Choosing the Right AI Tools for Legal
Navigate the growing landscape of legal AI tools — from general-purpose models to specialist platforms — and understand what questions to ask before adopting any tool.
In practice: Contract first-pass: 2–4 hours → 20 minutes
Your version of this lesson adapts to your role. After the 3-minute assessment, examples, scenarios, and exercises are tailored specifically to your job function and experience level.
Personalise →Two Categories of Legal AI
General-purpose LLMs (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) excel at drafting, summarisation, and analysis. They are flexible and powerful but have no built-in legal database access.
Legal-specific platforms (Harvey, Clio Duo, Westlaw AI, LexisNexis+AI) combine LLM capability with legal database integration. They offer citation checking, jurisdiction awareness, and practice management integration.
What to Evaluate Before Adopting Any Tool
Data Governance
- ■Where is data processed and stored?
- ■Is your input used to train the model?
- ■Are there enterprise data protection agreements available?
- ■What certifications does the vendor hold (SOC 2, ISO 27001)?
Accuracy and Hallucination Risk
- ■Does the tool cite its sources?
- ■Can you verify outputs against authoritative databases?
- ■How does the vendor handle known hallucination risks?
Integration
- ■Does it connect to your matter management system?
- ■Can it access documents from your DMS without manual uploads?
- ■How does it handle billing and time recording?
The General-Purpose Workflow
For most legal teams without a specialist platform, a practical workflow is:
- ■Use Claude or ChatGPT for drafting, analysis, and summarisation
- ■Verify all legal references in Westlaw, LexisNexis, or official government sources
- ■Apply your professional judgment to AI outputs before any client use
What to Avoid
- ■Using free-tier tools for client-related work (data protection issues)
- ■Treating AI-generated research as a substitute for verified primary sources
- ■Adopting a tool before getting IT and risk management sign-off
Key Takeaways
- ■General-purpose LLMs and legal-specific platforms serve different use cases
- ■Evaluate any tool on data governance, accuracy, and integration before adoption
- ■Enterprise agreements with appropriate data protections are required for client work
- ■Specialist legal AI adds citation verification that general-purpose tools cannot provide
- ■Always verify legal references through authoritative databases regardless of which AI tool you use
Before you practise
What is one specific task in your current role where you could apply what you just learned?
Ready to put it into practice?
Apply what you just learned with a hands-on exercise.