This is NOT legal advice. These are not endorsements. Check your state bar and ABA rules. Most states are still updating their guidance on AI.

AI can help with marketing and intake. But only if you stay in control. No shortcuts. No assumptions.

Do’s

Treat AI like a tool, not a shortcut
AI is not magic. It will not solve bad process. It just speeds things up. Without review, it creates more problems than it solves.

Use AI for intake and lead handling
Chatbots, phone prompts, and smart forms are low risk. They can answer common questions or guide leads without touching case data.

Give staff refined, approved prompts
Do not assume people know how to use AI. Create templates. Adjust them over time. Train based on results.

Test AI for demand drafts or summaries with strict review
Start with one case type. Build a checklist. Use one reviewer. If it works, then scale. This only works when you control the structure.

Export data for AI use. Do not run it inside your CRM
Keep the CRM clean. Run AI tasks separately, inside systems you own or manage. Review before importing back in.

Weekly Conversations to discuss and improve.
Look at speed, output quality, accuracy, and mistakes. You need real data to know if AI is helping or hurting.

Don’t

Buy licenses before you test
Start with one or two people. See if and how it can actually help. Most tools charge per seat and make some people sign longterm contract terms. Overcommitting, wastes budget fast.

Let staff write their own prompts, even in private tools
Most employees don’t know how to use AI well. You will get vague output, missed context, or tone that does not match the firm. If you do not guide the prompts, the AI fills in the blanks with junk.

Use AI features inside your CRM
If you are already doing this, be cautious. If you are thinking about it, don’t. Tools like Filevine charge more for AI than they do for human users. You are better off exporting data, running it through a private system you control, and reviewing the result before bringing it back in.

Paste client info into public tools
No client names. No case details. No summaries with dates or facts. Even if it seems anonymized, you cannot trust where that data is going.
Not legal advice: Attorney-client privilege does not clearly apply to these tools. The rules are not set. That is why we recommend enterprise-level environments where you control the access, storage, and retention. If the rules catch up later, this is your best shot at showing responsible handling.

Publish AI-written content without editing
Google penalties are real. So is the damage to your reputation. Clients can tell. Use AI to draft, not to publish.