In his new Attorney at Work column, legal tech and practice management expert Jim Calloway helps us navigate today’s practice issues and opportunities with practical tips and big-picture thinking for small law firms. First up: AI projects for small firm lawyers that can improve the client experience without compromising confidentiality.
By now, most lawyers have been exposed to a great deal of information about artificial intelligence. Consequently, you should understand that using AI with client information requires understanding how these systems harvest information, and the steps that should be taken to secure that information and guard client confidentiality. Usually, this analysis begins with not using free AI tools.
But let’s consider how AI can be used to handle some projects in law offices that have nothing to do with confidential client information.
A Few Non-Terrifying AI Projects for Small Firm Lawyers
AI can be exceptionally useful for long-delayed, time-consuming projects. Think of some nonbillable tasks that keep turning into third- or fourth-tier priorities that we all have trouble addressing due to other, more urgent matters. Need some ideas?
Following are a couple of examples of AI projects for small firm lawyers — many of whom are both terrified of AI and “too busy” to learn about it now (or so they think). In both these projects, the result will be better than you would have done on your own or the AI would have done alone.
An Estate Planning Organizer for Small Firm Clients
The issue: Wouldn’t it be positive if estate planning lawyers could ensure their clients kept their contact information readily available for when they want to discuss changes, or when their heirs need the lawyer’s assistance?
Lawyers have used many techniques to position themselves to handle the probate or trust implementation when their clients pass away. Long ago, lawyers bought envelopes preprinted with “Last Will and Testament” for delivering the final documents to clients, then used a typewriter to put the law firm’s contact information on the outside of the envelope for quick reference. Today’s typical estate planning documents would require a binder rather than a letter-sized envelope.
Another factor: One of the worst ideas for storing the executed will and other documents is for the lawyer to retain the original executed documents. Just ask anyone who has assisted with closing a deceased lawyer’s practice and located a trove of executed original wills. Finding a will executed decades earlier by, say, a couple now in their 70s, brings up many troubling issues, including whether the couple has passed away and no one knew where to locate their wills. The proper place for a will to be stored is in the client’s safety deposit box or with their personal financial records.
Project Goal:
What if you could provide your client with a useful system to organize their estate planning documents and other family financial records at essentially no extra cost to you or the client?
Think of those state planning organizers that are advertised online. These include a set of labels for the consumer to attach to various folders. They also provide instructions on how to thoroughly organize one’s personal records and legal paperwork so that heirs can more easily handle things.
Some estate planning lawyers likely already provide organizers and other informative material to clients along with their completed estate plan. Many law firms currently provide additional material accompanying executed estate planning documents.
But many couples, particularly those of retirement age, are inexperienced at records management and unsure what records to retain. They might really appreciate a personal organization system. And even the most organized person might appreciate some guidance from your office.
Preparing even a basic organizer system from scratch would involve investing quite a few hours. Some lawyers are very good at this type of thing, while others hire organizational assistance.
So, I decided to see what assistance ChatGPT could provide.
I used a single detailed but basic query, asking ChatGPT to assume the role of a professional who assists clients with estate planning. I specified that these clients want to organize their personal and legal documents into physical file folders with labels. Then I asked it to set up the system. The result was one of those “AI wow” moments.
ChatGPT’s response began: “I generally recommend a ‘Life & Legacy Binder’ plus a small set of clearly labeled file folders. The goal is not to store every document you own, but to create a road map to everything important.”
ChatGPT certainly sounds like it has done this before.
It suggested up to 19 labeled physical folders, each with a list of items that should be included. Some highlights:
- For “Folder 2: Passwords and Digital Assets,” ChatGPT gave great instructions, including how to access your password manager and how to recover two-factor authentication. (The lawyer in me wants to note that maybe Folder 2 should be stored in a safe deposit box.) There was also a reminder to make available Apple ID, Microsoft and Google information, as heirs may need to access mobile devices. Remember, this is a roadmap.
- Many suggested folders contained the types of financial and personal information one would assume. But there were interesting ideas, like attaching a document to the front of the binder titled “IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME” that tells who to contact first.
- I’m not sure every law firm would have thought to include “Folder 18: The Annual Review File” with a form to update with any changes that have occurred in the past year, and suggested items to check.
