Bench & Bar January/February 2025

ABOUT THE AUTHOR SUSAN TANNER is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Louisville, spe cializing in legal rhetoric, writing, and the impact of technology on the legal profession. Dr. Tanner frequently speaks nationally on the use of Generative AI in the legal field, helping practitioners understand and effectively leverage AI tools to enhance their work, while addressing the ethical considerations and professional responsibilities that come with integrating AI into legal practice.

ENDNOTES 1 Invention, an ancient rhetorical concept and one of the five canons of classical rhetoric, is arguably the most important part of writ ing because it involves generating ideas, arguments, and insights that form the foundation of any effective piece of communication.

because of the certainty with which it states propositions, might fool you into thinking it’s right. Second, GenAI will miss good arguments and nuanced interpretation. We need to do the hard work of “inven tion” here. 1 To address these challenges and enhance the quality of AI’s output, apply the principles of the rhetorical situation in the prompting and writing process. USE THE RHETORICAL SITUATION The rhetorical situation is a term in rhet oric that refers to what all skilled writers analyze when they sit down to compose an important document. It involves evaluating the relationship between the author, audi ence, purpose, scope, context, and exigence. For instance, the way a lawyer presents a case to a judge differs significantly from how they might explain legal matters to a client. And so, we must prompt GenAI to account for the rhetorical situation as well. Because GenAI is built on pattern recogni tion, it works best when you provide clear, specific instructions about the context in which you’re writing. Be explicit about your purpose, audience, genre, and who you are as the author. For example, you might prompt the AI by saying: “Act as a senior attorney with experience in personal injury law [author]. Draft a letter to my client, who has a college degree but no legal training [audience], updating her on her case. Use the outline I’ve uploaded, but focus on only the most important issues [content].” Don’t assume that because you are always the same person that you are always the same author. Your relationship to your audi ence and message is important. Define the perspective or tone that reflects your intent. Are you writing in a professional capacity? Acting as a mentor or friend? Do you want to sound formal, approachable, or compas sionate? These details guide the AI to align its tone and style with your needs.

A helpful tip: GenAI can assist in identify ing and refining your tone. Upload examples of your previous writing and ask the AI to analyze the tone and style. Save the resulting description to use in future prompts, creat ing a tailored “master prompt” that captures your unique voice. Finally, remember that the “chat” in ChatGPT is not superfluous. Unlike systems that extract pre-written responses, GenAI generates new content based on your input. Your prompts directly shape its output, so don’t hesitate to refine or redirect. For instance, you might say: “Reorganize this to start with the most recent update,” or “Avoid using legalese,” or even “You misstated the rule from Jones; use this rule instead.” By treating the interaction as a dialogue, you can guide the AI to produce content that meets your expectations and effectively communicates your message. Similarly, you can prompt GenAI to ask you clarifying questions or provide com ments and suggestions for revisions. You might start with: “I’ve created this outline for an upcoming presentation. What am I missing?” or “Give me five options for a catchy title for this bar journal article.” or “What can I do to improve the flow of these paragraphs?” To build confidence with GenAI, start by having it rework your existing documents. When you know both the substance and the rhetorical demands of a piece—its genre conventions, audience expectations, and strategic purpose—you’re better equipped to evaluate the AI’s output and catch poten tial missteps. As you practice with familiar materials, you’ll develop an intuitive sense of how to leverage GenAI effectively while maintaining the high standards your legal practice demands.

situations while maintaining professional tone and formal conventions. This applies across the spectrum of legal letters - client updates, settlement offers, engagement let ters - each with its own recognized patterns that GenAI can readily reproduce. The key is that you’re providing the substance (the specific situation, demands, or updates) while GenAI helps ensure it’s expressed in appropriate professional language and format. Making GenAI Work for You: Practical Tips The key to effective GenAI use is matching the tool to the task. For routine documents with established formats, let GenAI handle the initial draft while you focus on sub stance. It will probably be pretty good at structure and conventional language, but always verify the legal content. For novel issues, use GenAI differently - as an organizing and writing tool rather than a drafter. Provide clear outlines and use it to help express your ideas professionally, but keep tight control over the logical flow and legal reasoning. The reason for this is two fold: first GenAI will get things wrong and

31 bench & bar