The AI capability gap that's about to hit legal

The most dangerous thing happening in legal right now isn't a court ruling or a market shift. It's lawyers making million-dollar technology decisions based on a misunderstanding of what AI actually does. This week, we get into the gap between the hype and the reality, and what it means for how you advise clients and run your practice.

We've also got the details on how to ditch the spray-and-pray approach to business development in favor of something that actually works. Plus, a podcast recommendation for the lawyer who's ready to admit that being good at the job and being okay as a person are not mutually exclusive.

Coming soon, a law librarian explains why AI makes their job more secure.

But first, take heart! You aren’t the only one whose clients can’t help but give you the backstory.

Old Eli is out.
For the first time ever, Yale is not ranked as the country’s top law school. See where your alma mater sits, and learn why rankings watchers say more movement is likely in the top slots.

That's one way to say it.
The entire argument in this case out of Texas is that the state’s brief is “GREEN GRASS and RAINWATER several days after having been fed to livestock.” Hat tip to Doug Gladden for this one.

Should judges be on social media?
Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Dillard has published an 87-page article in The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process arguing that social media is a great way for judges to “engage and educate our fellow citizens and demystify the courts.”

A trip to the archives.
While researching law office decor, this New York Times article from 1995 about law firms that have art collections came up. Hopefully they have better security than the Louvre since art heists are on the rise. 

What we're watching.
"Strip Law" is an animated series about a Vegas law firm and the colorful characters who work there. 

Client trust is built on reliable communication. RingCentral ensures your firm doesn't drop the ball on a high-stakes case by keeping every conversation organized and professional. This solution integrates directly into existing legal workflows, allowing practitioners to stay responsive and ready for every billable moment.

Whether you are hosting clients in-person or attending endless virtual meetings, what you frame, hang or display in your office signals something about how you think and how seriously you take the space you practice in. 

This article offers some practical advice, like how to define your style and where artwork should actually go. If you want to see some examples of what others are doing, Houzz and Office Snapshots allow you to search for different styles, and Tsang & Associates, PLC posted a whole YouTube video of their office reno. 

Why this Matters: Your office decor says a lot about you. A bare white wall reads as an afterthought. A cluttered credenza shouts chaos.

Gabe Pereyra, the president and co-founder of the legal AI company Harvey, recently wow’ed his parents by showing them what the latest AI coding agents are capable of. What makes this notable is that his parents are retired computer scientists, tech-savvy people who already use ChatGPT pretty regularly. 

It’s the perfect example of the perception gap: a wide swath of people think they know what the latest tech can do, but the reality is it can do a whole lot more. Pereyra thinks law is the next field where the perception gap is going to knock the socks off folks who suddenly find out what autonomous agents can actually do. This is notable coming from someone who is leading one of the companies pioneering this technology.

Why this matters: The first firms that can wrap their head around the perception gap, and convince their team to get comfortable delegating more work to agents, will be the ones who decide how staffing, training, pricing… everything is going to look going forward. (Harvey)

If you want to do more than survive the practice of law, So Much to Say belongs in your podcast rotation. Hosts Megan Senese and Jennifer Ramsey are practicing attorneys turned business development coaches, who draw guests into helpful conversations about the real issues that impact your ability to scale your practice — whether those are professional or personal. 

Recent episodes have featured a conversation with Jessica Nguyen about what makes outside counsel stand out; insight from Lindsay Aggarwal on the firm-wide parental leave coaching program she built from scratch; and a gut punching talk with Cari Brunkow, a solo practitioner on the ground in Minneapolis navigating ICE activity in her own neighborhood. 

The show's longer episodes are the main event, but don't skip the Minis with Megan drops. These are short (under 6 minutes), focused episodes that zero in on a single idea. Things like: why lawyers struggle with imposter syndrome, what constant responsiveness does to your focus and your body, and why consistent daily effort beats a single big swing in business development. 

Why this matters: The thread running through the whole show is what it costs to be a lawyer. Burnout, finding your identity, and figuring out parental leave are treated just as seriously as business development since all are practice management issues. (So Much to Say: A Legal Podcast for People)

Potential clients want proof that you understand their problem and know how to fix it. Vable’s "Show Me You Know Me" framework is a marketing strategy that targets this need. It encourages attorneys to focus more on serving really relevant content to a narrow audience than feeding everyone out there the same generic legal update. This could be as simple as sending a short note referencing a recent client conversation alongside an article on the topic. 

Why this matters: As client expectations around personalization and relevance continue to increase, this marketing tactic has proven effective. The trick is figuring out how to do something specific enough to show attentiveness, but low-effort enough that you actually do it. (Vable / Two year update on this strategy also from Vable)

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Raise the Bar is written and curated by Emily Kelchen and edited by Bianca Prieto.