] <Details of the embodiment> Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] <Summary> As shown in FIG. 1, a legal consultation support system 1 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as the "system") according to the present invention includes a legal affairs officer terminal 10 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "legal affairs officer"), a client terminal 20 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the "field" or "field officer"), and a legal consultation support server 100. The system relates to a technology for automatically generating and providing FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) from a database of questions and answers in the legal consultation support system. This makes it possible to provide efficient support for questions that have been answered once or frequently asked questions by using past answers and provided information (first embodiment). The present invention also relates to a legal consultation support system for a specific client to obtain an appropriate template, and makes it possible to provide an appropriate template requested by the client (second embodiment).

[0012] <First embodiment> The system according to the first embodiment of the present invention is equipped with a legal consultation support system having a database that stores consultation information provided by a client and response information from legal personnel to the consultation information. This system uses a generative AI to summarize the above-mentioned consultation information and response information, generate summary consultation information and summary response information, and store them in association with each other. This allows for quick response when a similar inquiry is received and makes it possible to efficiently utilize past responses.

[0013] <Database> The database in the present invention stores consultation information provided by a client and response information from legal affairs staff to the consultation information. The components of this database mainly consist of the following information:

[0014] The consultation information provided by the client includes legal issues or questions, and detailed information to specifically describe the client's situation, such as contract drafting or interpretation, general questions about the law, requests for legal opinions on specific cases or instances, etc. Information regarding the client's situation may include, for example, the client's industry, the size of the organization, past experience related to a particular law, etc.

[0015] The legal practitioner's response to the consultation information includes legal opinions, advice, interpretations, suggestions, etc. regarding the legal issues and questions of the client. This may include, for example, how to apply legal provisions, interpretations of precedents, legal risks and how to deal with them, strategic legal responses, etc.

[0016] The database of the present invention stores the consultation information and response information, and utilizes it as an information resource for providing efficient and highly accurate legal support. The information accumulated through the exchange between clients and legal staff is not only useful for specific responses to individual cases, but also serves as an important basis for extracting insights and patterns into general legal issues.

[0017] The past consultation information and answer information may be consultation information that actually occurred in the past at the company and answer information that was actually answered in the past, or may be information based on some kind of learning set. It may also be information about other companies that is held by this system and that has been anonymized or abstracted. It may also be information that has been input (permitted to be input) to the generative AI. All of this information can be the basis for the FAQ described below.

[0018] <Generation AI> As part of the present invention, a step is included in which generative AI is used to summarize the consultation information from the client and the response information from the legal staff, respectively, to generate summary consultation information and summary response information.

[0019] Generative AI is built on natural language processing (NLP) technology and has the ability to express long pieces of information in a compact and comprehensive format. This AI inputs consultation information from a client and precisely summarizes the contents. If the consultation information is a sentence such as "I cannot understand the legal meaning of a specific clause in the contract," the generative AI can summarize it in the form of "legal interpretation of the contract clause," or if the consultation information is a sentence such as "What is the limit that our company will not compromise on in terms of the amount of the damages clause in a specific outsourcing contract?", it can summarize it in the form of "Outsourcing contract and damages clause."

[0020] Similarly, responses from legal personnel are also summarized by generative AI. For example, if a client asks for advice in the form of a long sentence such as, "I would like to consult about the creation of a contract. Specifically, I would like to resolve questions such as how to write the terms and conditions to be agreed upon between our company and a specific company A, and how long the contract will last," generative AI can summarize this advice into a short sentence such as, "I would like advice on how to write the terms and conditions for creating a contract with company A and the required period."

[0021] In addition, if the legal officer's response information is detailed, such as, "The terms and conditions will vary depending on the content of negotiations with the other party, but generally you will be required to clearly state the content of the service, scope of responsibility, contract period, fees, and handling at the end of the contract. The length of the contract will depend on the progress of the negotiations, but it is usually a good idea to allow for one to three months," the generative AI can summarize this response information into a shorter sentence, such as, "The terms and conditions will depend on the content of negotiations, but the service content, etc. will be clearly stated, and the contract period is expected to be one to three months."

