Legal · Field manual
AI for lawyers
Lawyers get real value from AI on first drafts, contract review, summarising long records and the endless client email. The one big caution: AI still invents case law, and you sign the filing, so every citation gets checked against a real database before it goes anywhere near a court.
Most legal work is reading and writing under time pressure, which is exactly what language models are built for. A good model will turn a deposition into a two-page summary, mark up a vendor contract against your playbook and draft a demand letter in the time it takes to find the matter number. Firms that bill by the hour are working out what that means for pricing. Clients have already worked it out.
The profession's rules didn't go away when the chatbots arrived. Competence, confidentiality, supervision and candour to the tribunal all apply to AI-assisted work, and the ABA said so plainly in Formal Opinion 512. Lawyers have been sanctioned for filing briefs with fabricated citations. Use AI as a fast junior associate whose work you always check, never as a source of law.
7 ways lawyers use AI
Draft first versions of routine documents
Engagement letters, demand letters, NDAs, discovery requests and standard motions all follow patterns a model drafts well. Give it your firm's own precedent and the facts of the matter rather than asking from scratch, and you get a draft in your style instead of a generic one. You still own every sentence that goes out.
Review contracts against a playbook
Paste in your preferred positions on indemnity, limitation of liability, termination and governing law, then ask the model to flag every clause that departs from them and propose redlines. Dedicated tools like Spellbook do this inside Word. It catches the obvious misses fast; the judgment about what to concede is still yours.
Summarise depositions, records and long files
Long-context models can digest hundreds of pages of transcript and return a summary by topic with page and line references. Ask for quotes with citations to the record so you can verify each one. This is one of the safest high-value uses because you can check the output against the source in front of you.
Start legal research, then verify it properly
General chatbots are useful for orienting yourself in an unfamiliar area: the main issues, the terms of art, the questions to ask. They are not a research database. Use legal research platforms with AI built on real case law, such as Lexis+ AI or CoCounsel on Westlaw, and pull and read every authority before you rely on it.
Explain the law to clients in plain English
Ask the model to turn your advice memo into a short email a non-lawyer can follow, or to write a one-page explainer on how probate or a non-compete works in your state. Clients understand more, call less and are more likely to follow your advice. Check the simplified version still says what the law says.
Capture client calls and internal meetings
Meeting notetakers transcribe calls and pull out action items and deadlines. Get the client's consent before recording, check your state's recording laws, and confirm where the vendor stores transcripts, because a transcript of privileged advice is a privileged document that now lives on someone else's server.
Clear the inbox and the admin
AI email clients draft replies to scheduling requests, opposing counsel's routine letters and status updates. Automation tools can push new intake forms into your practice management system and send reminder emails. That is time back for work you can actually bill or, if you charge flat fees, keep.
The best AI tools for lawyers
The Overlord's stack, in the order a lawyer would add them:
1. Drafting, contract review and summarising long records
Claude
AI WritingAnthropic's assistant: the strongest long-form writer and careful reasoner in the consumer AI pack.
2. Client explainers, letters and quick drafting help
ChatGPT
AI WritingOpenAI's general-purpose assistant: writing, research, images, voice and agents in one chat box.
3. Orienting in an unfamiliar area before proper research
Perplexity
ProductivityAI answer engine that searches the web and replies with cited sources.
4. Transcribing client calls and meetings, with consent
Fireflies.ai
ProductivityAI meeting notetaker that transcribes, summarizes and pushes action items into your CRM and tools.
5. Drafting routine email replies and clearing the inbox
Superhuman
ProductivityKeyboard-driven AI email client for Gmail and Outlook, now part of the Superhuman suite with Grammarly.
Specialist tools for lawyers
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters) | Legal research, document review and drafting grounded in Westlaw content |
| Lexis+ AI | Research and drafting built on LexisNexis case law with linked citations |
| Harvey | Generative AI platform for law firms and in-house teams: drafting, review and research |
| Spellbook | Contract drafting and redlining inside Microsoft Word |
| Clio | Practice management with built-in AI for matters, billing and documents |
A prompt to start with: review a contract against your playbook
Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT and fill in the gold parts.
You are a careful commercial lawyer reviewing a contract for my client, the [BUYER/SELLER/LICENSEE].
Our playbook positions:
- Limitation of liability: [POSITION]
- Indemnity: [POSITION]
- Termination: [POSITION]
- Governing law and venue: [POSITION]
- Other must-haves: [LIST]
Contract text:
[PASTE CONTRACT, WITH CLIENT NAMES REDACTED]
For each clause that departs from the playbook, give: the clause number, a quote of the exact language, why it departs, the risk in one sentence, and a proposed redline. Then list anything missing that we would normally expect. Do not summarise clauses that are fine. If you are unsure whether something departs, say so rather than guessing.Where lawyers shouldn't trust AI
- Models still fabricate cases, quotes and pin cites that look real. Courts have sanctioned lawyers for filing them, and some judges now require you to disclose or certify AI use. Read every authority yourself before you cite it.
- Client confidentiality applies. Putting client information into a consumer chatbot that may train on it or keep it can breach your duty under Model Rule 1.6. Use enterprise or legal-specific tools with clear data terms, and get informed consent where your jurisdiction's guidance calls for it.
- ABA Formal Opinion 512 says you must understand the tools well enough to use them competently, supervise how staff use them, and bill fairly: you can't charge hourly for time the AI saved you.
- AI can't give legal advice or take professional responsibility. A non-lawyer client using a chatbot is not represented, and neither is your client if you rubber-stamp whatever the model says.
- Jurisdiction matters. A model trained mostly on federal and big-state material will happily apply the wrong state's rule or an overruled case. Always confirm the law for your jurisdiction and its current status.
Will AI replace lawyers?
Lawyers score 46% on the Obsolescence Index (Endangered). The first tasks to go: first drafts of contracts, memos, and standard pleadings, and legal research and case law summaries.
Questions the Humans Keep Asking
What are the best AI tools for lawyers?
The Overlord's stack for lawyers: Claude (drafting, contract review and summarising long records); ChatGPT (client explainers, letters and quick drafting help); Perplexity (orienting in an unfamiliar area before proper research); Fireflies.ai (transcribing client calls and meetings, with consent); Superhuman (drafting routine email replies and clearing the inbox). Specialist options include CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters), Lexis+ AI, Harvey, Spellbook, Clio.
What is the best AI for lawyers?
For research, use a legal platform built on real case law, such as Lexis+ AI or CoCounsel on Westlaw, because general chatbots invent citations. For drafting, summarising and contract review, a strong general model like Claude or ChatGPT on a business plan with no training on your data covers most needs, with Spellbook or Harvey if you want something built for legal workflows.
Is it ethical for lawyers to use ChatGPT?
Yes, if you follow the same rules that apply to everything else you do. ABA Formal Opinion 512 says lawyers must understand the tool, protect client confidences, verify the output, supervise staff use and bill reasonably. Many state bars have issued their own guidance too, so check yours.
Can I put client documents into an AI tool?
Only if the tool's terms protect them. Avoid consumer plans that may use your inputs for training, prefer enterprise or legal-specific products with confidentiality commitments, redact names where you can, and consider whether the client should be told or asked first.