AI Prompts and AI Tools for Lawyers

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how professionals work, and lawyers are no exception. Despite the strict attention to detail that practicing law requires, AI has proven itself to be a useful tool for the legal community. Attorneys now have a range of AI tools at their disposal that can help save them both valuable time and money. From research to document drafting, AI is making the long and arduous legal process faster and more efficient than ever. AI for lawyers can also improve client communication and the seemingly endless clerical work involved in any legal practice. The prevalence of AI tools and AI prompts for lawyers is only likely to grow as the technology improves and people find more ways that AI can make their lives easier.

The Benefits of AI for Lawyers

Practicing law can be a tedious job. From careful contract creation to time-consuming research, every second counts when working on a case. Fortunately, the use of AI in law can provide attorneys with several benefits that streamline workflows.

E-Discovery and Due Diligence

Due diligence and electronic discovery, or e-discovery, have long been lengthy and expensive processes. Reviewing and scanning mountains of documents in search of pertinent information can take up quite a lot of time. That no longer has to be the case with AI for lawyers. AI tools allow lawyers to input parameters for reviewing documents and receive reports back in a fraction of the time. While it is good practice to have a human review the information afterward, it can still save lawyers large chunks of time and effort.

Drafting Legal Documents

Much of an attorney's time is spent drafting and editing legal documents. Fortunately, one of AI's most praised features is text generation. While AI tools should not create the final version, they can significantly speed up the process by generating a first draft in mere minutes, if not seconds. This AI-based approach also helps to ensure that documents are free of grammar and syntax errors, allowing lawyers to present a strong case through clearly articulated documents.

Document Management Automation

Another way AI can help with the heaps of legal documents every lawyer has to deal with is through automated management. A cluttered document management system makes it exceedingly difficult to find specific documents quickly, which can waste a lot of valuable time. AI tools for lawyers can streamline document management by automating organization, decreasing retrieval times, detecting errors, and improving searchability through information identification.

Legal Research

Proper legal research is essential for success, but it is also one of the most time-consuming tasks for a lawyer. Thanks to its advanced search algorithms and understanding of complex legal terms, using AI in law can help save lawyers significant time during research.

Contract Review

As the popular adage goes, the devil is in the details. Nowhere is this saying more applicable than contracts. Contract review requires a meticulous nature, since even the slightest change can have a profound difference. AI tools for lawyers can quickly analyze and summarize contracts by detecting missing clauses, inconsistencies, or potentially problematic wordings. As with most AI uses for lawyers, this approach will not remove the need for a human eye. However, it can significantly increase the speed of the process overall.

Client Communications

Client interaction will always be a necessary step of the legal process. However, with AI-powered chatbots and AI-generated forms, lawyers can automate many of these interactions without lessening the value of the information clients receive. AI tools can provide clients with instant answers to their inquiries, schedule appointments, automate the intake process, and pre-qualify clients by learning the particulars of their cases.

AI Prompts for Lawyers

There are several AI tools for lawyers available, but one of the most popular at the moment is ChatGPT. The reason for this is the versatility that ChatGPT offers. While it may not be an AI tool designed specifically for lawyers, it can be useful in several ways.

To get the most out of ChatGPT, you need to understand how to craft prompts efficiently. Prompts are the instructions you feed an AI to get the desired response. However, since AI is still in its early stages, you can't leave much room for interpretation when writing your prompt. Much like legal practice, you need to pay close attention to the details to be successful.

Some tips to follow when crafting prompts for lawyers include:

• Be specific and clear with your prompt.
• Phrase your request as a command rather than a question.
• Provide ChatGPT with the necessary context for your prompt.
• Don't ask leading questions. These could influence its response.
• Reword your prompt as many times as necessary to ensure that ChatGPT's response is suitable for your needs.

With these tips in mind, you can start writing prompts to improve your workflow efficiency. You could have it create first drafts, review legal documents for errors, assist with research, or suggest language for a contract.

Examples of prompts for lawyers include:

• Draft a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for [party 1] and [party 2].
• Provide me with any relevant case law regarding [legal issue].
• Proofread this text: [contract or other legal document text].
• Draft a will.
• Create a template for [type of legal document].
• Summarize [case].
• Describe the key legal arguments relating to [legal issue].

These are just a few ways ChatGPT prompts can help make your work more efficient. For most prompts, if not all, you should still have a human review ChatGPT's response for errors. However, it's easy to see how incorporating ChatGPT can significantly increase the speed of a lawyer's work.

AI Tools for Lawyers

There are several AI tools for lawyers already out there to be explored. Some have general uses, while others have been designed specifically for the implementation of AI in law.

• ChatGPT: This language-based AI can proofread, draft, and review all manner of legal documents, from NDAs to blog posts for the firm's website.
• CoCounsel: CoCounsel is an AI-powered legal research tool designed to help lawyers locate relevant cases, review documents to find important details, prepare for depositions, and find non-compliant clauses in contracts.
• Diligen: This AI tool improves the due diligence process through efficient and accurate contract review. Diligen can identify specific provisions, clauses, or changes in contracts and summarize its findings.
• Smith.ai: Smith.ai provides law firms with AI-powered chatbots and virtual receptionists to handle incoming calls.
• Lex Machina: Lex Machina helps lawyers create legal strategies by analyzing several types of data. It reviews the behavior and rulings of judges, examines cases the opposing counsel has worked on, and creates a list of any related cases.
• Evisort: Evisort specializes in contract creation and management. This AI-powered software can automate management, improve data search, extract relevant details, and accurately track a contract's progress from completion through approval.
• Everlaw: Everlaw is one of the most powerful e-discovery platforms available. This cloud-based platform makes it easy to perform research, analyze testimony, and prepare arguments. Everlaw can also translate documents into 109 different languages.