Law Firm Article: AI in Employment Law: Game-Changer or Overhyped?

Machine learning in the legal world is becoming a fundamental shift in how we approach employment law. My lawyer friend in San Diego who have been on the ground floor of this transition, working directly with tools like Caseway and LexisNexis+ and seeing firsthand how they reshape daily workflows for lawyers and paralegals is sharing his experience with me in this article. 

Employment law firms must evolve alongside technology and know where the human touch still matters.

Employment law, in particular, deals with a unique mix of complexity and high stakes. Accuracy is non-negotiable, whether reviewing workplace policies, resolving disputes, or assessing wrongful termination claims. 

This is where AI software shines. It can speed up finding relevant case law (court decisions) and dig deeper. Imagine running a chatbot query and getting summaries of court judgments aligned with provincial or state statutes in seconds. For someone like me, who’s spent hours combing through outdated databases, this feels like going from a typewriter to a modern laptop overnight.

Here’s the kicker: while artificial intelligence can handle volume, it doesn’t get the context of a trained lawyer. For example, when advising clients on tricky topics like wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal, discrimination or workplace harassment, you need to weigh case law against the lived realities of employees and employers. That’s not something any algorithm can do effectively on its own.

Where It Works—and Where It Doesn’t

I’ll give you an example from recent work of my lawyer friend in San Diego. A small business client contacted him with concerns about their termination policies and how they would be scrutinized. Using Caseway, he quickly identified trends in similar disputes. 

The software flagged cases with specific language that courts favoured or rejected, giving him a strong starting point, but crafting advice that balanced legal compliance with the company’s workplace culture? That part required honest conversations and nuanced thinking that only a lawyer is good at.
That’s where the challenge comes in: knowing when to trust the technology and when to step in. Artificial intelligence is fantastic at highlighting what’s already happened in courtrooms, but they’re not predicting outcomes or considering reputational risks. If you advise an employer on whether to settle or fight, those judgment calls remain 100% human territory. It’s a lawyer’s license on the line.