In “The 80/20 Principle,” Ernie Svenson demystifies technology and introduces tools that improve your workday. This time: Why most AI training for lawyers doesn’t stick, and what does.
Most AI training for lawyers is shiny-object stuff. That’s exactly why none of it sticks.
You’ve seen the headlines. “Nine prompts that’ll change everything.” “The ultimate AI playbook for your firm.” It might capture attention, but the promise is empty. You wind up wasting time adapting someone else’s prompt to your situation, getting frustrated, and learning nothing — instead of doing something that makes a real difference.
My old golf instructor figured this out decades ago, before AI existed.
The Best Teacher in New Orleans
His name was Jimmy Self, and he was the best golf teacher in New Orleans. He was so good he kept a waiting list. When he called with a day and time, you took it or you waited longer.
The other instructors at the range had video cameras and fancy equipment. I figured that’s where the good teaching was, so that’s where I went. My score didn’t budge.
Jimmy used none of that. He’d put a ball down, fix your grip, then stand behind you and move your whole body through the swing. Back and forth. Back and forth. He’d say two words — “going back” and “going forward” — over and over until the motion sank in.
Then he’d step away, put a ball in front of you, and say, “Hit it.” And it would go straight. He’d put down another. Straight again. If you flubbed one, he came back around and ran you through the motion again.
My score dropped fast. For the first time, I was hitting it straight every time.
When I Got Restless
Then I made the mistake every learner makes. I got restless.
Once I could hit it straight on a regular basis, I asked Jimmy if I should start putting a draw on the ball — going right to left, like Jack Nicklaus. More roll, more distance. It seemed like the obvious next thing.
He looked at me like I was speaking childish gibberish. Then he snatched the club out of my hand, put down a few balls, and hit a string of dead-straight shots. He handed the club back and said, “That’s what you want. Any more questions?”
I didn’t have any.
The lesson stuck with me. I couldn’t sit with success. I needed to chase something new, and in chasing it, I would’ve wrecked the thing that was working.
Learn One AI Skill, Not 10
I thought about Jimmy this week while helping a lawyer learn Claude.
She showed up the way most people do — with a long list of things she wanted to fix. That’s the natural instinct. It’s also the fastest way to chase shiny objects and get nowhere.
So we did the opposite. Instead of adding tools, we took one thing she already did every day: writing emails. We built it into a simple, reusable skill.
The skill wasn’t fancy. It told the chatbot to ask one question before drafting anything — who are you writing to? A close friend, a colleague, a court clerk? Once it knew that, it could match the tone. That’s it. Nothing you could sell as a secret template, because anyone can set it up.
The plan from there was just as plain. Keep using it. When it needs work, refine it with Claude. The next time we meet, we either polish it further or pick one new thing to build the same way.
Why Is AI Training for Lawyers So Hard?
Here’s what nobody tells you about learning AI: the thing holding you back isn’t failing to try new stuff. It’s trying to do too much, too fast.
Focusing on one skill feels too slow. It feels hokey, the same way it felt hokey that Jimmy wouldn’t talk about my swing and instead just forced my body through the motion until it became second nature.
But that’s the point. Repetition is what turns a skill into something you don’t have to think about. You can’t rush it, and the shiny-object chasers never tell you that, because “slow and steady” doesn’t sell a playbook.
How to Start Learning a New AI Skill
Pick one thing you want AI to help you do better — something you already do all the time. Make it work once. Then use it again, and again. Refine it each time so it gets a little better.
Don’t hoard prompts. Don’t buy some random expert’s special playbook. And don’t beat yourself up for being slow.
The Bottom Line on Learning AI
You don’t get good at AI by collecting tricks. You get good by taking one real task and doing it with AI over and over until it’s second nature — then moving to the next one.
That’s the whole secret. Yes, it’s slow. Yes, it’s boring. But it’s the only thing that works.
More From Ernie Svenson and the 80/20 Principle
How Using AI Skills for Law Firm Workflows Can Turbocharge Your SOPs
Why I Switched From ChatGPT to Claude (And What Finally Pushed Me Over)
Loom for Lawyers: Why You Should Be Creating Shareable Videos
Top 8 Tech Tools for Solo and Small Firm Lawyers to End the Chaos
AI Tools for Lawyers: Why You Shouldn’t Stick to Just One
Our Fingers Can’t Keep Up With AI
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