Artificial intelligence
at EBi Law.

Attorneys have always worked with assistance. Typists, researchers, correspondents and clerks have handled client material for as long as the profession has existed, each bound by confidentiality. At EBi Law, artificial intelligence now performs much of that work.

We use these systems for drafting, legal research, file management and deadline control. The purpose is straightforward: less time spent on typing and administration, more time spent on strategy and judgement.

Your information. Client files are held in the firm’s Microsoft 365 environment under the firm’s access controls. Where material is processed by an artificial intelligence provider, it is done under a data processing agreement imposing confidentiality obligations and limiting retention. Client information is not published and is not publicly accessible. Any request for disclosure would be met with an assertion of privilege and confidentiality, and the client would be notified unless we are prohibited from doing so.

Accountability. These systems make mistakes, and some of those mistakes are convincing. Nothing leaves this office without review by the director. Every authority cited in a signed document is verified against its source. The technology drafts. The attorney decides. Responsibility for the work rests with the practice.

A note for those drafting their own documents. Artificial intelligence tools carry no professional indemnity cover, and your exchanges with a software provider attract no legal professional privilege. Courts have dealt sharply with fabricated authorities in pleadings. Use these tools to prepare a first draft if it helps, then have it reviewed by a practitioner before it is signed or filed.

Clients who prefer that their matters be handled without the use of these systems are welcome to say so, at no cost and without any effect on the service they receive.