Hello again everyone and welcome to another edition of “Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel.” This is one of my favorite posts of the year because every August for the past eight years (really?) I have written about “cool tech” for in-house lawyers – and this year is no exception![1] Once again, I have been scanning the (virtual) horizon for the most useful technology that will – hopefully – make you more productive, make your life easier, or may just be fun and interesting. If you have been reading my books, this blog, or my LinkedIn posts over the years, you know that I am a big fan of technology as a way to increase productivity and enhance the value of the legal department. The good news is that the technology needed to make this happen does not have to be overly complicated or expensive. In fact, I deliberately try to find low-cost – or free – solutions that are easy to adopt and use. As usual, I make no promises or warranties of any kind, implied or express (sorry, just covering my bases here – you can’t be too careful, especially with the ABA breathing down my neck about some book I’m “supposed” to be sending their way soon). I can assure you, however, that I get nothing for recommending the technology below. I just think these are all useful tools and worth checking out. So, with no further ado, this edition of “Ten Things” sets out my cool tech for in-house lawyers in 2023:
Legal Technology
Ten Things: ChatGPT and Generative AI (What In-House Counsel Need to Know)
Hello again everyone. I suspect a number of you out there have been wondering when I was going to get around to today’s topic. Hell, even I was wondering about it. Back in January, I identified ChatGPT as one of my top ten things for in-house lawyers to pay attention to in 2023, but I must admit that I am shocked at how quickly it has overwhelmed the debate about legal tech. To be honest, I was hoping for a moment when the pace of “new” ChatGPT information would slow down. It hasn’t. And likely won’t. But I think it’s important enough of a topic to at least try to take a snapshot of where things stand today for in-house lawyers when it comes to ChatGPT (or more generically, generative AI). Back when I was general counsel, I would have grabbed a few folks on my team and said, “Let’s jump into a conference room and whiteboard ten things we need to know about ChatGPT.”[1] As I have been thinking about and using ChatGPT, I realize we may need two whiteboards – there is a lot to cover! What I have done is read a lot about it and I have tried it out a number of times with many different asks. All to put myself back in the chair of an in-house lawyer and cut through the clutter to make sense of just what this tool is and what can it do to help me and the legal department. So, get your dry markers out, grab a big mug of coffee, and join me in the conference room as this edition of “Ten Things” tries to set out what in-house lawyers need to know about ChatGPT (and be sure to click through the links and check the footnotes for – a lot of – extra information):
Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel® 