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How to Use AI in Your Legal Practice

How to Use AI in Your Legal Practice

Posted on by David B. Arato

While lawyers and law firms have historically been cautious and slow to adopt new technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to transform legal practices. The reality is that AI is allowing lawyers to automate tasks, save costs, and deliver higher-quality services to clients. 

AI technology is now in use across various areas of legal work, from document management to predictive analytics, creating efficiencies that allow lawyers to focus on on higher-level strategy. To keep up in this competitive industry, attorneys and law firms should explore how to integrate AI solutions effectively into their workflows while maintaining compliance with their ethical duties.

How You Can Use AI in Your Legal Practice

Generative AI for Document Drafting and Analysis

Legal document creation and management has evolved dramatically with new digital tools. Today’s software helps lawyers:

  • Draft contracts and briefs with standard clauses
  • Extract key points from lengthy documents
  • Search past cases efficiently
  • Analyze patterns across similar litigation
  • Respond quickly to routine client questions
  • Organize case materials systematically

These advances streamline routine tasks, giving attorneys more time to focus on complex legal analysis and client strategy. Modern document management systems can search thousands of pages in minutes, identify relevant precedents, and help maintain consistent language across similar documents.

E-Discovery

E-discovery is one of the most widely used forms of AI in law. It allows attorneys to forgo the time-consuming job of sifting through digital documents to find relevant information. 

E-discovery software enables attorneys to search through vast databases of documents using keywords, dates, and other filters. As such, they can locate non-privileged information quickly and accurately, making case preparation more efficient. AI eliminates the need for extensive manual review of digital data, allowing attorneys to uncover critical information almost instantly. 

Legal Research

AI-powered research tools streamline the search process by scanning databases that include statutes, case law, regulations, and other legal resources. These tools help legal professionals quickly gather relevant information, making it easier to understand legal precedents and apply them to current cases.

AI-enhanced legal research software can analyze vast databases and identify cases that might have otherwise been missed, reducing the risk of oversight. Integrating research tools with practice management software, such as Casetext or Westlaw Edge, also improves efficiency by allowing legal research findings to be directly linked to case records.

Document Management and Automation

Managing documents in a law firm is inherently critical but can be challenging and onerous. AI-powered document management systems allow lawyers to organize, store, and retrieve digital files quickly and efficiently. Tagging and profiling features help to categorize files based on criteria such as case type, date, or client, making it easier to locate relevant documents when needed.

Document automation also saves time when producing legal documents. Law firms can create document templates that automatically pull in data from case files, generating letters, contracts, or invoices with minimal manual effort. Document management software often includes version control and security features, ensuring compliance and maintaining confidentiality.

Due Diligence

Due diligence is essential in legal transactions, often requiring lawyers to review extensive documentation to assess risks. AI enhances due diligence by identifying documents that contain specific clauses or language. For instance, if a lawyer needs to review contracts for a particular clause, AI can locate relevant documents within seconds, significantly reducing the time required for document review.

AI-based tools also detect variations or changes across documents, alerting lawyers to potential inconsistencies. While human review is still necessary to verify findings, AI helps streamline the initial analysis phase of due diligence, improving accuracy and reducing the likelihood of missing critical information.

Litigation Analysis and Predictive Analytics

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AI assists in evaluating past cases to inform legal strategies and predict potential outcomes by examining historical case data to identify trends and patterns. Predictive analysis enables attorneys to make better-informed decisions, helping them prepare more robust cases based on the likely behaviors of opposing parties or judges.

AI-powered analytics can provide insights into case viability, the potential value of claims, and the resolution of similar cases, enabling lawyers to develop realistic expectations and strategic approaches. AI supports a proactive approach, allowing attorneys to adjust their strategies to maximize client outcomes.

How to Implement AI in Your Law Firm

Successfully integrating AI into your law practice requires thoughtful planning and strategic decision-making. Here are some critical steps to ensure a smooth and effective transition to AI:

  • Assess Your Firm’s Needs – Begin by evaluating which tasks could benefit most from automation, such as research, document management, client intake, or e-discovery. Identify repetitive, time-intensive tasks that are often delegated to junior staff or paralegals. By pinpointing where AI can alleviate workload, you can target tools that make a meaningful difference in your firm’s operations.
  • Research AI Solutions – Once you’ve identified your needs, explore reputable AI tools with a proven track record in the legal industry. Consider platforms that specialize in the specific functions you’re looking to automate, whether it’s legal research, contract review, or client communication. Many AI providers offer demo sessions or trial periods, allowing you to assess the tool’s effectiveness and compatibility with your firm’s workflow before committing.
  • Invest in Training – To maximize the benefits of AI, it’s essential to provide thorough training for your team. Hold workshops or provide access to vendor resources to help staff learn best practices, maximize efficiency, and understand the technology’s limitations. Training your team to use AI tools effectively can make a substantial difference in productivity and team morale as they adapt to new workflows.
  • Monitor and Evaluate – Implementing AI is not a one-time task but a continuous process. Regularly evaluate how AI impacts your workflows, productivity, and client service. If applicable, collect feedback from your team and clients to assess areas for improvement. Monitoring AI’s performance will allow you to make necessary adjustments and evaluate the return on investment.

