Expert Analysis

• The Winners And Losers Of AI In The Legal Services Industry

  Artificial intelligence in the legal services industry will unlikely eradicate law firms, but it will still undoubtedly test their resilience — especially big firms, says Santiago Rodríguez at Arias SLP.

• The Last Lawyer: The Evolution And Ethics Of Legal AI Tools

  Chatbots represent a powerful but provisional tool, but lawyers must exercise caution and use only vetted, properly guardrailed silicon advocates, scalable for future services, say Marty Robles-Avila at Berry Appleman and Michele Carney at Carney & Marchi.

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  Talking Mental Health: Tackling Stress As A Practice Leader

  Constance Rhebergen at Bracewell discusses how she handles the stress of being a practice chair, how sources of stress have changed in the legal industry over the past decade and what law firms can do to protect attorney mental health.

• Legal Tech And Lawyer Workflow: Enhancing, Not Replacing

  When selecting from an increasing pool of legal technology capabilities, think about micro moves with macro effect, as the most successful tools will be those that feel like a natural extension of how lawyers are already accustomed to working, says Ilona Logvinova at Cleary.

• How Firms Can Effectively Evaluate Their Summer Associates

  One of the most effective ways firms can ensure their summer associate programs are a success is by engaging in a timely and meaningful evaluation process and being intentional about when, how and by whom feedback should be provided, say Caroline Cimei and Erica Fine at Shutts & Bowen.

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  Talking Mental Health: Life As A Lawyer With OCD

  Kelly Hughes at Ogletree discusses what she’s learned in the 14 years since she was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, recounting how the experience shaped her law practice, what the legal industry and general public get wrong about the disorder, and how law firms can better support employees who have OCD.

• 'Blind Spots' Pose Major Hurdle To AI Adoption In Legal Tech

  Legal tech circles have been focused on how to eliminate large language model hallucinations, but blind spots, or inaccuracies through omissions, are a rarely discussed shortcoming that pose an even larger risk in the legal space, says James Ding at DraftWise.

• 3 Innovative Ways AI May Be Used In Legal Practice

  Excerpt from Practical Guidance

  

  Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly be used by outside counsel to better predict the outcomes of litigation — thus informing legal strategy with greater precision — and by clients to scrutinize invoices and evaluate counsel’s performance, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

• Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

  Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.

• Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

  Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

• General Counsel And Legal Ops Must Work Together

  It is critical for general counsel to ensure that a legal operations leader is viewed not only as a peer, but as a strategic leader for the organization, and there are several actionable ways general counsel can not only become more involved, but help champion legal operations teams and set them up for success, says Mary O'Carroll at Ironclad.

• How Generative AI's Growing Memory Affects Lawyers

  A new ChatGPT feature that can remember user information across different conversations has broad implications for attorneys, whose most pressing questions for the AI tool are usually based on specific, and large, datasets, says legal tech adviser Eric Wall.

• A Model For Optimal Legal Tech Investment Strategy

  Legal organizations struggling to work out the right technology investment strategy may benefit from using a matrix for legal department efficiency that is based on an understanding of where workloads belong, according to the basic functions and priorities of a corporate legal team, says Sylvain Magdinier at Integreon.

• Personality Tests And Machine Learning Applications In Law

  Mateusz Kulesza at McDonnell Boehnen looks at potential applications of personality testing based on machine learning techniques for law firms, and the implications this shift could have for lawyers, firms and judges, including how it could make the work of judges and other legal decision-makers much more difficult.

• AI Is Reshaping Lawyering: What To Expect In 2024

  The future of lawyering is not about the wholesale replacement of attorneys by artificial intelligence, but as AI handles more of the routine legal work, the role of lawyers will evolve to be more strategic, requiring the development of competencies beyond traditional legal skills, says Colin Levy at Malbek.