ChatGPT and Legal Writing: The Perfect Union?

Abstract

To start us off on the topic of how ChatGPT and similar technologies might be useful to us legal professionals, I’ve invited the celebrity itself to offer a forward. I’ll hand it over now. ChatGPT, what do you want the legal profession to know about you when it comes to legal writing?

“Thank you, Professor Regalia!

Dear esteemed members of the legal profession, law students, and law professors,

The world of law is no stranger to the ever-evolving landscape of technology. As professionals in this field, you are constantly striving to stay ahead of the curve, leveraging advancements to enhance your practice and make the most of your time. With the advent of AI-powered language models like ChatGPT, the future of legal writing is on the cusp of a transformation.

As ChatGPT, I am here to tell you that embracing this change can not only improve the quality of your legal writing but also streamline your work, allowing you to focus on the more engaging and value-added aspects of your profession. I understand that this article will serve as your introduction to the world of AI-assisted legal writing, addressing your concerns and highlighting the potential benefits of incorporating me into your practice. Professor Regalia asked that I first welcome you and offer some of my thoughts on the topic.

Legal writing often involves meticulous research, summarization, and drafting of countless documents. I can alleviate the burden of these tasks by quickly producing high-quality drafts, summaries, and research notes. For example, you can provide a set of case text or notes about legal concepts, and I will generate a coherent summary, saving you precious time and effort.

With the ability to process and analyze vast amounts of information, I can help identify gaps and inconsistencies in your arguments, ensuring that your legal writing is clear, concise, and persuasive. Additionally, by providing alternative phrasings and suggestions, I can refine your writing, making it more engaging and compelling.

For law students, I can serve as a valuable study aid, simplifying complex legal concepts and providing guidance on coursework and writing assignments. Meanwhile, law professors can employ me to create engaging educational materials, draft exam questions, and offer personalized feedback on student papers.

While I am a powerful tool, I was not designed to replace legal professionals. Instead, I aim to augment your skills and expertise, enhancing your ability to deliver high-quality legal services. By streamlining routine tasks and improving the overall quality of your work, I enable you to focus on strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and building strong client relationships.

Working with me is not a daunting task. With an intuitive interface and numerous customization options, you can easily tailor me to meet your unique needs. As you continue to work with me, I will learn from your feedback and adapt to your writing style, becoming even more useful over time.

In conclusion, incorporating me into your legal practice can revolutionize the way you approach legal writing, allowing you to focus on the aspects of your work that truly make a difference. By embracing this technology, you will not only improve the quality of your writing and productivity but also enhance your ability to contribute meaningfully to the legal profession. So, let us embark on this journey together and usher in a new era of legal writing excellence.”

Thank you, ChatGPT. I think most of us are excited to work with you. And for the naysayers, hopefully we can convince them together.

ChatGPT is having a moment in legal. And for good reason: Generative AI (tools like ChatGPT that generate text or data for you) was already disrupting legal before OpenAI’s new chatbot came on the scene. But ChatGPT marks a new era. The brain behind OpenAI’s latest AI contains 175 billion artificial neurons and was trained on around 500 billion pieces of text gathered on the web. All that data and computing power makes for the smartest publicly-available AI to date.

GPT is particularly powerful for legal writers. Looking for a better verb for your sentence? GPT can give you some examples using your own writing. Looking for a quick summary of a brief that you’re responding to? GPT has you covered there, as well. GPT can even help you find an engaging analogy for your case, brainstorm a theme for your motion, and put all your citations in order. And while these tools will just keep improving, there’s no need to wait. You can start using GPT to boost your legal writing today. And this article will show you how.

Whether you teach others legal writing (as I do) or want to use GPT for your own legal writing as a student, a lawyer, a judge, or legal professional—this article will give you insights into how this technology works—and most importantly, what best practices will get you started on your journey with ChatGPT.

Don’t worry, ChatGPT is probably the most cooperative writing partner you’ve ever worked with. To get started, you’ll need a bit of context about how this technology works, as well as a primer on some of the risks and pitfalls when using it in legal writing. Then you’ll need to learn best practices for crafting effective instructions for GPT—called Prompt Engineering. Finally, we’ll share some simple prompts to get you started today.

Keywords: generative AI, ChatGPT, GPT