5 AI Tools Every Attorney Should Know About

You Don't Need to Be Technical

The biggest misconception about AI tools is that you need to be technical to use them. You don't. The tools on this list are designed for professionals, not engineers. If you can write an email, you can use these tools to save hours every week.

Here are five AI tools that are already making a real difference for law firms — and how attorneys are actually using them.

1. Microsoft Copilot (for Microsoft 365)

What it does: AI assistance built directly into Word, Outlook, Excel, and Teams.

Why lawyers care: If your firm runs on Microsoft 365, Copilot integrates directly into the tools you already use. It can draft emails from bullet points, summarize long email threads, generate first drafts of documents based on prompts, and create meeting summaries in Teams.

Best use case: Drafting client correspondence. Instead of writing a response from scratch, give Copilot a few bullet points and the tone you want. Review, edit, send. What used to take 20 minutes takes 5.

Watch out for: Copilot works with your existing Microsoft data, which is good for privacy but means it can surface confidential information unexpectedly. Make sure your firm's document permissions are properly configured before rolling it out.

2. Claude (by Anthropic)

What it does: A large language model with a massive context window — meaning it can read and analyze very long documents in a single conversation.

Why lawyers care: Claude's 200K token context window means you can paste an entire contract, brief, or set of case documents and ask specific questions about them. It's particularly strong at nuanced analysis, following complex instructions, and maintaining accuracy across long documents.

Best use case: Contract analysis. Upload a 60-page vendor agreement and ask Claude to extract all indemnification clauses, compare them against your standard positions, and flag deviations. It'll give you a structured summary in minutes.

Watch out for: Use the Claude API or an enterprise plan for any confidential work. The consumer version may use your inputs for training. Always verify case citations independently — Claude is excellent at analysis but can occasionally generate plausible-sounding references that don't exist.

3. CoCounsel (by Thomson Reuters)

What it does: An AI legal assistant built specifically for legal work, powered by GPT-4 with legal-specific training and safeguards.

Why lawyers care: Unlike general-purpose AI tools, CoCounsel is designed for legal professionals. It can review documents, conduct legal research, draft memos, prepare deposition outlines, and analyze contracts — all with legal-specific guardrails that reduce the risk of hallucinated citations.

Best use case: Legal research. Ask CoCounsel to find case law on a specific issue, and it returns real, verifiable citations with summaries. It won't always find everything a deep Westlaw search would, but for initial research and issue spotting, it can cut your research time in half.

Watch out for: CoCounsel is a premium product (bundled with Westlaw). It's a significant investment, but for firms that do high-volume research and document review, the time savings justify the cost quickly.

4. Zapier + OpenAI (Workflow Automation)

What it does: Zapier connects your existing apps together, and with OpenAI integration, you can add AI-powered decision-making to those connections.

Why lawyers care: This isn't a single tool — it's a way to automate repetitive workflows that currently eat up your staff's time. Incoming emails get categorized and routed. New client inquiries get an instant acknowledgment and intake form. Documents get filed in the right folder based on their content.

Best use case: Client intake automation. When a potential client fills out a form on your website, Zapier can automatically run a conflict check prompt through OpenAI, categorize the matter, assign it to the right attorney, and send a personalized acknowledgment — all before your front desk sees it.

Watch out for: Zapier + OpenAI workflows require setup and testing. This is where working with an automation partner (like Caliber Group) makes the difference between a workflow that actually works and one that creates more problems than it solves.

5. Otter.ai

What it does: Real-time transcription and summarization of meetings, calls, and depositions.

Why lawyers care: Otter integrates with Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet to automatically transcribe and summarize meetings. It identifies speakers, highlights action items, and generates searchable transcripts.

Best use case: Client calls and internal meetings. Instead of taking manual notes during a client call, let Otter transcribe and summarize. Review the summary, extract key action items, and move on. Associates love it for capturing instructions from partners.

Watch out for: Recording and transcription may raise confidentiality concerns depending on the context. Always obtain consent before recording client conversations, and check your jurisdiction's recording consent laws. For privileged conversations, ensure Otter's data handling meets your firm's security requirements.

The Pattern

Notice what all five tools have in common: they don't replace legal judgment. They eliminate the tedious, time-consuming tasks that surround it — the drafting, the searching, the routing, the note-taking, the scheduling.

The attorneys who adopt these tools don't become less important. They become faster, more responsive, and more available for the work that actually requires a law degree.

Start with one. See the results. Then add the next.