Attorney
AI for small law firms, in plain English.
Solo and small-firm attorneys are among the highest AI adopters in the profession, but the rollout is informal and under-governed. The tools below are the ones small firms actually use, grouped by what they help you do. The guardrails matter here more than anywhere, so read the best-practices section.
Try these first
Four things small-firm attorneys do all the time, each as a ready-made prompt. Copy one, paste it into a free AI tool, swap in the details in brackets, and you are done in under a minute. Keep privileged facts out of public tools, and verify every output yourself.
Explain a legal concept to a client
A complex rule or ruling rewritten so a client understands it in one read.
ChatGPT or Claude (free)You are helping a licensed attorney explain a legal concept to a client. Rewrite the concept or ruling below in plain English a non-lawyer would understand. Short, no Latin, no jargon. Rules: - Use only the general information I provide. Do not include client-identifying or privileged facts. - Do not invent law, statutes, or case names. - Explain what it means and why it matters to the client in everyday words. Concept to explain: [paste the concept, rule, or ruling]
Summarize a long document before a call
A long contract or email chain boiled down to the points that matter for your call.
ChatGPT or Claude (free)Summarize the document below before my client call. First, remove or redact any client-identifying or privileged details before pasting, and use general terms. Give me: a three-sentence overview, the five most important points, and any dates or obligations to flag. I will verify the summary against the source before relying on it. Document: [paste the contract, email chain, or filing text]
Write a blog post or client FAQ
A plain-English article or FAQ on your practice area, ready to edit and post.
ChatGPT or Claude (free)Write a plain-English [blog post / client FAQ] for my firm on the topic below. Topic: [e.g., what to expect in a first DUI case, how probate works in our state, what an LLC operating agreement covers] Rules: - General educational information only, not legal advice, and say so in one line. - Do not cite specific cases, statutes, or numbers I did not give you. - Warm, clear, and helpful. Around 400 words with short sections. Audience: [e.g., small business owners, families, first-time clients]
Draft a client update letter from notes
A clear, warm status letter to a client, built from your short notes.
ChatGPT or Claude (free)Draft a plain-English status update letter to a client from my notes. My notes: [paste short bullet notes on where the matter stands and the next step] Rules: - Use only the facts in my notes. Do not invent law, citations, deadlines, or case names. - Warm and clear, no jargon, under 250 words. - Close with the next step and an invitation to call with questions. I will review and verify everything before it goes out.
Top AI tools for attorney
Grouped by what they help you do. Each one links out to a real how-to, no fluff.
General AI assistants
ChatGPT
First-pass letters and emails, document summaries, and plain-English client explanations. The most-used tool among solos.
Claude
Drafting, summarizing, and plain-English rewriting. Strong on long documents. Not legal-specific.
Legal research
CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters)
AI on Westlaw and Practical Law: research memos, document review, deposition prep, and contract analysis.
Lexis+ with Protege
AI legal research and drafting on the Lexis database with citations. Rebranded from Lexis+ AI in early 2026.
Westlaw Precision AI
AI-assisted case-law research inside Westlaw, for litigation-heavy work.
Paxton AI
AI assistant for solo and small firms: drafting, summarizing, and case-law search with citations. Published pricing.
Descrybe.ai
Free plain-English legal research, live in several states (NY, CA, FL, TX, AZ).
Drafting and document review
Spellbook
Word add-in trained on contracts: clause suggestions, flags unusual terms, redlines, and drafts without leaving Word.
MyCase IQ
AI inside the MyCase practice-management platform: draft, summarize, and edit in the case file.
Practice management and intake
Clio Duo
AI inside Clio using only the firm's own data: case summaries, drafting, time-entry help, and cross-matter search.
Smith.ai
AI-plus-human virtual receptionist that answers and screens new-client calls. Popular with solos.
What you can do with AI here
- Draft a first-pass demand letter from intake facts and a medical chronology.
- Generate estate-planning documents from an intake questionnaire with jurisdiction logic.
- Summarize a long file, contract, or email chain before a client call.
- Draft family-law documents from client data and court-form requirements.
- Translate a dense legal concept or ruling into plain language for a client.
- Write firm marketing: website copy, blog posts, newsletters, and FAQs.
- Capture and screen new-client calls around the clock with an AI receptionist.
Start safely
Best practices
Hallucinated citations get lawyers sanctioned
This is the headline risk. In Mata v. Avianca two attorneys submitted six fake AI-invented cases and were fined. In 2025 an attorney was fined $10,000 and referred to the bar after 21 of 23 case quotes in a brief were fabricated. Never file AI-generated citations without pulling and reading the actual case.
Verify every output
AI states fabricated law confidently. ABA Formal Opinion 512 requires attorneys to independently verify all AI output. The lawyer's review is the product.
Protect confidentiality and privilege
Free public AI tools are neither private nor confidential. Do not paste client-identifying or privileged facts into a public tool without informed consent and proper safeguards.
Follow ABA and state-bar ethics guidance
ABA Opinion 512 (2024) is the national framework, and many states have issued their own. It covers competence, confidentiality, client communication, candor, supervision, and reasonable fees.
Use AI for the draft, never the authority
Use it for first drafts and grunt work. Be transparent with clients and do not bill AI-accelerated work as if it took the old amount of time.
Resources
- Damien Charlotin AI Hallucination Cases database ↗
- LawNext (legal-tech news and podcast) ↗
- Lawyerist AI tool reviews ↗
- Clio AI for lawyers hub ↗
- Peer communities: Reddit r/Lawyertalk and r/LawFirm
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