Apple Intelligence: A New Sheriff In Town For Legal AI?

There may soon be a new sheriff in town for legal AI needs, particularly for smaller and even midsize law firms. And it may be just as good as what’s out there, just as protective (if not more so) of confidential material, easier to use, and cheaper. 

Right now, a plethora of enterprise legal AI system vendors all claim you gotta buy our expensive system because only we can protect your clients’ confidentiality. Never use the inexpensive nonenterprise systems if you know what’s good for you. Then there are the nonenterprise systems saying just trust us. We won’t divulge your stuff never ever. Wink wink, nod nod.

That leaves smaller and midsize firms in a no man’s land between expensive systems they can’t afford and cheaper ones that create unacceptable risks.

But What If? 

But what if a provider known for its commitment to privacy created an AI system that acted first on your device? Then if it couldn’t answer the inquiry there, it would reach out to its own private cloud, where nothing is stored and everything is kept confidential. And if that couldn’t answer the inquiry only then would it reach out to a public system. But only after it had used its market power to obtain contractual commitments that that system would observe strict privacy requirements. 

Well, that’s exactly what Apple announced recently at its Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple Intelligence 

After its 2024 announcement of Apple Intelligence that turned out to be, in a word, shitty, Apple announced a few months ago it was going to work with Google to create an AI system. Most of us thought yeah. Right. Just another Google wrapper on another provider’s product. 

But what Apple announced at WWDC is way more sophisticated and robust than that. Here are the basics of what was announced as summarized in a blog post by Jeff Ricardson of iPhone J.D. recently.

Apple has revamped its earlier Siri personal assistant into something far more capable. When you use the new Apple AI with the new Siri interface, something Apple calls a System Orchestrator will first analyze your query. It will then access your personal content, such as your emails, messages, and calendar, stored locally on your device. Some requests will be handled entirely by an AI engine running locally on your device. 

For more sophisticated questions, the Orchestrator will reach out to Apple’s private cloud. By doing so, your privacy and the confidentiality of the materials will be protected. Apple won’t know who you are and doesn’t retain information about your request. And no one will have access to the material.

Where necessary, and for more demanding requests, Apple will use Google Gemini’s frontier models to get the best response possible. Apple has a contractual commitment from Google to keep all this material private and confidential as well. All of these features were developed with privacy in mind.

I listen to Richardson when it comes to Apple products and their use in the practice of law. iPhone J.D. is the oldest and largest website for lawyers using iPhones and iPads. Richardson, and another thought leader I highly respect, Brett Burney, have a weekly podcast, In the News, that also covers Apple products from a legal viewpoint. If anyone can assess what Apple is up to, it’s these guys.

Legal Use Of Apple’s New AI 

I know what you’re thinking: here’s an Apple guy who has once again drunk the Kool-Aid.

And it’s true, after WWDC in 2024, I wrote more or less the same thing about how the then introduced Apple Intelligence could be an inexpensive answer for lawyers who wanted AI and needed to keep their queries and responses confidential. But I wasn’t wrong about what a system like that might mean. Apple at the time just couldn’t produce it.

My view then and now was that Apple, with its enormous market power, could produce an AI system that could be used by its ubiquitous devices to answer any and all legal inquiries by using what is stored on the device and what the device could access confidently. That’s exactly what Apple promised this time at WWDC.

That would mean for the cost of an Apple product your legal needs could be pretty much served. Yes, Apple products aren’t cheap, but unlike other AI competitors in the legal market, you get AI by purchasing the hardware not by long-term subscriptions. That’s a different approach. And don’t forget, many of us in legal already have an Apple device or devices that we rely on. Says Richardson, “One of the reasons the iPhone is such an important part of my life is that it serves as a second brain … I’m excited about Siri AI because it will turn that iPhone second brain into a true personal assistant.” 

But to do that, Apple has to overcome the confidentiality concern that is a threshold issue for lawyers and legal professionals.

The Confidentiality Issue

Can we rely on Apple to keep our stuff safe and secure? All we know is what it says, and providers say a lot of things. But Apple has long been committed to privacy, more so than most vendors. And it has the market clout to ensure that those providers it works with on this system honor their contractual commitments. 

Other enterprise systems use public systems and tell us “no worries; it will be kept private.” But all we really have is their word. When it comes to whose word to trust, I’d be more apt to gamble on Apple. Richardson puts it this way, “Of course, none of this would work if I didn’t trust the AI to keep my information private, but privacy is baked into Siri AI.”

And Burney adds that when it comes to Apple and legal, “The trust factor has already been established so as Apple bakes in more convenient AI that exploits information already on their device, it doesn’t take a lot of convincing that it’s useful and secure.”

But Apple Is Not A Legal Tech Provider. So?

But you say, Apple is not in the legal market, it doesn’t understand lawyers and our needs like the legal enterprise systems or the big more public players that are now specifically targeting legal.

But that makes legal too complicated. When it comes to AI, there is one thing that is critical: we have to keep our clients’ information and confidences confidential. That’s it. That’s all there is. Do that and you have a tool we can use. Provided, of course, that it works like you say it will.

The Proof Will Be In The Pudding

Of course, the systems have to perform substantively. They have to provide correct and solid answers. Whether Apple Intelligence can do that remains to be seen. But if it can, think of what that means. Buy the iPhone (which many do in any event), and you are good to go. And if you aren’t using an Apple product, you will have to invest in hardware in any event, and if so, why not get the AI you need with it? 

It opens up the legal market for every lawyer and law firm, big and small. It levels the playing field. And it scares the crap out of everyone else.

I’m not betting against Apple this time. After all, its products and software have revolutionized business before. It may be about to do it again.

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Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes TechLaw Crossroads, a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law.