AI is quickly reshaping the practice of law, and although many firms are in a hurry to realize its benefits, wise adoption starts with asking the right questions.

Concerns about confidentiality, accuracy, professional responsibility, and protection of client data are legitimate. Asking questions is vital when appraising any technology used for legal work.

At the same time, caution should not become avoidance. Even attorneys who choose not to use AI themselves should understand how the technology works and how it is being used around them. That awareness is increasingly relevant to an attorney’s duty of competence under Rule 1.1, particularly as courts, court staff, opposing counsel, clients, and others around the profession are using AI in their own work. 

As AI technology continues to evolve, more law firms are finding practical ways to apply it in their day-to-day work. At LEAP, we advocate for purposeful adoption: AI should support legal professionals and not replace their expertise, judgment, or professional responsibilities.

Still not sure how to approach legal AI? Let’s clear up seven common misconceptions.

Myth #1: Using AI puts client confidentiality at risk.

The reality: The risk depends heavily on the AI system you use and how it handles your information.

Confidentiality should be one of the first considerations when evaluating AI. But not every AI tool handles information in the same way.

Before using AI with client or matter information, firms should understand where data is processed and stored, who can access it, whether information is used to train models, and what security controls are in place.

Free consumer AI accounts may not provide the level of data protection appropriate for confidential legal work. For example, depending on the provider and user settings, data entered into free versions of tools such as ChatGPT or Claude may be retained or used to help improve their models. For attorneys handling client or matter information, that can create a risk of exposing confidential data outside the protections required for legal work.

Enterprise-grade AI tools can help address this concern by offering stronger data protections, including commitments that customer data will not be used to train AI models. Legal professionals should also look for safeguards such as contractual privacy commitments, encryption, strong access controls, and clear data-retention processes.

Even when using a secure AI system designed for legal work, attorneys retain their professional obligations. Legal professionals should understand how the tool handles data, follow applicable ethics rules and bar requirements, and exercise care when deciding what client information to provide.

Furthermore, LEAP’s AI tools do not use your data, your clients’ data, or your prompts to train AI models. And if you choose to use LawY’s “lawyer-in-the-loop” peer verification, you can mask personally identifiable information within a double-blind review process. The verifier does not know who submitted the query, and you do not know the identity of the reviewer.

Rather than treating all AI tools as equally risky, firms should evaluate each system based on whether it provides the security, privacy, and confidentiality protections appropriate for legal work.

Myth #2: All AI tools are basically the same.

The reality: What an AI system is designed to do—and what information it can work with—can make a significant difference.

“AI” describes a broad category of technology, not a single tool. A consumer chatbot and an AI tool designed for complex legal research may differ significantly in their data protections, sources, functionality, context, and safeguards.

Matter AI, for example, can help users retrieve, summarize, and compare information associated with their LEAP matters, including documents, emails, PDFs, and notes. LawY is designed specifically for legal research and provides cited legal sources along with optional attorney verification in supported areas.

The more useful approach is to evaluate whether a particular AI tool is appropriate for the legal task you want to complete.

Myth #3: You must be tech-savvy to use AI effectively.

The reality: You don’t need technical expertise to start getting useful results from AI.

AI can sound complicated, especially when conversations about prompts, models, and new capabilities are filled with technical terminology. But in practice, using AI can be surprisingly straightforward and accessible.

Ready to see how easy it can be? Try using AI to quickly generate a matter summary, which can help you get up to speed before a client call or meeting. Simply open any LEAP matter and click the “Matter Summary” tab. An AI-generated summary of your matter will appear in seconds, complete with references to help you verify the information. That’s AI supporting your day-to-day legal work.

If you want to take it a step further, try using Matter AI to support other key tasks such as comparing documents, reviewing agreements, creating checklists, and analyzing records. Just open up a matter, select the Matter AI tab, and write a prompt that clearly describes what you need—much like you would explain a task to a colleague.

Here are a few examples:

“Prepare a deposition prep summary for Charlotte Brown. Include a timeline of events relevant to her testimony, key allegations and defenses, important documents, prior statements, and any factual inconsistencies across the matter.”

“Create a funding task list for the Rodrigo estate plan based on the trust, asset information, and client correspondence in this matter. Organize the list by asset type and identify which assets have been funded, which are still outstanding, and the next step for each.”

“Review the medical records in this matter and create a chronological summary of the client’s treatment, including diagnoses, procedures, medications, providers, and significant changes in symptoms or condition.”

From there, you can refine the result by asking follow-up questions, adding context, changing the format, or directing Matter AI to focus on specific details.

Using AI effectively does not require a background in programming or deep technical expertise. There may be a learning curve, but a little practice with prompting and experimenting with different approaches can go a long way toward making AI useful in your day-to-day work. And much like leading a team, getting strong AI results often comes down to providing clear direction and learning what works over time.

LEAP also provides prompt templates, LEAP University AI courses, webinars, LEAP Live Learning sessions, and other resources to help legal professionals become more comfortable using AI.

Myth #4: My current processes work for me. I don’t think AI would make a difference.