[0022] Generally, consultations between a client and a legal professional may require multiple rounds of communication. In particular, in cases of complex cases, when the client lacks basic knowledge, or when conditions or content change midway, the exchanges can become lengthy. In such cases, the generative AI of this embodiment may summarize the multiple rounds of communication.

[0023] In addition, when the generative AI according to this embodiment determines that it cannot link the consultation information acquired from the client with accurate answer information, such as when the amount of information is small, it may ask additional questions, etc. This makes it possible for the legal affairs staff to confirm all the information that should be asked of the client.

[0024] In this way, the summarization process of the present invention refers to extracting important information from a specific text (question or answer) and expressing it briefly, shortening the length of the original text without losing any information. In addition, when a single sentence contains multiple points of argument or legal items, each point may be extracted and reorganized by point or item.

[0025] These summary information can concisely convey the core of specific consultation content and its answers. Therefore, other requesters with the same or similar legal issues can quickly find answers to similar questions. Also, these summary information serve as a useful source of information for legal staff to understand past consultations and their answer patterns. The generation of summaries by generative AI greatly improves the efficiency and usability of the legal consultation support system.

[0026] <Summary consultation information and summary answer information> In the present invention, a function is provided to store the summary consultation information and summary answer information generated by generative AI in association with each other. This enables the efficient utilization of past consultations and their answers and allows for a prompt response to new consultations.

[0027] Specifically, in the system of the present invention, the summary consultation information and summary answer information generated by generative AI are managed as a pair. For example, if there is answer information "General interpretation of contract terms and the necessity of expert opinions" from a legal staff for consultation information "Legal interpretation of contract terms" from a certain requester, these are stored in the database as a pair of information.

[0028] The summary information thus managed as a "pair" becomes a resource for quickly responding to similar legal issues. When a new requester inquires about "Legal interpretation of contract terms", the system can search for past summary information and promptly present the corresponding summary answer information. This enables the reuse of past consultations and their answers, reduces the burden on legal staff, and at the same time allows for a prompt response to requesters.

[0029] Also, for example, if a specific consultation occurs frequently within a certain period, this may indicate that the legal issue is common or universal. By utilizing such information, legal staff can plan more efficient countermeasures.

[0030] <FAQ generation> The above-mentioned pair of summary consultation information and summary answer information may be displayed so as to be referred to when a new client makes a similar consultation. For example, when consultation information submitted by a new client is similar to summary consultation information summarized and stored in the past, a reply to the new client can be provided quickly by referring to the summary answer information associated with the similar summary consultation information.

[0031] In other words, it is possible to realize automatic generation of legal FAQs by learning from pairs of inquiries and answers provided in the past and using them to generate answers to new inquiries. In this case, attributes such as score and department can be assigned to each FAQ item, and the order and score of the FAQs can be associated with circumstances such as the frequency of inquiries in the past (frequent inquiries), the relevance of the client (inquiries that are common in a specific department), and the attributes of the person asking the question (years of experience, job, etc.). This makes it possible to display FAQs such as "frequently asked questions," "frequently asked questions in Department A," and "frequently asked questions by inexperienced people."

[0032] This feature (1) reduces the need for legal staff to repeatedly answer the same or similar questions, freeing up time for more advanced tasks. At the same time, the automatically generated FAQs allow clients to instantly access the information they need, enabling them to make decisions quickly. (2) Past legal consultation and answer patterns are stored in a database and made available to the entire organization as centralized knowledge, allowing new members and people from different departments to access legal information with consistency and accuracy. (3) The system continuously learns based on new consultation and answer information, so the content of the FAQs evolves over time and can address a wider range of detailed issues.

[0033] <Correction reception function> In the present invention, a step of accepting corrections to the generated summary consultation information and summary answer information may be further provided.

