In a meeting with an AI-Startup Founder this quarter, I learned that they had developed their entire legal strategy and legal ops using Claude. I’m talking about everything from contracts, to trademark, and governance policies. I was to come onboard to do a comprehensive review of the entire legal backend against the startups practice. While AI seemed to get them up and running very quickly, it created a bottleneck for scaling. I realized it would be simpler to build a new AI system from the ground up than to fix the existing one.
Three cases this year have provided answers to some of the burning questions I have thought about while working with clients.
Burning Questions this Issue addresses
When artificial intelligence interprets a contractual document and provides a "tailored legal conclusion," does this constitute the unauthorized practice of law?
Under what jurisdictional authority or professional license is such an interpretation permitted?
Furthermore, who bears the professional liability—and to what extent—when AI functions as legal counsel or a near substitute thereof and commits errors that result in legally fatal defects in a client's position?
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