Most lawyers are using AI but not many can use it well, says lawyer turned writer

While artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) have been widely adopted in legal practice to save on costs and time, most lawyers are not using AI well, said Ralph Grayden, a lawyer turned writer with Antelope Media.

A media release from Antelope Media called attention to an article citing recent research finding that one in two lawyers in Australia and New Zealand have utilised generative AI for their work.

However, Grayden claimed that most lawyers have yet to put in the effort needed to experiment and master the use of this tool. Such lawyers “run the risk of being left behind,” he said. AI is not meant to be “a magic box” for lawyers, he added.

“Most try it once or twice, decide that the results are subpar, and then forget about it altogether and just go back to the way they’ve always done things,” Grayden said in the media release. “You can’t simply ask an LLM to research or write and expect it to produce anything of quality.”

Grayden identified common mistakes made by lawyers using AI. These include failing to prompt AI on how to answer questions before asking them, adopting an “all or nothing” mindset, relying on generic rather than tailored prompts, failing to fact-check and to refine the output, and failing to integrate AI into their workflow. He then noted that these mistakes are easy to overcome.

“If you don’t use AI the right way, you’ll only ever produce mediocre, inaccurate and ultimately unusable results,” Grayden said in the media release. “However, it doesn’t take much to go from not using it at all to making it an indispensable ally in your work processes.”

Grayden shared that he would be hosting a 60-minute paid webinar called “Writing With AI for Lawyers” on 10 October and on 12 November. Through this masterclass, which is designed for Australian lawyers, he aims to show them what they need to do to get the most out of AI.

According to Grayden, if lawyers could learn how to interrogate, instruct, and utilise AI tools properly, they can potentially save time, fill their own knowledge gaps, and produce more rigorous work.

He accepted that AI falls short in certain ways – including through its “sometimes dubious research” – but insisted that it would not take much effort for lawyers to turn things around.

Grayden began working at a large commercial law firm in Australia before pivoting his career and becoming a copywriter and content strategist. With Antelope Media, he seeks to help lawyers and other professionals effectively use AI in their daily writing work.