When Adopting AI, Be Sure to Maintain Ethical Standards

Adopting new technology in legal practice requires careful attention to professional ethics and client privacy. As your firm modernizes its systems and processes, keep these key principles in mind:

  • Maintain strict client confidentiality at all times
  • Follow industry security protocols rigorously
  • Keep detailed records of data handling
  • Be transparent with clients about technology use
  • Review and update privacy practices regularly
  • Stay current on professional guidelines

By prioritizing these fundamentals while upgrading your practice’s technology, you’ll strengthen client trust and protect your firm’s reputation. Smart implementation of new tools can improve your services while upholding the highest standards of legal ethics.

Adopting AI to Build a Future-Ready Law Firm

Legal technology is transforming how law firms serve their clients. By handling time-consuming tasks like document review and basic research, new tools free up attorneys to focus on what matters most – providing strategic counsel and solving complex legal challenges. 

While adopting new systems requires an upfront investment of time and resources, firms that embrace these advances can work more efficiently, respond faster to client needs, and stay ahead in a competitive market. From streamlining case research to organizing vast document collections, the right technology can help your practice deliver better results for clients while reducing administrative burdens on your team.

Why Law Firm Content Marketers Should Have a Legal Background

Posted on by David B. Arato

When it comes to choosing a content marketing agency, you have lots of options. That said, if you are a lawyer or a digital marketing agency with legal clients, you should be working with a specialized legal content marketing agency, preferably with attorney leadership. Here are a few of the reasons why.

An Understanding of the Legal Industry

As someone who has studied the law, it’s easy to forget that things that seem obvious to you may not be evident to others. Things as simple as the difference between a civil or criminal case or who the parties are to a lawsuit are essential when creating content. Working with a trained legal writer ensures a basic understanding of the way the law works and provides the added benefit of efficiency. A writer with a background in the law is not going to have to look up what negligence means every time they craft a blog for an injury firm.

The Ability to Create Content that Aligns with E-E-A-T

It’s certainly true that a generalist copywriter can craft fluffy content that does not mention the law or violate any lawyer advertising rules. For example, they can write blog posts about “Car Accident Injuries” or “Types of Collisions” in 100 different ways. That said, this kind of content does not rank well in search engines. Google has been clear about the fact that it rewards content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T) – especially for content that could affect a person’s well-being (such as law firm content). Crafting content that aligns with the principles of E-E-A-T requires deep subject-matter expertise, so if you are outsourcing your content creation, it’s in your best interest to work with specialist legal writers with a background in law.

The Ability to Conduct Legal Research

It has never been so easy to get information, and the entire catalog of human knowledge is literally at our fingertips. While once, you had to go to a law library to do legal research, for most things, Google works just fine. In addition, searchable databases like Lexis Nexis and Westlaw allow anyone with a subscription to engage in high-level legal research.

While this access to information has clear benefits, it also can lead to a false sense of competence. Access to information does not mean understanding that information, and it certainly does not mean that the person accessing the information has sufficient subject matter expertise to determine if it is reliable. 

As stated by Arthur C. Brooks in The Atlantic last summer:

Google isn’t graduate school . . . If you think you understand something technical and complicated after cursory exposure, you might be able to put the knowledge to good use in your life, but you almost certainly don’t understand it well enough to hold forth on the topic.

In other words, reading an article about the 4th Amendment doesn’t make you qualified to discuss search and seizure law.

Legal Accuracy

Relatedly, a writer with a legal background can use precise language that ensures that the content on your website is legally accurate. For example, a generalist writer may confuse the terms comparative negligence and contributory negligence or strict liability and vicarious liability, leading to inaccurate information on your website.

With Google’s emphasis on trust when it comes to content quality, having misinformation on your site could lead to significant penalties. In addition, inaccurate information could lead to an ethics violation with your state bar or even a malpractice lawsuit if a client relied on the information and had an adverse outcome.

Compliance with the Advertising Rules in Your State

The content on your law firm’s website has to comply with your state bar’s advertising rules. As the old saying goes, “You do not know what you do not know.” A generalist writer may not even think not to use the word “specialize” or “expert” when discussing your focus on your practice area. In addition, there is a big difference between saying, “We will get you compensation,” and “We will get you the compensation you deserve under the law” – of course, the first one promises an outcome while the other leaves the door open for the fact that the reader does not, in fact, deserve any compensation under the law. It is doubtful that a writer without legal training will know about these rules or how to apply them, potentially resulting in content on your website that violates the advertising rules in your jurisdiction.

Call Lexicon Legal Content Today to Connect with an Expert Legal Writer

At Lexicon Legal Content, our team of experienced legal writers – including licensed attorneys and JDs – specializes in creating content for law firms that is clear, accurate, and demonstrates your experience, expertise, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T). As an JD-owned company, we understand the importance of accurate and compliant content for law firms.