[0034] This correction function takes into account that the summary information automatically generated by the system may not be complete and may omit some nuances or fine details. For example, if the consultation information submitted by the client contains specific legal terms or industry-specific expressions, it may be difficult for the generative AI to fully grasp their meaning. Similarly, the response information provided by legal personnel may require specialized knowledge, and it may be difficult for the generative AI to properly summarize all of it.

[0035] In order to solve such a situation, the present invention provides a function that enables a client or a legal professional to directly modify the generated summary consultation information and summary answer information. Specifically, it is possible to make modifications to the generated summary information and to supplement omitted content. For example, if the summary answer information for "General interpretation of contract clauses and need for expert opinion" omits important details of a specific contract clause, the legal professional can modify it to include those details.

[0036] This correction function increases the flexibility and accuracy of the system while allowing clients and legal practitioners to obtain information that is more suited to their needs. In addition, the corrected information is stored in the database and used as additional data for the system to learn and improve. This function allows the legal consultation support system of the present invention to improve its performance over time.

[0037] <List display function> In the present invention, as an option, a step of displaying a list of the summary consultation information and the summary answer information is further provided.

[0038] The purpose of this list display function is to enable clients and legal practitioners to efficiently browse, search, and use the vast amount of summary information stored in the system. This function allows users to quickly find specific summary consultation information and corresponding summary answer information. It is also possible to filter the information based on specific subjects or keywords to obtain a list of related consultations and answers.

[0039] Specifically, a user can view multiple summary consultation information and summary answer information on the system. This list is usually organized by information such as date, subject of consultation, and client's name. For example, to find summary consultation information and summary answer information related to "real estate contract", a user can input the keyword into the system. In response to the request, the system will display a list of related summary information, allowing the user to easily find the information he or she needs.

[0040] This list display function is important for clients and legal personnel to quickly search for specific information and obtain the corresponding appropriate summary response information. Moreover, this function is an important tool for understanding the patterns, frequency, and response trends of past consultations, which provides valuable insights for legal service providers.

[0041] <Predicted Answer> In the present invention, a step of analyzing new consultation information newly acquired from a client and predictively displaying the summary answer information is provided as an option.

[0042] This optional feature allows the system to instantly analyze new consultation information provided by clients and extract and display past summary responses that are highly relevant to the content of the new consultation, allowing clients to get immediate, direct answers to their questions and providing legal professionals with reference information to help them respond to new inquiries.

[0043] Specifically, for example, let's say a client submits a new consultation regarding "provisions for severance pay in an employment contract." When this new consultation information is entered into the system, the system immediately begins analyzing it. This may involve the use of AI techniques such as natural language processing (NLP) and text analysis techniques. The system extracts key elements and keywords from the new consultation information (in this case, "employment contract," "severance pay," and "provisions") and searches a database for past summary answer information that contains these elements and keywords. It then extracts the most relevant summary answer information and immediately displays it to the client and legal staff.

[0044] This optional function enables quick, real-time responses to new consultation information, providing efficient answers to client inquiries and reducing the workload of legal staff. In addition, when the same or similar inquiries reoccur, it is possible to refer to past response information and improve or reuse the answers.

[0045] <Function to hide specific cases> In the present invention, an optional step of associating a non-display flag with the summary consultation information and the summary answer information so that they are not displayed can be further provided.

[0046] This function of the hide flag makes it possible to prevent some summary consultation information and summary answer information from being viewed under certain circumstances, such as consultations and answers that contain sensitive information regarding personal information protection, trade secrets, or certain legal matters.

[0047] Specifically, a "hidden flag" is associated with each summary consultation and summary answer information, which controls the display of the information under certain conditions, for example, at the request of a particular client or when a legal professional determines that the information contains sensitive content relating to a particular legal matter.

