CBA Record November-December 2024

nology to do this work for us. We are not in a position to “check AI’s work” if we don’t have a grasp of how the product is supposed to look. And as lawyers, our eth ical obligations still fall back upon us. We cannot and should not “blame AI” if we use a bad case in a submission to the court. Katherine Hanson, The Law Offices of Chicago-Kent Clifford Law Offices has formed an AI Task Force that continually gathers information to keep attorneys and staff updated on the latest uses of AI that

NOTA BENE BY KATHLEEN DILLON NARKO AI Benchmark: Thoughts on Generative AI and Legal Writing

T alk about Generative Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. I want to narrow the discussion to law practice, particularly legal research and writing. Two major legal research data bases, Thomson Reuters/Westlaw and Lexis, are devoting lots of resources to AI. Thomson Reuters paid $650 million for Casetext last year and has launched its new AI product, CoCounsel. Similarly, Lexis has launched its Lexis+ AI tool. Both services limit AI to their databases and hope to avoid the problem of hallu cination or case fabrication. Both services see a transformative role of AI in the legal profession, with AI doing much of our research and writing for us. Where are we now? Are Chicago lawyers ready to adopt AI in full? I did an unscientific poll of the CBA Record Editorial Board and received a range of responses. I intend this column as a benchmark. Let’s see where we are now and revisit this in a year or two. We are at an inflection point with AI. Many of the comments identify shortcomings today. Some of the comments point to a future of increasing use of AI. And perhaps there are some areas humans should always control. For me, AI is a helpful tool. Lawyers should learn how to use it, just as we learned to use computer-assisted legal research a generation ago. It can help us serve our clients more effectively and effi ciently, but right now, it has limitations.

We need to keep human lawyers and our humanity involved.

Find out what AI can do but be cautious

impact law firms and client relations The AI Task Force meets from time to time to brainstorm what tools best serve our clients, but until now our use has been restricted, given that many AI companies are still working on confidentiality and privacy. Pamela Menaker, Clifford Law Offices Disclose your use of AI to clients Lawyers should consider disclosing their use of Generative AI to their clients under a recent ABA Formal Opinion. (See Trisha Rich’s Practical Ethics, CBA Record , Sep tember/October 2024.) We include language in our engage ment letters disclosing our firm’s use of

I like to wait and see how certain tech nologies develop—and what risks or chal lenges emerge—before adopting them. I also believe that humans are the backstop of technology and its uses. I believe tech nology should be viewed as a tool and not a surrogate for our own innovation and work. As such, we ought to do our best to gain competency before relying on tech

Kathleen Dillon Narko is a Clinical Professor of Law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and a member of the CBA Record Editorial Board.

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