California Bar Issues Guidance for Lawyers Using AI

Posted on by David B. Arato
Table of Contents

Generative AI, such as Open AI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini (previously called “Bard”), are capable of performing tasks that were once thought solely to be in the province of human ability. It can analyze and categorize data and even create human-sounding content in the form of text. As such, generative AI has clear applications in the practice of law and legal marketing. Some of the more obvious uses include document review, contract analysis, and even handling basic client communications.

As lawyers and other professionals have started looking for ways to leverage Generative AI to do their jobs more efficiently, many observers have sounded alarm bells about ethical and professional issues about how it is used.

In fact, some of the early adopters of Generative AI in the legal profession have been subject to sanctions, as the technology is known to “hallucinate” facts. In the case of two New York lawyers, ChatGPT made up case law out of thin air and then doubled down on its existence when asked to verify the cases it cited. Ultimately, the attorneys were each fined $5,000 and ordered to reach out to the judges about the fake cases mentioned. Perhaps worse, their names were splashed all over the national media – from Forbes to CNN – for using ChatGPT and not fact-checking its output.

A year and a few months into generative AI entering the mainstream, state bars are starting to develop guidance and rules regarding how lawyers use it. Given the concerns and uncertainties regarding the use of AI in the legal profession, this guidance is particularly valuable in helping attorneys leverage the efficiency of AI while upholding ethical duties. Recently, California issued guidance that lawyers across the United States can benefit from. I discuss some of the highlights in the material below.

The California Bar Guidance

As part of its guidance, the California Bar takes the position that AI is like any other technology that attorneys may leverage in their day-to-day professional activities. From the guidance:

Like any technology, generative AI must be used in a manner that conforms to a lawyer’s professional responsibility obligations, including those set forth in the Rules of Professional Conduct and the State Bar Act.

The guidance they provide demonstrates ways that lawyers can use AI consistently with their professional responsibility obligations. Some of the obligations they address are discussed in the material below.

Duty of Confidentiality

The California Bar cautions that the use of AI can have implications related to the disclosure of confidential information. The guidance points out that many generative AI models use inputs to train the AI further and the information that users upload may be shared with third parties. In addition, the models may lack adequate security for attorneys to input confidential information.

For this reason, the Bar advises that lawyers should not input any confidential information without first confirming the model they are using has sufficient confidentiality and security protections. Furthermore, the Bar advises lawyers to consult with IT professionals 

to confirm that an AI model adheres to security protocols and also carefully review the Terms of Use or other provisions.

Duties of Competence and Diligence

The use of generative AI also can raise issues related to the duties of competence and diligence. In light of the fact that these models can produce false or misleading information, the California Bar advises that lawyers must:

  • Ensure competent use of the technology and apply diligence and prudence with respect to facts and law
  • Understand to a reasonable degree how the technology works and its limitations
  • Carefully scrutinize outputs for accuracy and bias

In addition, the Bar cautions that overreliance on AI is inconsistent with the active practice of law and application of trained judgment by an attorney. Furthermore, the guidance advises that an attorney’s professional judgment cannot be delegated to AI.

Duty to Supervise Lawyers and Non-lawyers, Responsibilities of Subordinate Lawyers

The Bar advises that supervisory and managerial attorneys should establish clear policies regarding the use of generative AI. In addition, they should make reasonable efforts to ensure that the firm adopts measures that provide reasonable assurance that its lawyers’ and non-lawyers’ conduct complies with professional obligations when using generative AI. This includes training on how to use AI and the ethical implications of using AI.

Using AI Can Also Have Implications for Law Firm Marketing

At Lexicon Legal Content, our sole focus is on generating keyword-rich content that helps law firms connect with their clients. While the California Bar’s guidance does not mention it directly, using generative AI to create marketing materials like social media or blog posts may also have implications related to the rules of professional conduct.

Under California Rule 7.1, a lawyer may not make a false statement about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services, and a statement is false or misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law. Importantly, this is analogous to ABA Model Rule 7.1, which many states have adopted. In addition, under Model Rule 7.2, a lawyer should not call themselves a specialist or expert in any area of law unless they have been certified by an appropriate authority of the state or the District of Columbia or a U.S. Territory or that has been accredited by the American Bar Association.

These professional duties related to advertising make it critical to review any AI output a law firm intends to use in its marketing efforts. At Lexicon Legal Content, we are staffed by experienced legal professionals, including law school graduates and licensed attorneys, who understand these rules and ensure that all of the content we create – whether AI-assisted or not – is in compliance with advertising regulations in our clients’ states.

Marketing Ethics for Attorneys: 2021 and Beyond

Posted on by David B. Arato
A graphic of a person using a phone infront of various legal icons

The Internet has fundamentally changed the way that people seek and evaluate professional services, including legal services. Increasing brand awareness, acquiring new customers, and achieving financial goals rely heavily on a law firm’s advertising and marketing efforts. Competition among law firms in in all practice areas increases daily. An understanding of the basics of a competitive marketplace is critical for firms that desire to grow.

Continue reading “Marketing Ethics for Attorneys: 2021 and Beyond”