[0048] Summary consultation information or summary answer information for which the hidden flag is set will not be displayed on the list display screen, search results, or in other display formats. However, if necessary, the hidden flag can be temporarily disabled by a user with specific authority (e.g., a system administrator) to allow the information to be viewed.

[0049] This non-display flag function enables protection of personal information, management of trade secrets, and appropriate control of information display, thereby maintaining the reliability of the system and compliance with laws and regulations.

[0050] <Example> We will now explain in detail the implementation flow when this system is introduced between a company's field staff and legal staff. First, the field staff (hereafter referred to as the client) accesses the legal consultation support system and inputs legal consultation information. This consultation information includes specific legal issues, related laws and regulations, and necessary information.

[0051] The consultation information provided by the client is stored in the system's database, where it is not only stored in a primitive form, but also summarized by a generative AI and re-stored as summary consultation information.

[0052] After that, a legal professional will review the consultation information submitted by the client and provide an appropriate response. This response information is also stored in the database by the system, and at the same time, it is summarized by the generative AI and stored as a summary response information.

[0053] The system stores summary consultation information and summary answer information in association with each other, making it possible to refer to past responses when a similar problem reoccurs.

[0054] As described above, according to the legal consultation support system according to the embodiment of the present invention, since it is possible to easily search for consultation cases similar to the consultation case received by the legal staff, it is possible to improve the efficiency of handling consultation cases. That is, legal opinions and interpretations applied to multiple consultations and cases are stored and managed in a centralized manner, enabling prompt response. Specifically, when a new legal consultation occurs, the system can extract the most relevant summary from the existing summary information and immediately recommend it to the client before the legal staff enters the consultation. Furthermore, if the summary information does not completely correspond to the content of the client's consultation or if more detailed information is required, the generation AI conducts additional interviews and generates more specific and detailed legal opinions. This makes it possible to quickly and accurately respond to the needs of the client while reducing the workload of the legal department. In addition, this system learns the content of the legal consultation and the pattern of the legal staff's answers, and realizes the generation of high-quality legal advice based on past cases. As a result, clients can receive prompt and appropriate legal support regardless of the type or complexity of the case being handled by the legal department, contributing to faster and more accurate decision-making across the company.

[0055] Second embodiment The second embodiment of the present invention relates to a legal consultation support system for a specific client to obtain an appropriate template. The main purpose of this system is to provide an appropriate template requested by the client.

[0056] Clients require various types of templates in the course of carrying out their work. However, they have the problem of not knowing where the latest templates are stored and using old templates that they have on hand. This can result in trouble if the old templates do not comply with the latest laws and regulations or internal regulations. In addition, in order for clients to select an appropriate template, they need to understand the specific situations in which the template can be applied. If this is difficult, the legal department will need to communicate with them to provide the appropriate template (to identify which template is required), which can lead to problems that make work more complicated.

[0057] The premise of this system is that the latest templates are managed in a database, and these templates are provided based on the request of the client and the template selection. The client can obtain the appropriate latest template by directly selecting a template or by making a request in natural language. The template has a function that automatically inputs specific information such as the client's name and date.

[0058] Specifically, when the latest template is selected on the system, it is automatically provided via email, chat, a specified form, or an application, ensuring that the requester can use the latest template (latest template provision function).

[0059] On the other hand, if the client is unable to select a template or lacks the knowledge to select an appropriate template, the system accepts questions in natural language about what kind of contract they want to conclude or what information they need. Based on the questions, the generative AI then performs an analysis (and in some cases conducts additional interviews) and recommends the most suitable template, or directly provides the template itself if necessary. This allows the client to easily find the appropriate template, making it possible to avoid cumbersome communication with the legal department just to identify the template.

[0060] As mentioned above, this system also has a function where if the question or request from the client is unclear, the generative AI will ask the question again to extract more detailed information, which will enable the provision of more accurate templates and sharing of the case with the legal department as necessary.