The reality: AI doesn’t have to change how you practice law to significantly improve your workflow.

If you’ve spent years developing processes that work well for you, your team, and your clients, adopting AI doesn’t mean abandoning them or reinventing every workflow. AI can simply be incorporated into your existing workflows to help reduce the time and effort required to complete familiar tasks.

Consider reviewing a lengthy matter file. You may know exactly what information you need, but locating a particular detail across documents, emails, and notes can still take valuable time. AI can help surface that information faster, so you can move more quickly to the analysis and decision-making that require your expertise.

The same can apply to summarizing correspondence, comparing documents, preparing a first draft, organizing next steps, or researching an unfamiliar issue.

Your knowledge and experience can help you give clearer direction, recognize missing context, assess whether an answer makes sense, and determine what needs further review.

AI doesn’t need to reinvent the way you work to be valuable. Helping you complete familiar work more efficiently can make a meaningful difference.

Myth #5: Using AI means giving up control over my work.

The reality: Responsible legal AI should keep the legal professional firmly in control.

Using AI doesn't have to, and in many cases probably shouldn’t, mean typing a request, accepting the first response, and moving on.

You can ask follow-up questions, refine your instructions through prompt iteration, request a different format, review referenced sources, and compare results against matter information before deciding whether anything AI produces should ultimately be used.

For substantive legal work, human oversight remains critical. The term for that oversight is “human-in-the-loop.” Cited references and attorney verification can provide additional ways to review results, but the final determination remains with the legal professional.

Think of AI as part of an iterative process:

Ask. Review. Refine. Verify. Decide.

Technology can assist throughout that process. It shouldn't make the final professional judgment for you.

Myth #6: AI is eventually going to replace lawyers.

The reality: AI can perform certain tasks quickly. But speed isn't the same thing as the expertise and human connection required to effectively practice law.

AI can summarize lengthy documents, search and analyze large volumes of information, compare files, organize matter details, or help you draft much faster than you otherwise could.

What AI cannot replace is an attorney's professional responsibility, strategy, advocacy, empathy, negotiation, contextual understanding, or accountability. These are examples of places where human oversight remains essential.

Perhaps one of the greatest opportunities AI offers is the ability to reduce the time attorneys and staff spend searching for information, organizing materials, handling repetitive drafting, and completing other time-intensive work. 

Consider, for example, the effort involved in preparing a detailed estate plan summary for a client, drafting a lengthy settlement agreement or complex contract with multiple contingencies, developing interrogatories, reviewing reports for compliance, or examining a title abstract line by line.

Using technology to support tasks like data collection, content generation, and document or matter analysis can reduce manual work and create more time for client communication, legal strategy, business development, and other work where professional expertise adds greater value.

Myth #7: LEAP’s AI tools are only useful for matter-specific work.

The reality: LEAP’s AI tools can support a range of practice management, document creation, matter analysis, research, and business development tasks.

While LEAP AI is designed to support legal work, its usefulness does not have to begin and end with a specific client matter. Legal professionals can also use AI to explore broader questions that help them manage and grow their practice.

For example, you might use LEAP’s AI tools to help you research hiring and recordkeeping practices, draft internal policies or employee manuals, conduct competitive or market research, learn more about an unfamiliar practice area or jurisdiction, or develop first drafts of website and blog content.

For firms that are still getting comfortable with AI, these non-matter-specific uses can also provide a practical starting point. They give attorneys and staff an opportunity to become familiar with prompting, refining responses, and evaluating AI-generated content before applying those skills to more substantive client work.

From AI hesitation to informed AI use

Perhaps the biggest misconception is that law firms face only two choices: incorporate AI broadly across all firm processes or avoid it altogether. Responsible adoption falls somewhere in between.

Understand what a tool does. Evaluate how it protects information. Recognize where it can make mistakes. Establish appropriate policies and oversight. And always maintain control and responsibility for reviewing the work. While AI can be a powerful tool, attorneys have the professional obligation to determine whether AI-generated output is accurate, relevant, complete, and appropriate for use.

You also don't have to transform your workflow overnight.

Consider this: Many people routinely use AI in a variety of different ways. They use it to generate grocery lists, receive product recommendations from an online store, suggest synonyms or correct text, sort email, draft responses, or find the right movie for family night. They use it in GPS and photo enhancement. Their doorbells recognize friends and family. Each of those functions can improve their day. The same impact can be experienced in your practice.

Start with a familiar, low-risk task. Ask Matter AI to summarize information from a matter you know well, allowing you to confirm its accuracy and effectiveness. Have Matter AI draft an email response or client communication—again, easy to confirm and evaluate. Use LawY to research a legal question to which you know the response well and review the cited authorities yourself. Compare an AI-assisted result with how you would normally complete the task.

The more you understand what AI does well—and where your expertise remains essential—the easier it becomes to determine where it can provide real value to your practice.

The goal isn't simply to use AI. It's to use it thoughtfully, securely, and responsibly to support better legal work.

Ready to grow your LEAP AI expertise? Explore LEAP University AI courses, join a LEAP Live Learning session, and reach out to your Client Success Manager for more learning opportunities.