Tianyu Yuan is a German lawyer, founder of legal technology and research associate at the University of Heidelberg Law School in the fields of computational legal studies, legal automation as well as AI and law. Of the 1,369 legal technology patents filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2019, 847 were filed by applicants in China, according to an Oct. 29 Thomson Reuters press release. U.S.-based applicants also requested 271 submissions in 2019, followed by 90 submissions in the Republic of Korea, 85 in Japan and 13 in the United Kingdom. Thomson Reuters also named China as one of the top legal technology patent applicants in 2018. [Main photo – iCourt, Legal Tech Company, China.] In addition to this gap, the development of China`s criminal, civil and commercial framework in the late 1970s and early 1980s also allowed the Chinese government to take a more modern approach to providing legal services, Tsai added. [3] Caixin Global, 11.12.2017, www.caixinglobal.com/2017-12-11/could-ai-transform-chinas-legal-system-101183154.html. [4] Legal Daily, 15.08.2019, www.legaldaily.com.cn/IT/content/2019-08/15/content_7965913.htm. And local businesses around the world prefer local courts to handle their disputes. “[Local businesses] just know the judges better in their home jurisdiction, not necessarily personally, but also by understanding their preferences and beliefs,” Zhang said. “This informational advantage helps local businesses better formulate their arguments and present them in court.” The development of legal technology in China can be divided into three phases: “Internet + Law”, “Legal E-Commerce” and “LawTech”.
Protocol has not been able to verify the Dahe Daily data, but Mark Cohen, a senior researcher and director of the Asia IP project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, told Protocol that local protectionism is often evident in Chinese court decisions. In China, judges are usually appointed locally. An academic study found that the stronger party – the party with more resources, more experience or in a better strategic position – tends to prevail in Chinese litigation in litigation. And in a case where local and extra-urban parties are involved, the local, especially a bread and butter institution, often comes out on top, as the government and economy can influence the outcome through secondary channels A second major difference between China and the West is that the modern Chinese legal industry is only about 30 years old. This has two important implications for the development of legal technology in China. First, because China`s legal industry is quite young and underdeveloped, the Chinese legal community as a whole is generally forward-thinking and open to innovation. An example of this is Fagougou, an AI-based system that provides affordable legal advice in areas such as traffic accidents and employee disputes. It also provides case prediction and analysis of precedents.
Increase the efficiency of lawyers through technology. The Chinese legal system is not a precedent based on the American or British system – where a judge`s decision is binding on future decisions – but judges strive to be consistent with their decisions. The last high-profile cartel case Tencent was involved in was years ago, when cybersecurity firm Qihoo 360 and Tencent sued each other for unfair competition. In 2014, the Supreme People`s Court issued a landmark ruling in the dispute, dismissing Qihoo 360`s claims against Tencent. Angela Zhang, an associate professor of law at the University of Hong Kong, said the case has essentially set precedents for other courts, making it harder for plaintiffs to challenge Tencent`s dominance. Due to the lack of lawyers, Chinese courts have been revised and judges would leave the profession due to low salaries. In addition, Chinese courts are accused of being opaque. To improve transparency, China has begun live-streaming trials, with the Supreme People`s Court broadcasting more than two million trials live. Legal technology companies like Thunisoft are also driving the digital transformation of China`s justice system. The company helped create a big data management and services platform for Chinese courts that aggregated data from 140 million cases from 3,525 courts. Take the example of the judiciary: in 2017, the Supreme People`s Court launched the China Judicial Big Data Service Network, a platform that aims to improve decision-making in the judicial system and the efficiency of processes through the use of big data and artificial intelligence.
This is one of many measures envisaged by The Chairman of the Supreme People`s Court, Zhou Qiang, to integrate advanced technologies into the judicial system. [1] LexisNexis and Bloomberg Law are external online distributors® of ALM`s extensive collection of current and archived versions of legal news publications. Clients of LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law may access and use ALM content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, New York Law Journal and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information. Second, there is a severe shortage of experienced local lawyers. In this situation, the use of legal technology is not only necessary to provide legal services more efficiently and reliably, but the latest legal technology also means gaining a competitive advantage. While there is a lot of Western coverage of the AI boom in China, little is reported about legal technology developments in China. And yet, China is already a growing force in this area. Last year, 51% of all legal technology patents were filed in China.
[2] In addition, Chinese legal technology companies have received massive funding in recent years. However, legal technology in China has not jumped into its current position, but has gradually evolved over the years. As China`s legal services market is quite young, it suffers from a shortage of lawyers. Unlike one lawyer for every 300 citizens in the United States, there is only one lawyer for every 4,500 citizens in China. An important application of LawTech is therefore to use technology to make legal advice and procedures accessible and affordable for ordinary citizens. What distinguishes China from Western countries is that the advancement of Chinese legal technology is widely supported by the state, as evidenced by the establishment of Internet courts and the gradual integration of legal technology into court proceedings. The government`s active support for legal technology appears to be driven by a desire to improve the quality and transparency of judicial decision-making. Shen Lu is a former protocol journalist who covers the Chinese tech industry. In late March, TikTok`s parent company, ByteDance, dropped a lawsuit against Tencent for unfair competition. At Tencent`s request, the case was referred to a court in Shenzhen, the tech-intensive southern metropolis where Tencent is headquartered.
With virtual courts and AI lawyers, China has made great strides in legal technology. To understand the growth of legal technology in China, it is important to keep in mind the two main drivers of change and which are unique to the situation in China. License our cutting-edge legal content to develop your thought leadership and build your brand. Legal technology was first known as Internet + Law.