Widespread AI usage feels all but inevitable in the legal industry, and firms around the world are quickly waking up to the power AI can offer their operations. AI loves housekeeping, it loves boring. AI loves to do the tasks any junior would dread, and that’s why it’s making such a big splash in legal. 

But the first step isn’t to rush out and buy the latest AI legal tool on the market. Instead, it’s understanding how AI can fill a useful role in legal work without creating risk, then implementing it based on proven use cases.

This is the belief of Yule Guttenbeil, Principal of Attune Legal and winner of the 2024 AI Consultant of the Year Award. AI caught Yule’s attention after a stint feeding Notion simple prompts for poems and letters in 2023. Yule now stands as an expert in the field of AI in legal and utilises seven different AI tools in his practice, with plans to add more.

His thesis on AI usage in legal work is simple: “It’s is just like any other software tool; you need to spend the time to get your head around it.”

Indeed, the risks of jumping in blind with AI are very real. From lawyers submitting bogus citations in a court filing, to the possibility of accidentally leaking confidential client details, it’s easy to make big mistakes.

Which begs the question: where should a legal professional begin with AI, when the compliance issues and risks are so apparent?

The first step: Start with basic tools and test AI’s use cases.
 

When Yule saw the potential AI had to improve his work as a legal professional, he didn’t immediately command the tool to start drafting contracts for client-facing work. He shifted his usage toward more professionally minded tasks slowly and began testing.

Whether it’s ChatGPT or Copilot, the first task for any legal professional wanting to use AI meaningfully is to see what it can and can’t do, and how that could apply to your firm.

Think about the use cases you believe AI could help with and prompt it to fill them. Then, review what it produces, check its references and where necessary, challenge what the AI is telling you if you believe it isn’t right.

Yule’s perspective is that lawyers need to treat AI like a junior or assistant: “They’re no subject matter expert, you are.”

After many hours of deep, hands-on research, Yule felt confident that he was equipped to begin exploring AI tools for his client work. But his research project didn’t pivot to finding the right AI just yet, instead it became an exploration into safe use, privacy and intellectual property.

The next step: Tackling the risks of AI in legal work

Yule is the first to admit that with AI, there’s always risk involved with data and trust with usage. That risk can be mitigated by seeking out specialized AI tools with above average security and a Service Organisation Control 2 or SOC2 certification preferably.

However, not all AI can do exactly what you need, and it’s important not to settle on a product just for its security if the tools don’t fit your use cases. With that in mind and accepting that there is always an element of risk involved with AI, make sure to review certifications, terms and conditions, and privacy policies before acquiring any AI package.

With due diligence established and a new AI acquired, it’s time to work on what Yule calls ‘the special sauce’.

The final step: Melding AI with existing workflows

You’ve established your use cases and settled on an AI that keeps your data secure and manages risk well, now what?

This is the point where Yule began using AI tools to fill out his use cases and perform assistive tasks to his legal work. Tasks like creating templates and refining prompts to provide him with draft emails he could easily work into a finished product.

Essentially, you’re translating those pre-established use cases into tangible tasks that your AI completes to augment your work. It might not pan out exactly as you planned. But keep applying what you’ve learned and iterating on what your AI does to refine and improve its impact.

“That’s where your special sauce is going to be,” says Yule. In how you develop a house style of legal work where AI is indispensable in its ability to add efficiency to the day-to-day work of your firm.

Once you reach this point of AI automation, don’t stop.

One AI was just the beginning for Yule, and seven is just where he’s currently sitting. With many more ‘under development’ AI tools on his radar for early adoption, Yule’s AI tech stack only stands to grow.

That’s the key to ongoing usage of AI in the legal space, the constant search for newer, better ways to augment legal work. Pursue that idea in all applications of AI in your legal practice, and you only stand to benefit as technology develops further in the space.