How I DON'T use AI as an in-house lawyer
How I DON'T use AI as an in-house lawyer
I use AI. A LOT. But there are plenty of times when I don’t bother. It’s not a philosophical stance. Sometimes AI is simply not the fastest, safest, or most useful tool for the job.
A few examples:
1. When I already know the answer.
If the question is straightforward and I can answer it in 30 seconds, I do not need to spend 5 minutes writing a prompt, checking the output, and cleaning it up.
Sometimes the fastest tool is still your own brain.
2. When the facts are too thin.
AI is great at organizing information.
It’s great at understanding information.
It’s great at summarizing information.
It is not great at magically knowing the missing facts.
The number one rule about AI prompts is CONTEXT. If someone sends me “Can we do this?” with no context, I usually need to ask better questions first. Otherwise AI is just helping me analyze a mystery box.
Bonus: You CAN ask AI to draft follow up questions that help you fill in the missing facts.
3. When the issue is mostly political, not legal.
A lot of in-house work is less about the contract or the risks and more about:
Who owns this relationship?
Who promised what?
Who is already annoyed?
Who needs to be brought along before we respond?
The point? AI is not great at reading the room.
4. When I need company history.
Sometimes the answer depends on something that happened six months ago in a meeting, a prior exception, a sensitive customer issue, or a business preference that is not written anywhere useful.
AI does not know that unless I tell it.
And if I have to explain the entire backstory, sometimes I might as well just do the analysis myself.
5. When the work needs my voice.
Ok, yes, I use AI to draft my work emails. I tend to be a warm, casual person and AI is very helpful in assisting me meet the appropriate business tone.
But my LinkedIn posts? I always take the first pass.
Creative writing (I dabble 🙂)? I don’t use AI for anything except as an easier to use thesaurus. Not even editing. Not even outlines. It’s too easy to lose my voice which is death in creative writing.
For me, AI is most useful when the work is messy, repetitive, long, scattered, or mentally draining. It is less useful when the work is quick, context-heavy, relationship-sensitive, already clear, or deeply personal.
#LegalAI #InHouseCounsel #AIOverreliance