A slightly uncomfortable observation from my practice is that some of the work clients do with AI to save legal fees ends up creating confusing, incomplete and irrelevant issue handling and also costing them more.
I understand the appeal with using AI in the context of business law, not least in relation to drafting and reviewing contracts and arguing in a dispute. You want to move things forward, prepare a first draft or give your lawyer a structured response, and you are trying to be helpfull, show commercially sensible and experienced mindset - and you are trying to be cost efficient.
But a polished - but not correctly scoped/prompted and adjusted - document can take longer to fix than a rough one takes to write. The same goes for the AI feedback clients send in relation to a draft - when I as a lawyer need to spend more time going back to issues already adressed with the client and “again” explaining why “that” AI bullet-point position will not work in their specific case.
Simply put - the AI generated draft may assume the wrong legal framework, overlook a crucial fact or reintroduce a position we have already discussed and rejected. A seemingly small addition may change the commercial deal to your disadvantage.
Before I can use it, I need to work out which parts reflect your actual instructions, which came from the incomplete prompting, and which were part simply generated by AI. Then I need to explain the problems and rebuild the text around the circumstances. Just as me responding to a 15 item issues list over an email that is clearly AI (not you the client) showing how “smart” it is searching for weaknesses and loopholes.
All of this is also qualified and billable legal work.
The most difficult issue arises when AI starts answering questions that only the client can answer.
When I ask what happened in a meeting, what you understood when you signed or why you agreed to a particular term, I need your recollection. In your own words, including the gaps and uncertainty. When I ask what your best outcome is, what risk tolerans you have and what other concerns (such as you wanting a long-term relationship, you aiming for a fundraising within short, you having no other supplier optiohn, you not having liquidity etc) - I need your response, even if its not perfect even if you feel unsure what to respond. It is your business and your future we are looking to solve and protect, not a general AI assumed situation.
An AI-generated response can turn “I think we discussed this” into a confident account of what was agreed and it can send the message to your lawyer that there is a plausible explanation that you never actually would agree with if you understood the full picture.
The wording becomes clearer while the underlying information becomes less reliable.
As trusted advisors, we work directly with my clients. Understanding the facts, the business and the people involved is central to the advice we give. If that understanding is filtered through generated answers, we can spend more time untangling the instructions than resolving the issue. And I have seen several court cases becoming at risk just because the client or the counterparty used AI to summarize the history and the evidence instead of giving authentic answerews.
There are useful ways to use AI when you are organising documents, preparing a chronology for you to check, or helping you identify questions to ask.
But please read what you send and check every factual statement you are signing-off on. Furthermore please tell me where you are uncertain, and if AI has materially drafted your response, say so. This way my work can become more efficient without waisting time and energy and without risking to move towards a contract, an argument, a deal structure or a statement that are not in your best interest.
I would much rather receive a messy email that accurately tells me what happened than three polished pages that leave me guessing what the client really has as strengths and what it has as real weaknesses.
You do not need to sound like a lawyer when you write to yours. You need to tell me what I need to know. That is often where the real savings begin as well as the best outcome for you.
Lets talk business.
Kat Strandberg