There isn't a ton of human time needed for legal research as it is. The time is in the fact finding, analysis, and arguments, not finding the law. I'm a junior

There isn't a ton of human time needed for legal research as it is. The time is in the fact finding, analysis, and arguments, not finding the law. I'm a junior associate in a law firm, which means the legal research falls squarely on my shoulders (partners don't do legal research). And even then it's not a huge part of my job. Probably less than 10%. Better index searching could be of help, but it'll be hard to actually make it better. Legal research databases are a huge industry and they spend a ton on improving search capabilities, but it is hard. I think the search capability will be evolutionary not really revolutionary. But maybe I'm underestimating Watson.