You’ve undoubtedly seen the headlines about generative AI tools hallucinating case citations. Every day, it seems there’s a new, embarrassing situation where a lawyer has been sanctioned for failing to carefully review AI-generated court submissions, and the penalties keep increasing.
If you’re reluctant to rely on AI because of these examples, I get it. Nobody wants to be that lawyer. However, I’m here to tell you that AI can be genuinely helpful for legal matters, but only if you use it strategically and thoughtfully.
That said, context matters. The examples I’ll share below involve using general-purpose AI tools for business and legal tasks where sensitive client data wasn’t at stake. But if you’re using AI to run your law firm and manage confidential financial and case-related information, general-purpose tools usually aren’t the best choice. Instead, consider legal-specific platforms that are purpose-built to protect data.
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But for certain types of legal and business-related work? AI can be incredibly helpful.
I speak from experience. Over the past year, I’ve used various generative AI tools to assist me in handling the business side of starting a virtual winery. Without it, I’m not sure I could have done all of it myself.
My husband and I honeymooned in Napa and have always loved wine. But it was only recently that we decided to take our mutual interest a step further. We both work full-time, but figured now that we’re empty nesters and have a bit of downtime on the weekends, why not take on a side project and start a small-lot, virtual winery?
A few years ago, my husband attended school part-time to learn to make wine while I conducted research to better understand the ins and outs of starting and running a virtual winery. Then last year, we took a leap: we bought grapes and equipment and soft-launched our small-lot online Finger Lakes winery, Navinnus Forty Two Cellars.
Of course, starting a winery is a lot easier said than done. It’s a highly regulated industry, and I discovered that there are many, many hoops to jump through, including forming an LLC, choosing and trademarking the name, creating a website, obtaining federal and New York liquor licenses, and designing a logo and labels for our wine bottles, to name a few.
Having practiced law as a litigator for over a decade, I felt fairly confident in my ability to navigate the many hurdles on the path to starting a winery, with generative AI as my guide. My plan was to learn as much as I could about the various issues I encountered and to selectively use available generative AI tools as needed throughout the process.
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What follows are examples of a few ways that AI has assisted me. When I started this work about a year ago, I subscribed to ChatGPT Plus for $20 per month. My plan was to ensure that I fully understood what I wanted to achieve with each step and obtain the necessary knowledge before consulting AI. I also relied on my legal background as I used AI to accomplish each goal.
My first task was to form an LLC. I used Zen Business to assist with that. Then I turned to ChatGPT for assistance in creating our operating agreement, which is a fairly routine document. Using AI greatly reduced the time I would have otherwise spent conducting online searches to locate reliable templates, to review them, and to draft the document. One step done, many more to go.
Next project: come up with a name that would withstand trademark scrutiny. Before I started, I watched a free CLE webinar offered by AltLegal to learn more about the trademark process and issues unique to wineries. Then I discussed ideas for names with ChatGPT. After many conversations, I eventually settled on Navinnus Forty Two Cellars.
Next, ChatGPT walked me through the process of checking the USTPO database across multiple categories for any conflicts. Based on what I’d learned in the webinar, and with ChatGPT’s help, I confirmed that our chosen name would likely withstand scrutiny and seemed like a good choice.
From there, ChatGPT assisted me with the trademark application process, advising me how to respond to certain questions. A number of months later, I learned that my application was successful and that I had been granted a Notice of Allowance. Another success, accomplished with the help of AI!
More recently, I used both Claude and Gemini for background work on logo and label concepts. I talked through ideas with each tool and gut-checked concepts that I’d landed on across both chatbots. Then I used Gemini to create draft images of how I envisioned the labels might look.
With those in hand, I reached out to the graphic designer we’d chosen, explained our idea to her, and shared the draft labels. Once she confirmed that she liked the concept, she ran with it. Many iterations later, both the logo and labels we settled on looked very different from what we’d first discussed, but still encompassed many of our initial ideas.
Her experience, skill, and artistry led to great results that aligned well with what we’d envisioned for our winery. And by creating rough concepts using generative AI, we were able to explain our thinking clearly and shave hours off the design process, ultimately reducing our costs.
The constant across every example above is the same: I never let AI drive. I came in with a foundation — a CLE webinar, my legal background, my own research — and used AI to accelerate the work. I learned that general-purpose tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can handle plenty of tasks competently; my winery project proves it.
But as I mentioned earlier, context matters. While ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude were perfect for brainstorming wine labels and drafting routine business agreements, managing a law practice is an entirely different beast. When you’re working with sensitive client data, billing records, or confidential case details, general-purpose chatbots won’t cut it. For the day-to-day operations of a firm, your best option is to rely on legal-specific AI platforms purpose-built to meet your firm’s strict compliance and data security needs.
In other words, the right approach depends on the task at hand. And it’s your job to know the difference. Do your research, choose your firm’s AI tools carefully, and use them wisely.
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and Principal Legal Insight Strategist at 8am, the team behind 8am MyCase, LawPay, CasePeer, and DocketWise. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikiblack and she can be reached at [email protected].