Access to justice is a fundamental human right, yet it remains out of reach for billions of people around the world. Legal systems are often complex, slow and costly, leaving many individuals without the legal support they need. This is especially true for people from marginalised or low-income communities, who face additional barriers when navigating the legal system. Fortunately, advances in legal technology are beginning to change this reality. One of the most significant developments is the rise of generative AI in legal services, which is helping to make legal support more accessible, efficient and inclusive.
What is Generative AI and How is it Used in the Legal Sector?
Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can create new content, such as legal documents, summaries, research briefs and answers to legal questions. These systems are powered by large language models (LLMs) trained on extensive datasets that include legislation, case law and academic materials.
In the legal sector, AI legal tools are being used to support decision-making, automate repetitive tasks and improve access to legal information. The responsible use of AI in law is enabling lawyers and legal support staff to serve more clients with greater speed and accuracy.
The Access to Justice Gap
In Australia and across the world, millions of people struggle to access the legal help they need. Community legal centres, not-for-profits and pro bono programs face growing demand while working with limited resources. Barriers to justice include:
- The high cost of legal advice and representation
- Complex legal language and procedures
- Limited availability of free or low-cost legal services
- Gaps in digital literacy and language support
- Overwhelmed community legal services with long wait times
While AI is not a replacement for legal professionals, it can help reduce these barriers by making legal systems more navigable and legal services more efficient.
“Good collaboration isn’t about having more tools, it’s about having the right ones.”
Five Ways Generative AI is Expanding Access to Justice
1. Making Legal Information More Understandable
Generative AI makes it easier to explain legal rights, responsibilities and processes in plain language. AI platforms can generate summaries of complex legal concepts, draft FAQs and create clear explanations tailored to each user.
This is particularly valuable for self-represented litigants or those who are unsure where to begin. By simplifying the law, legal tech solutions help people understand their legal options without needing immediate access to a lawyer.
2. Supporting Community Legal Centres and Pro Bono Lawyers
AI for community legal centres can automate time-consuming tasks such as legal research, drafting letters and preparing advice documents. By streamlining administrative work, AI frees up lawyers and paralegals to focus on strategy and client engagement.
This means more clients can be supported without additional staffing, increasing the overall reach of pro bono legal services. Generative AI also helps ensure consistency and quality in advice delivered by stretched legal teams.
3. Automating Legal Workflows and Routine Tasks
Much of the work in legal practice involves repetitive processes like document generation, form completion and case intake. Legal automation powered by generative AI can manage these workflows more efficiently.
By automating intake forms, triage questions and matter classification, AI enables legal teams to respond more quickly and accurately. This improves service delivery and reduces bottlenecks in client onboarding and communication.
4. Improving Accessibility Through Translation and Inclusive Formats
Generative AI can translate legal content into multiple languages and convert text into simplified, audio or visual formats. This makes legal information more accessible to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as well as those with low literacy or disability.
When built into legal tech platforms, these features ensure services are inclusive and compliant with accessibility best practices. In this way, AI legal tools help remove structural barriers to justice.
5. Enhancing Legal Referral and Triage
AI can assist with the early stages of a legal matter by guiding users through structured questions, identifying key issues and referring them to the right service. This improves how community legal services prioritise cases and allocate resources.
With better referral systems in place, clients are more likely to receive timely support. For legal teams, AI improves matter management and reduces time spent on preliminary screening.
Responsible Use of AI in Legal Services
The use of generative AI in law must be guided by ethical principles. AI should not be used to replace legal judgement or human connection in legal practice. Instead, it should enhance the ability of legal professionals to work more effectively and serve more people.
Voltaire is committed to responsible legal innovation. Our platform integrates AI in a way that supports lawyers, students and community legal organisations while maintaining privacy, transparency and compliance with Australian laws.
The Future of Legal Tech and Access to Justice
Generative AI presents an opportunity to build a fairer and more efficient legal system. As adoption grows, legal technology in Australia will play a critical role in ensuring that everyone, regardless of background or income, can access the legal help they need.
At Voltaire, we are building tools that connect legal professionals with pro bono opportunities, streamline case management and reduce barriers to legal assistance. Our mission is to help close the access to justice gap through technology that is scalable, ethical and impact-driven.
Interested in how Voltaire uses AI to support access to justice?
Reach out to us at info@voltairelegal.com or subscribe to stay up to date on how we are using generative AI to empower legal professionals and communities.
