It seems like there are 3 categories of lawyers in this AI age. The first category – the lawyers who want nothing to do with it – they run from AI either because of a fear of technology or a principled “purist” approach to legal research and drafting. The second category is the opposite: lawyers who are so lazy and so averse to their own research and writing that all they do is “AI.” Legal research has become “show me a brief to respond to the other side’s motion to dismiss my auto accident case.” That is the extent of the research and drafting beyond adding a signature block. The client and court are lucky to have a “wet” signature from the lawyer vs plopping a signature in a cursive font on a signature block.
If my loved one were searching for an attorney to help her seek justice, I would tell her to run as fast and as far away as she could from lawyers in either of the first 2 categories.
If you or a loved one are seriously hurt from the negligence of another person or entity, whether it is a car crash, a dog bite, a slip and fall or at the hands of a negligent doctor, you want that person to seek help from a lawyer in the 3rd category of lawyers: the lawyer who uses AI judiciously, carefully and ethically.
AI is a form of technology. It is a very-fast moving set of algorithms that allow the user to very quickly learn answers to questions, assemble data and/or analyze data – like medical records for your case by way of example. I harken back to the early 2000’s, when we learned as trial lawyers about the existence of “electronic data recorders” (EDR’s) also known as “black boxes” in cars. All of a sudden, we thought that every car accident would be a mystery easily-solved: just download the vehicle’s black box! Now, set aside the fact that a) not every vehicle’s black box is supported by software that allows it to be “read” and b) you get pretty much 5 categories of data that may not tell you the “whole story.”
The Black Box example is a cautionary tale for lawyers and non-lawyers alike. AI certainly has tremendous potential to help speed up our ability to prepare for a trial and assess the strengths of a case. An example is the ability to provide some answers to questions or “prompts” about the contents of medical records and even direct the user quickly to critical passages in records. That will help us ascertain things like whether a fracture was diagnosed; where; how many and what type? Those are questions that can greatly increase the value of your case – as morbid as that may seem.
How our firm is using AI in 2026: we certainly allow attorneys and clerks to use AI in low-leverage situations like analyzing a document or an opponent’s brief before we break it down ourselves. It is never a substitute. Just like law enforcement accident reconstructionists are trained to continue to do the “old fashioned” accident reconstruction – despite access to black box data — lawyers are trained or at least should be trained to draft their own motions, briefs, responses and other documents. Already, lawyers are getting sanctioned or “fined” by judges for using AI as a complete substitute for good old fashioned legal draftmanship. You may have heard of the case Wadsworth v Walmart Inc, 2-23-cv-118-KHR. In the Woodsworth case, a federal judge sanctioned lawyers for submitting a brief with false text and citations to cases that did not even exist.
You may see AI-assisted educational videos from our lawyers or have an AI-assisted scribe who captures important parts of consultations that we need to remember and preserve (confidentially) for preparing your case for trial. The old axiom, the more prepared you are for trial, the more the other side knows it and the more likely you are to maximize your leverage when it comes to negotiating a resolution for your case. For example, an AI-assisted computer animation that shows the biomechanics of your body’s contortions in an auto accident that really demonstrates how painful that accident was for you can help lead to a larger dollar amount. That is because that animation shows the defendant’s lawyer how well you can illustrate the testimony from the victim about what happened to the injured party.
2026 will be an exciting new year in an exciting new era. In an age where coordination of benefits in Michigan requires nimble calculations and analysis, faster and more flexible internet searches (which is what AI is at its essence) will help lawyers who embrace the proper use of the latest technology in the practice of personal injury or, as I like to say “AI in PI.”
The information contained in this web site is neither legal advice nor is it intended to be legal advice. The information contained in this web site is general information designed to give the reader a basic understanding of some legal concepts about what we do in these areas.
3452 East Lake Lansing Road
East Lansing, MI 48823-1511
