By: Charein Faraj, Esq.
As a self-proclaimed Innovation Attorney, this topic holds near and dear to my heart. Artificial intelligence is no longer hypothetical in law. According to a Thomson Reuters blog post, 77 % of legal professionals now use AI for document review, 74 % for legal research, and 59 % for drafting briefs or memos.[1]
The surge in AI-focused legal startups and technology projects has opened new paths for attorneys to engage as legal experts, consultants, and contract professionals. Demand is rising for lawyers who can help design, audit, and implement AI tools with an understanding of both compliance and innovation. Legal departments, startups, and research organizations are increasingly hiring attorneys for short-term advisory work, product governance, and ethical oversight. Major players like Thomson Reuters are expanding AI integration across legal workflows, through platforms like CoCounsel Legal and initiatives that extend AI tools to nonprofits and law schools, signaling that this shift is not just experimental but foundational to the future of legal practice.
With adoption accelerating, legal professionals must also heed ethics and professional responsibility guidance.
Ethical Guardrails: What the ABA Requires
In July 2024, the ABA issued Formal Opinion 512, the first formal ethics opinion on generative AI in law practice.[2]
The Opinion emphasizes that attorneys must:
- Maintain competence in using or overseeing AI tools
- Safeguard client confidentiality and data
- Communicate to clients about the use of AI
- Supervise use by agents or employees
- Address billing and fee issues when AI is involved
As Reuters noted in coverage of the ABA guidance, lawyers “must guard against ethical lapses” when using AI tools and fully consider their professional obligations.[3]
Although lawyers are not required to become AI experts, they must have a reasonable understanding of the tools they use. [4]Why? Because studies now show even specialized legal AI systems “hallucinate” — offering incorrect or fabricated information in as many as one in six benchmark queries — attorneys must maintain a foundational understanding of these tools’ limits to practice competently.[5] Without that baseline, relying blindly on AI could lead to flawed advice, misleading citations, or professional risk.
That said, commentators observe some tension around how fees should be handled in AI-assisted work. Any AI‐adjacent engagement should be structured to respect these requirements.
How Attorneys Can Engage (Now) in AI Projects
Here are practical, non-speculative roles attorneys can pursue today:
- Legal Tech Advisory / Product Roles
Lend domain expertise to legal tech firms building AI tools — help with compliance, audit, fairness, transparency, and legal validation. - AI Contract & Licensing Work
Negotiate and draft data licensing, API agreements, model licensing, attribution or audit rights, and liability terms. - Nonprofit & “AI for Justice” Projects
Collaborate with legal aid organizations or nonprofits deploying AI tools, advising on selection, oversight, privacy, and ethics. - AI Risk Audits & Compliance Reviews
Offer legal audits or due diligence reviews of AI systems already in use — review data sourcing, model oversight, governance protocols, and liability exposure. - Bar/Standards / Ethics Committees
Join bar AI task forces or professional committees shaping standards, rules, or interpretive guidance around AI in practice. - CLE / Educational Programming
Develop training or write courses for law schools and continuing legal education, focusing on legal + AI intersections. - Internal AI Governance Roles
Within law firms or in-house legal teams, become the AI liaison, governance lead, or compliance overseer for AI adoption. - Regulatory & Policy Engagement
Monitor and comment on AI regulation, help clients comply with disclosure laws (e.g. California’s new AI disclosure law) - Research & Interdisciplinary Partnerships
Work with academic AI labs or research centers to embed legal oversight and governance into AI design, fairness, interpretability, and compliance frameworks. - Publishing & Thought Leadership
Write white papers, blogs, articles, or reports interpreting AI developments, regulatory change, and best practices for legal audiences.
This is only the beginning of enterprise AI use, especially in the legal profession. As technology continues to advance, the roles available to attorneys will evolve just as rapidly.
It is both a responsibility and a privilege to stand at the forefront of this transformation as an Innovation Attorney—helping guide how the practice of law adapts, governs, and ultimately shapes the future of artificial intelligence.
[1] Thomson Reuters Legal How AI is transforming the legal profession
[2] American Bar Association – ABA Issues First Guidance on AI Tools
[3] Reuters Lawyers using AI must heed ethics rules, ABA says in first formal guidance
[4] LawSites In First Ethics Ruling on Gen AI, ABA Says Lawyers Must Have Reasonable Understanding of the Technology, But Need Not Become Experts
[5] Stanford University HAI AI on Trial: Legal Models Hallucinate in 1 out of 6 (or More) Benchmarking Queries