A Qualitative Theory Building Research on Digital Law, Legal AI, and LegalTech

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming modern life by driving innovation and efficiency, with legal AI playing an increasingly significant role in supporting legal work. However, the growing use of AI introduces new challenges, including privacy breaches, deepfakes, ethical dilemmas, and legal uncertainty. Despite the ongoing initiatives to establish AI governance principles, research on regulating legal AI and broader AI applications remains limited. This study addresses this gap through a qualitative case study examining effective AI governance frameworks. Interviews with four senior legal experts, i.e., two judges, a law professor, and a legal researcher, identified emerging challenges of legal AI and beyond. The findings reveal pressing needs for adaptive, transparent, and equitable regulation to ensure responsible AI development and use. The study contributes theoretically by linking AI governance with legal scholarship and offers practical insights for policymakers, legal professionals, and organizations navigating AI's evolving regulatory landscape.