When the Skeptics Changed Their Minds on AI

When AI first became a thing, the legal profession had reason to push back. News cycles carried stories of lawyers sanctioned for filing briefs citing cases that didn’t exist. The profession after all was built on precedent and liability, and lawyers are trained to be skeptical.

That skepticism was palpable at King Law Offices, a 60-attorney firm with 25 locations across three states. Managing Partner Brian King heard the concerns.
An associate at the firm, Andrew Cohn, says, “I was a skeptic. I was very much skeptical of incorporating AI not only into my personal life, but definitely into my professional life as a lawyer.”

Encouragement from an unexpected source

One day the perception changed. The firm’s malpractice carrier sent a message to its members advising attorneys start using AI in their practices. Coming from an entity that had a strong vested interest in the firm’s liability, the message carried significant weight. John Crotts, a shareholder at the firm and elder law specialist, shared the article with his colleagues.

“It was really a big thing for me when I actually saw our malpractice carrier send an article to all of its members saying, ‘stop fighting AI and start embracing it’,” John says.

When Clio Work, Clio’s legal AI tool, was announced at ClioCon, the firm saw their opportunity to explore AI deeply within their practice. They had already been using Clio for several years. They had already done their due diligence vetting Clio’s security, and they knew it was a system they could trust. Adding Clio Work was a natural fit.

For Brian, Clio Work impressed immediately. “Rarely do you see a product pitch that you’re able to test and it is literally better than the product pitch.”

An impact right from the start

The team found immediate value with Clio Work in their consultations. Most of King Law’s attorneys have years of consult experience. They know how to work with the client to understand their situation, and they know how to ask the right questions to get the most relevant facts of the case. But with Clio Work, they were able to take their consultations even further, applying detailed legal frameworks to provide immediate clarity to clients.

As they gather the facts, Clio Work drafts opinions in real time, pulling real, up-to-date law that they can quote back to clients. The team very quickly recognized the value in advancing conversations further upfront. The attorneys no longer step away to do their analysis. They review the law and respond as the conversation is happening.

An AI-powered workspace for legal work

With Clio Work, Brian and the rest of the firm realized that AI meant more to legal practice than what they had seen in ChatGPT and other legal research AIs.

“It’s really wrong to even say it’s a legal research tool, because what it is is a practice tool. It almost immediately changed what we were doing,” says Brian.

For Andrew, he previously spent four hours working through documents to understand a case. He now uses that time differently: checking the work already produced by Clio Work, finding gaps, getting on the phone with a client to relay information or confirm details.

Justin Ray, who chairs the firm’s civil practice group, saw improvements in the drafts his team turned in. First drafts that used to require heavy edits came back needing a lighter touch the first pass. All outputs that require legal citations have links to actual case law that can be reviewed alongside the work.

Brian gives the example of reviewing an issue of defamation related to a judicial race in North Carolina. Even though it was an area of law that he’s unfamiliar with, he was able to review the situation and write an opinion that explains what defamation looks like, what a judicial candidate can say in North Carolina, and what rights his client has based on that client’s role. Brian’s client was blown away by the fact that he had all of this put together, including a public response for social media within 10 minutes of him reaching out.

All said, AI ends up being better for clients

What changed most, Brian says, is the time the team gets back with clients. Attorneys who had been most skeptical now describe spending less time staring at documents and more time on the phone with the people who hired them. They connect facts faster to draw more immediate results. They focus more on the work that matters.
For the client, when they first approach King Law Offices, they can know very quickly whether or not they have a case, and what the steps are to move forward.