AI for Small Firm Attorney

Tip: Paste only the clause text you are comparing, not surrounding sections that carry the deal's confidential financial terms if they are not relevant to the comparison. Treat the risk labels as a starting point rather than legal advice. If a clause change touches a statutory cap, like a liquidated damages limit, confirm the actual rule in your state before you advise the client either way.

Tip: Summarize the facts in general terms and skip verbatim witness statements or notes from privileged strategy sessions. If your firm has a paid ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini account with a no-training data setting, use that account for anything touching an active matter rather than a free, logged-in-nowhere session.

Tip: Contingency percentages, retainer requirements, and required client disclosures are set by your state's rules of professional conduct, not by the chatbot. Check the draft against your state bar's current fee agreement rules, particularly any caps on contingency percentages, before it goes anywhere near a client signature.

Tip: Paste only the clause language itself, not the client's name or the deal's specific dollar figures. Before repeating the explanation to a client, check it against the actual clause as written in your document. A chatbot's general definition of a term can miss a variation your specific contract or state law adds to it.

Tip: Keep the details general enough that no one, including the other side, could identify the matter or client from the post. Before you publish, check that the post does not promise a specific result for future clients. Most state bar advertising rules restrict language that could read as a guarantee of outcome.

Tip: Describe the facts generically in the prompt rather than pasting your client's real name, address, or full medical file. Before you send anything, verify every damages figure against the actual file and confirm any statute or case law reference the AI included by pulling it up in Westlaw or Lexis yourself. Courts have sanctioned attorneys for citing cases a chatbot invented, and a demand letter with a fabricated citation undercuts your credibility with the other side.

Tip: Describe the client's situation in general terms and leave out identifying details about the actual client or matter. Statutes get amended more often than people expect. Before this goes to a client, pull the current version from your state's official code website or Westlaw or Lexis and confirm the section number and language still match what you summarized.

Tip: Keep the descriptions in your prompt short and factual rather than including your notes on why each document matters to your theory of the case. An exhibit list is often filed and shared with opposing counsel, so anything you type into the description column should be something you are fine with the other side reading.