The Last Leg of the Project
One rule of using AI is that if you are good at something, working with AI allows you to be better. So, you transfer the AI’s response to a document and edit it to your liking. Note that ChatGPT tends to be happy and optimistic. Sometimes the lawyer may want a more serious tone. Also, lawyers understand there are different family dynamics and may, for example, suggest several of the folders be stored in a safe deposit box. A trusted advisor might also be asked to hold some information.
The bottom line is that you and the AI have combined for a useful final product in a relatively short time. The result will be better than either you or the AI would have done alone. If you want feedback, a great beta test would be to send a few dozen of these to friends and family members and ask for their comments on the contents.
You now have an estate planning organizer in word processing format, and it can be easily updated going forward. No client data was used or otherwise put at any risk.
Now let’s try a similar strategy for a different situation.
A Client Aid for Preparing for Depositions
The issue. You have a new solo practice but not enough experience — or perhaps the writing ability — to create client aids. What if you asked more experienced lawyers to help fill in the gaps of your knowledge, and then tasked AI with drafting new client aid documents, based on their input?
A young solo practitioner has opened her practice after spending two years as an associate with an excellent firm that gave her great experience. She is competent to handle the legal work, and her practice is growing. However, her former firm was not adept at preparing written material for the client’s consumption, including materials to help prepare the client for deposition testimony. The only material she has consists of two pages that appear to have been photocopied from a treatise, with the page numbers still visible. The pages are a copy of a copy and contain a few unreadable words.
Project Goal
While our solo lawyer is ready to take depositions, she wants to give clients something they can review at home in addition to preparing them in person. Given her experience level, she is concerned she might leave something out. She knows something about AI tools and uses them in her personal life. ChatGPT or another AI can likely create something she could use. However, this feels more like legal work that could use the assistance of experienced counsel before bringing in the AI.
Here’s a solution that combines an old-school approach with subsequent use of AI.
The first step is to identify a few attorneys in the community or state who have great experience in the relevant practice area. This may be challenging for some because you want to reach out to these attorneys in person, certainly not by email. Let’s say the first target is a respected senior attorney who probably hasn’t embraced much AI. Maybe you see them at the courthouse and tell them you’d like to talk to them for five minutes about something beneficial for both of you. Let them know you’d be happy to schedule a quick meeting in their office if they would like.
For our young lawyer, the proposal is based on the fact that while she does have good experience, she wants to curate a great client experience, and some of that involves giving the clients reading material.
The Last Leg of the Project
Once the solo lawyer gets three of the best attorneys in the area to share the materials they give clients for deposition or trial testimony preparation, she can use AI. She will use it to combine all those documents into one really great resource. She can also use AI to lower the reading level to the preferred eighth-grade level, generally. Of course, she will review to make certain these reading level changes do not affect accuracy.
The attorneys who agree to participate have literally zero risk. The worst-case scenario? They share something with a young lawyer, and when they get back the improved version of their client-prep materials, they decide to stick with what they are already using. There is no risk of compromising client confidentiality because the firm is not sharing any client information. There is no risk of some judge questioning them about their use of AI because none of these documents are intended to be filed with a court.
For the young lawyer, one of the best things about this approach is that you have made contacts with some established lawyers. One of these days, they may need a conflicts counsel or to refer a case for another reason, and someone will ask, “So who was the lawyer who improved our deposition preparation material?”
Simple AI Projects to Boost the Client Experience
In this article, I’ve given what you need to know to try a few simple and safe projects to improve the client experience. Want other ideas? Remember, law firms need to focus on using affordable AI to organize their materials so they can save time later.
- Is giving paper handouts to potential clients too analog for you? You can just as easily have ChatGPT or another AI tool prepare a script to use in recording a video of you explaining this same material. AI can also script an interview-style podcast.
- Does your website need updating? You now have a free professional writer available to rewrite copy for you. When prompting your AI tool, remember that good law firm websites today focus on the clients and solutions to the client’s problems more than lawyer pedigrees.
- Have you tried revising your standard attorney fee agreement so that it is more reader-friendly? Again, you now have a free professional writer available to suggest changes in language and tone.
There are many more potential AI uses that do not involve client information.
Lawyers are increasingly involved with AI tools and will be using AI much more extensively in the future. But stay alert: There will be security concerns, a learning curve, and maybe a visit with a local ethics counsel, along with subscription fees and quite a few lawyer hours invested in setup and training.
AI Projects for Small Firm Lawyers: FAQs
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