[0061] Furthermore, if there is no template currently available, if the content of the existing template is not appropriate for the current situation, or if a new situation arises, the legal department may directly handle the case. This strengthens the collaboration between the client and the legal department, and simultaneously achieves the client's business efficiency and management of legal risks.

[0062] The system according to the present embodiment may have the following functions, for example. In detail, in this system, all versions from the first draft of the contract to the final version are stored in a legal consultation database. Data such as comments from clients and within the company, revision history, etc. are also linked to each version and stored. By utilizing these data, a new contract template may be created or a revision proposal for an existing template may be proposed, or an optimal contract template may be generated or a revision proposal may be recommended depending on the client and the situation of the transaction. In addition, in creating and revising such a contract, factors such as legal compliance, the company's risk hedging, and the client's acceptability may be considered, and the contract may be organized and evaluated from these perspectives. Furthermore, the contract template should be brushed up from time to time due to changes in the content of the transaction, laws and regulations, etc., but doing this manually is time-consuming. This system supports this by automatic creation and recommendations, and is highly effective in improving business efficiency.

[0063] The legal consultation support system described above is a system for efficiently handling consultations and inquiries regarding legal matters such as patent law, commercial law, and labor law, but by applying this to other fields, it will be possible to respond more efficiently and sophisticatedly to a variety of information services.

[0064] The "template" of the present invention also includes a template in a broad sense that uniformly defines business activities, such as common revisions, common inquiries, common points of discussion, and common check items, based on examples of past contract amendments and interactions with legal personnel.

[0065] <Application to other fields> One example is an information service for medical and health consultations. Consultation information from medical institutions and health centers and the response information of medical experts to those consultations are stored in a database, and a summary is created using generative AI. This summary information is displayed in a list, and when a new consultation is received, it is possible to present relevant answers from past summary response information. Furthermore, it is possible to improve the accuracy and suitability of the answers by using the correction function. This system can also be effectively used in situations where various inquiries and consultations are made, such as customer service centers and IT support centers. In particular, for frequently occurring inquiries and problems, it is possible to quickly and appropriately respond based on past consultation information and response information. It can also be applied in the field of education. When teachers or learning supporters answer questions from students, they can provide efficient learning support by summarizing and listing past questions and answers.

[0066] As described above, the system of the present invention has the potential to improve efficiency, speed, and accuracy in the provision of information services in a variety of fields.

[0067] <Hardware configuration example> The system includes a legal case management server, a legal affairs terminal, and a contract management terminal, which are configured to be able to communicate with each other via the Internet. Note that this system may be configured as a cloud / network type system provided by a specified business operator, or as an on-premise type system that is operated independently within the company that introduces the system.

[0068] Each of the above-mentioned functional blocks can be configured, for example, by hardware provided in a server device (terminal device), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or software. For example, when configured by software, each of the above-mentioned functional blocks is actually configured with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. of a computer, and is realized by the operation of a program stored in a recording medium such as the RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory.

[0069] The above-described embodiment is merely an example for facilitating understanding of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be modified or improved without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention includes equivalents thereof. [Explanation of symbols]

[0070] 10 Legal Affairs Officer Terminal 20 Client terminal 100 Legal consultation support server

Claims

1. A legal consultation support system having a database for storing consultation information acquired from a client and response information given by a legal affairs officer to the consultation information, A step of summarizing the above-mentioned consultation information and answer information using a generation system AI to generate summary consultation information and summary answer information; A legal consultation support system comprising a step of storing summary consultation information and summary answer information in association with each other.

2. The method further includes a step of accepting corrections to the generated summary consultation information and summary answer information. The legal consultation support system according to claim 1.

3. The method further comprises a step of displaying a list of the summary consultation information and the summary answer information. The legal consultation support system according to claim 1.

4. analyzing new consultation information newly acquired from the client and displaying the summary response information; 4. The legal consultation support system according to claim 1.

5. The method further comprises a step of associating a non-display flag with the summary consultation information and the summary answer information so that they are not displayed. The legal consultation support system according to claim 4.

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