CBA Record March-April 2026

By Sharon Nolan, CBA Marketing Director C BA President Judge Nichole C. Patton’s 2025-2026 ini tiative, AI 2035: The Legal Profession and the Judiciary in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, is off and running. This series features expert-led sessions that critically examine AI and offer practical guidance for it. Past sessions are available on The AI & Legal Practice and Litigation Committee welcomed Kathleen Brown, Associate Dean for Information Resources at the Charleston School of Law, and Michael Quartararo, presi dent of the Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists, to examine how AI is changing e-discovery. Quartararo kicked off the presentation with a review of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model, a framework for what happens during e-discovery in terms of workflow and output. Brown followed with an overview of metadata—information that is attached to e-discovery content (such as sender data, date, embedded comments)—and why it matters in relation to chain of custody, case strategy, compliance, and other matters. Conversation then moved to how AI is being used in e-dis covery to organize, categorize, and store data. Speakers pointed out that in discovery, genAI is extremely helpful in document review because it excels at summarization, pattern recognition, and establishing trends in data sets. In addition to including a guide to creating genAI prompts, the session also covered e-discovery risks and best practices. Key takeaways included: l Verify AI tool compliance with firm policies and client require ments. l M ake sure that staff is trained in how to use AI tools; remove sensitive data before using external tools; and record which tools you are using and for what purpose (usage documentation). l Use legal-specific tools and avoid public sites; mandate human review and output verification; and document metadata pres ervation (verify that the e-discovery platform maintains all metadata chains through processing). l Make sure you know how to avoid the risk of losing critical chain-of-custody data during processing. Committee leadership includes Judge Michael J. Zink, Circuit Court of Cook County; Judge Loveleen Ahuja, Circuit Court of Cook County; Roman Solowski, Attorney at Law; and Peter demand at Learn.ChicagoBar.org. AI, E-Discovery, and Metadata

McNamara, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 399. Designing for Inclusion: How AI Interfaces Help or Hinder Self-Representation The AI and Access to Justice Committee convened to look at how AI can best help self-represented litigants (SRLs). Teri Ross, Exec utive Director, and Gwen Daniels, Deputy Director, of Illinois Legal Aid Online, spoke and provided examples of how SRLs are using general AI (e.g., ChatGPT) and purpose-built legal aid tools (e.g., chatbots, virtual legal assistants, trial tools) for legal explanations and instruction. They noted that the biggest challenge facing courts and legal aid organizations is catching up with how litigants are using these tools while reducing the chance of harm. Several risks noted included the ability to write good prompts, unverified results, lack of confidentiality and personalized results, and design and ethical challenges. Key takeaways included: l When building an AI tool, organizations need to be concerned about inaccurate or misleading output (such as hallucinations and factual errors); bias and discrimination; transparency and clarity about what the tool can and cannot do; and the need for secure hosting and meaningful user consent. l Be wary of jurisdictional errors. A system built for one location may misapply laws that only apply elsewhere. Use location specific information and disclaimers. l AI tools backed by courts and legal aid organizations must build trust through human verified content that is regularly reviewed as well as transparency about who owns the content and information sources. l The tools must safeguard user privacy and provide the oppor tunity for user feedback. Examples of AI tools in the legal aid ecosystem include: l A sk ILAO by Legal Aid Online (https://www.illinoislegalaid. org) l L ia by Legal Aid of North Carolina (https://legalaidnc.org/lia) l B eagle by the People’s Law School of British Columbia (https:// beagle.peopleslawschool.ca). Committee leadership includes Circuit Court of Cook County Judge Corinne Heggie and Alexis Crawford Douglas, K&L Gates.

12 March/April 2026