Justia Connect Webinars Practical AI for Lawyers: Hands-On Tools for Daily Practice

Practical AI for Lawyers: Hands-On Tools for Daily Practice

Generative AI has captured the imaginations of lawyers worldwide – but when it comes to practice, many lawyers have not progressed beyond ChatGPT. In this program, legal tech entrepreneur and law professor Ed Walters will explain how these tools work in practical terms and will show actual AI products and practical work they can do. He will talk about the risks, benefits, and opportunities for these tools, not in theory, but in everyday work.

Topics covered include:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Law Practice Legal Industry Trends Legal Tech

Agenda:

Introduction
- Brief introduction of the presenter
- Agenda for the presentation
AI: Recognizing Patterns

Brief introduction to training data
Hands-on example

LLMs: Generative Pretrained Transformers

Why they are different from earlier models
Examples
Potential in law firms

Risks of General Foundation Models

Example of hallucination
Why foundation models hallucinate

Three Pillars of Responsible AI

Accuracy
Transparency
Confidentiality

Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)

How it works
Why it’s important
How this fights hallucinations

Practical Examples

Research example
Complaint example

Potential Futures – Opportunities and Risks

Questions & Answers (as time permits)

Duration of this webinar: 60 minutes

Originally broadcast: May 07, 2025 9:00 AM PT

Webinar Highlights

This webinar is divided into section summaries, which you can scan for key points and then dive into the sections that interest you the most.

00:00 Introduction and Speaker Overview

Ed Walters is introduced as the speaker, with a background in legal publishing and teaching AI-related courses. Ed begins his presentation by introducing practical AI tools for lawyers, focusing on their real-world applications and limitations. He explains the technology behind generative AI, emphasizing its predictive nature and the importance of understanding its capabilities.

05:32 Understanding AI and Its Applications

Ed discusses the evolution of AI, highlighting reinforcement learning and its application in tasks like electronic discovery. He uses Google Quick Draw as an example to illustrate how AI can recognize patterns and make predictions based on large datasets. Ed explains the concept of generative pre-trained transformers, which are trained on vast amounts of language data. He mentions the potential impact of AI on the legal industry, citing studies that predict significant automation of legal tasks. Ed identifies specific legal tasks ripe for automation, such as document preparation and research, and discusses the transformative potential of AI.

12:06 AI in Legal Practice: Case Study

Ed presents a case study involving Stephen Schwartz and Mata versus Avianca to illustrate the risks of relying on AI for legal research. He describes Schwartz's use of ChatGPT to find legal precedents, highlighting the tool's limitations and the concept of 'hallucination.' Ed explains the traditional approach to legal research, contrasting it with the perceived efficiency of AI tools. He emphasizes the importance of verifying AI-generated information and the potential consequences of failing to do so. Ed discusses the ethical implications of using AI in legal practice, stressing the need for responsible and transparent use of technology.

23:00 Ethical and Responsible AI Use

Ed outlines the hallmarks of responsible and ethical AI use, focusing on accuracy, transparency, and confidentiality. He compares AI tools to food labeling, advocating for informed consumption of legal information. Ed introduces Vincent AI from vLex as a legal-specific tool designed to ensure accuracy and transparency in legal research. He discusses the duty of competence and technological competence, emphasizing the need for lawyers to understand AI tools. Ed highlights the importance of confidentiality and the risks of inadvertently sharing client information with AI models.

32:59 Generative AI Tools and Techniques

Ed explains the concept of vector databases, which index ideas rather than words, creating a map of legal concepts. He describes the process of retrieval-augmented generation, which involves finding relevant documents and generating answers based on them. Ed emphasizes the importance of human judgment in using AI tools, advocating for transparency and accuracy. He discusses the potential of AI to transform legal research, making it more efficient and reliable. Ed highlights the role of AI in contract analysis, demonstrating its ability to identify key obligations and considerations.

52:09 Future Implications and Opportunities

Ed discusses the future implications of AI in legal practice, including changes in training and business models. He highlights the potential for AI to improve access to justice by reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Ed suggests that AI could enable new opportunities for small and medium-sized firms to leverage technology. He emphasizes the importance of adapting to AI advancements and the potential for fixed fee services. Ed concludes by discussing the potential for AI to expand the market for legal services and improve profitability.

57:37 Audience Q&A and Closing Remarks

Ed answers audience questions, addressing topics such as copyright issues, team buy-in, and confidentiality concerns. He discusses the importance of verifying AI-generated research and balancing efficiency with accuracy. Ed explains the potential impact of AI on legal fees and the importance of transparent communication with clients. He compares Vincent AI to other legal research tools, highlighting its strengths and security features.

Please note this AI-generated summary provides a general overview of the webinar but may not capture all details, nuances, or the exact words of the speaker. For complete accuracy, please refer to the original webinar recording.

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credits

*CLE credit is only available to Justia Connect Pros. Not a Pro? Upgrade today>>

California CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Technology in the Practice of Law

Earn Credit Until: June 30, 2026

South Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

Difficulty: All Levels

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2025

North Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Technology Training

Earn Credit Until: February 28, 2026

Texas CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 General

Earn Credit Until: April 30, 2026

This presentation is approved for one hour of Technology in the Practice of Law CLE credit in California, one hour of General CLE credit in South Carolina (all levels), and one hour of Technology Training CLE credit in North Carolina. This course has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of Texas Committee on MCLE in the amount of 1.00 credit hours.

Justia only reports attendance in jurisdictions in which a particular Justia CLE Webinar is officially accredited. Lawyers may need to self-submit their certificates for CLE credit in jurisdictions not listed above.

Note that CLE credit, including partial credit, cannot be earned outside of the relevant accreditation period. To earn credit for a course, a lawyer must watch the entire course within the relevant accreditation period. Lawyers who have viewed a presentation multiple times may not be able to claim credit in their jurisdiction more than once. Justia reserves the right, at its discretion, to grant an attendee partial or no credit, in accordance with viewing duration and other methods of verifying course completion.

At this time, Justia only offers CLE courses officially accredited in certain states. Lawyers may generate a generic attendance certificate to self-submit credit in their own jurisdiction, but Justia does not guarantee that lawyers will receive their desired CLE credit through the self-submission or reciprocity process.

Looking for CLE credit? Visit CLE Dashboard

Speaker

Ed Walters Chief Strategy Officer
vLex

Ed Walters is the Chief Strategy Officer of vLex and the co-founder of Fastcase, a legal publishing company based in Washington, D.C. Fastcase and vLex merged in April 2023 to form one of the world’s fastest-growing legal publishers. Its global law library serves more than 3 million subscribers and includes the law of more than 110 countries in a single platform, comprising more than 1 billion documents. Read More ›

Watch Related Videos

Jul 11, 9am PT CLE

Ruby Powers Powers Strategy Group

Future-Proofing Your Legal Practice Strategic AI Integration for Modern Law Firms

CLE

Sarah Anderson LegallyCyber.com

AI: Legal Developments, Risks & Benefits

Watch Now