Unlocking the Potential of Generative AI for Lawyers: Red Flags and Best Practices

This blog post is based on a free 50-minute webinar on AI  red flags for lawyers.  To access the full webinar, click HERE.

Generative AI (GenAI) is revolutionizing industries worldwide, including the legal profession. While this technology presents immense opportunities, it also comes with unique challenges that lawyers must understand and navigate. This guide highlights the red flags lawyers should watch for when using GenAI and offers actionable best practices to ensure its ethical and effective use in legal practice.

Why Generative AI Matters for Lawyers

GenAI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity have the potential to transform how lawyers work. From drafting legal documents to summarizing transcripts and analyzing case law, these tools offer significant time savings and increased efficiency. However, lawyers must balance the convenience of AI with the profession’s ethical obligations of accuracy and due diligence.

Common Red Flags in Using Generative AI

1. Document Formatting Errors
AI often struggles with certain file formats, especially scanned PDFs that lack proper OCR (Optical Character Recognition). If you upload a poorly formatted document, AI may fabricate or misinterpret its contents. Uploading text-based formats like Word documents or plain text can help ensure accuracy.

2. Math and Numerical Discrepancies
Despite its advanced capabilities, GenAI is prone to calculation errors. Lawyers who rely on AI for fee calculations or analyzing numerical data must double-check its output. Interestingly, while AI is unreliable at performing calculations, it excels at identifying inconsistencies in numerical data, such as discrepancies in tables.

3. Inaccurate Visual Representations
When asked to generate diagrams or visual aids, GenAI often misrepresents scale or dimensions. For example, AI-generated images of transmission lines might depict incorrect distances or numbers of affected properties. While useful for preliminary brainstorming, lawyers should not rely on AI-generated visuals for court presentations or legal arguments.

4. Imprecise Contract Analysis
AI tools frequently oversimplify or misinterpret complex contract terms. For instance, an indemnification clause might be summarized incorrectly, omitting critical details. Moreover, AI can conflate terms, turning “A or B” obligations into “A and B.” Lawyers must manually verify all AI-generated summaries to avoid malpractice risks.

5. Fabricated Legal Citations
Perhaps the most infamous red flag is AI’s tendency to “hallucinate” legal citations. While the output may look realistic, the referenced cases or articles may not exist. Even when AI provides seemingly legitimate links, lawyers must click through and verify the sources to ensure authenticity.

6. Misunderstandings and Misreadings
AI tools occasionally misinterpret even straightforward documents, leading to significant errors. For example, when tasked with summarizing a Supreme Court transcript, ChatGPT generated inaccurate summaries of the arguments. This demonstrates the importance of cross-checking AI outputs with the original documents.

7. Inherent Biases
Generative AI models often reflect societal biases. For instance, a generic request for an image of a lawyer might yield a white man in a suit unless explicitly instructed otherwise. Similarly, gendered assumptions can influence AI-generated content, such as emphasizing work-life balance for women over professional goals.

Bonus Red Flag: Plagiarism Risks
AI-generated content can inadvertently replicate existing materials, raising potential copyright concerns. Before using AI-generated marketing or blog content, lawyers should run it through a plagiarism checker to avoid legal disputes.

Best Practices for Using GenAI in Legal Practice

To mitigate risks and maximize benefits, lawyers should adopt the following strategies:

1. Understand the Limitations
Awareness of GenAI’s potential pitfalls is the first step to responsible use. Recognize where the technology excels (e.g., spotting data inconsistencies) and where it struggles (e.g., legal reasoning or numerical calculations).

2. Verify All Outputs
Whether it’s a contract review, case citation, or legal brief, always double-check the AI-generated content. Treat the AI as a junior associate whose work requires supervision.

3. Use Paid Models
Paid versions of tools like ChatGPT and Claude offer advanced capabilities, including higher character limits and improved accuracy. Investing in these versions ensures better performance.

4. Cross-Check Using Multiple Platforms
Leverage different GenAI tools to validate outputs. For example, use ChatGPT for drafting and Perplexity for verifying citations. This redundancy reduces the risk of relying on incorrect information.

5. Provide Specific Prompts
Detailed and precise instructions improve AI output. For instance, if generating marketing images, specify diverse representations to counteract biases.

6. Incorporate AI Training
Correct errors by providing feedback to the AI platform. This not only improves your interaction but contributes to refining the technology for broader use.

7. Run Plagiarism Checks
Before publishing AI-generated content, ensure originality by using plagiarism detection tools. Even better, personalize the content to reflect your unique voice and insights.

Embracing AI Responsibly

Generative AI offers unparalleled opportunities for innovation in legal practice, but it is not a silver bullet. By understanding its limitations and implementing safeguards, lawyers can harness its potential while maintaining the profession’s high standards of accuracy and integrity.

As technology evolves, staying informed and adaptable will be key to leveraging AI responsibly. If you’re ready to dive deeper into GenAI for lawyers, consider joining specialized training programs to refine your skills and stay ahead in this rapidly changing landscape

Download a checklist based on this blog post on our AI Resources Page.