AI bot techniques for lawyers
Practical, low-risk ways attorneys, paralegals and legal-ops staff are using AI bots. Each one keeps a person in charge of the result.
1. First drafts of routine documents
Engagement letters, demand letters, discovery requests and NDAs from your own approved templates. Paste the template, list the variables, and ask the bot to fill and flag anything missing.
2. Summarize long records
Deposition transcripts, contracts and production sets: ask for a page-cited summary so every point can be checked against the source.
3. Issue spotting, not answers
Give a fact pattern (de-identified) and ask for issues and questions to research. Treat the output as a checklist, then do the research in a real citator.
4. Contract clause comparison
Paste two versions of a clause and ask for a redline-style list of differences and the risk each change shifts.
5. Plain-language client explanations
Turn a dense memo into a client-friendly email at an eighth-grade reading level, then edit it yourself.
6. Timeline and chronology building
Ask the bot to turn a stack of emails or notes into a dated chronology with a source for each entry.
Ready-made versions are on the starter prompts page.
Accuracy and ethics, every time
- Confidentiality: never paste client, patient, student, employee or customer personal data (PII/PHI) into a public bot. Use tools your organization has approved, with contract terms that cover data use, or remove identifiers first.
- Verify everything: bots can invent citations, case law, statistics, doses, code sections and quotes that look real. Check each one against the original source before you rely on it.
- Not professional advice: these tutorials teach you how to use AI tools. They are not legal, medical, tax, financial or engineering advice.
- A human professional is responsible: the licensed or accountable person reviews, decides and signs. The bot drafts; you own the result.
- Prices change: we don't list product prices. Check each vendor's official pricing page.
Official sources for this section
- ABA Model Rule 1.1: Competence: including Comment 8 on technology
- ABA Model Rule 1.6: Confidentiality of Information: reasonable efforts to prevent disclosure
- ABA Formal Opinion 512: Generative AI Tools (PDF): July 2024
- ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct: full table of contents
- ABA news: first ethics guidance on AI tools: summary of Opinion 512
- Free Law Project / CourtListener: free case law search to check citations
Links checked Oct 30, 2026. Rules differ by state and country; follow your licensing body and employer policy.
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