Exclusive ABA TECHSHOW 2026 Offer 🎙️⚖️ — $5 Off The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting (On-Site Only, While Supplies Last!) + Join Our Live Sessions on Podcasting and Video Presence

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

Hey ABA TECHSHOW 2026 Attendees! 🎉

I’m thrilled you’re joining us in Chicago to explore how technology can elevate modern law practice. ABA TECHSHOW is one of my favorite spaces for real-world conversations about legal tech, and this year I’m especially excited to connect with those of you who want to put your voice — and your expertise — to work through podcasting and video.

ABA TECHSHOW 2026 attendees get your discounted LTG: The Lawyer’s Guide to podcasting at the techshow while supplies last!!!

To celebrate TECHSHOW and support lawyers who are podcast-curious but not necessarily “tech experts,” I’m offering a special, in-person-only discount on my book, The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting. 📚🎙️ During ABA TECHSHOW 2026, attendees can purchase a physical copy on-site for $19.99, which is $5 off the regular $24.99 price, on-site only and while supplies last.

This book is written for lawyers with limited to moderate technology skills who want a clear, practical, ethics-aware roadmap to launching and sustaining a podcast. You don’t need a production team or a studio; you need a realistic workflow, the right level of tech, and an understanding of how the ABA Model Rules apply when your voice becomes part of your marketing and client-education strategy.

Join Me and My Co-Hosts at ABA TECHSHOW 2026 🎤

You’ll find me on the ABA TECHSHOW 2026 program in two sessions that sit right at the intersection of technology, communication, and professional responsibility.

🎧 Podcasting for Lawyers: The Truth Behind the Mic

In this session, I’ll be joined by a powerhouse group of legal podcasters and marketers:

  • Ruby L. Powers – A board-certified immigration attorney, law firm owner, legal innovator, and host of the Power Up Your Practice podcast, Ruby brings deep experience in law firm leadership, remote practice, and legal tech adoption.

  • Gyi Tsakalakis – A well-known legal marketing professional and podcast host, Gyi focuses on helping lawyers understand how digital marketing, SEO, and content (including podcasts) drive real-world client development.

  • Stephanie Everett – Co-author of The Small Firm Roadmap Revisited and host of The Lawyerist Podcast, Stephanie works with small firms on strategy, operations, and building sustainable, client-centered practices.

Together, we’ll discuss how, in a world crowded with blogs and social media, podcasting gives lawyers a unique way to build authority and connect with audiences on a more personal level. You’ll hear from lawyers and experts who actively run podcasts and work with law firms, and we’ll share the exact steps we’ve used to create compelling legal content that resonates, supports branding, and respects ethical boundaries.

🎥 Camera Ready Anywhere: Mastering Video Meetings with Clients, Courts, and Colleagues

In this session, I’ll be co-presenting with Temi Siyanbade:

  • Temi Siyanbade – An attorney, speaker, and author of Show Don’t Tell: How Lawyers Can Use Video to Stand Out, Create More Value, and Revolutionize Their Firms, Temi helps legal professionals strategically use video to build trust and communicate more effectively.

Virtual communication is now a permanent part of practice, whether you’re meeting with clients, negotiating with opposing counsel, or appearing before the court. In this session, Temi and I will share practical best practices for using Microsoft Teams and Zoom, including audio, video, lighting, framing, and on-screen presence, so your tech setup supports — rather than undermines — your advocacy and client service.

Ethics, ABA Model Rules, and Tech Competence ⚖️

Find me at the techshow to get your onsite discount and take home a great guide to get your podcast started!

Podcasting and video both touch directly on your professional responsibilities. In The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting, I connect the practical steps of planning, recording, and publishing to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, including:

I walk through how to use clear disclaimers, separate legal information from legal advice, and avoid inadvertently revealing confidential or identifying information. The goal is to help you become tech-savvy in a way that is realistic, ethical, and sustainable.

What You’ll Get from The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting 📘

Inside the book, you’ll find:

  • Plain-language tech guidance: realistic microphone, software, and hosting recommendations for busy lawyers.

  • Step-by-step workflows: planning, recording, editing, and publishing made manageable for your schedule.

  • Ethical “checkpoints”: where to pause and consider confidentiality, advertising rules, and jurisdiction-specific requirements.

  • Integration tips: how to embed your podcast on your website, share it in newsletters, and repurpose episodes for SEO and client education.

This is not a book about becoming a sound engineer; it’s about becoming a tech-savvy lawyer who uses podcasting thoughtfully.

On-Site Only, While Supplies Last 🛍️

Because this offer is tied to ABA TECHSHOW 2026, the $5 discount is available only for on-site purchases by attendees and only while physical copies last. I wanted this to be a tangible benefit for those who make the trip — and a practical next step if one of our sessions sparks your interest in podcasting.

Here’s how to take advantage of it:

  • Add “Podcasting for Lawyers: The Truth Behind the Mic” and “Camera Ready Anywhere: Mastering Video Meetings with Clients, Courts, and Colleagues” to your TECHSHOW schedule.

  • Bring your questions about tech, ethics, workflows, and content.

  • Find me on-site after the sessions or around the conference to pick up your discounted, signed copy of The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting for $19.99 (regularly $24.99), on-site only and while supplies last. 📚✍️

SEE YOU AT THE TECHSHOW!!!

ABA TECHSHOW is about practical innovation and ethical implementation. Podcasting and video live right at that intersection — modern tools that, when used thoughtfully and in line with the ABA Model Rules, can enhance your competence, your communication, and your client relationships.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a legal podcast — or want a structured way to decide whether podcasting fits your goals — I’d love for you to join our sessions and pick up the book during the show. 🎧⚖️

🎙️ Ep. #133 | AI Search, GEO & Legal Marketing Tech: How Small Law Firms Win Cases — Not Just Clicks!

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

My next guest is Nick Cohen, Chief Operating Officer of Matador Solutions — a legal marketing think tank and agency — and a newly minted partner at Cohen Injury Law Group. Nick brings a rare dual perspective: he lives the daily grind of running a law firm AND helps over 170 firms across the country use technology and marketing strategy to grow their practice. With more than $1 billion in case value generated for clients, Nick knows what separates the law firms that thrive from the ones that spin their wheels. 🚀

Whether you are just hanging out your shingle or you have been practicing for years and feel overwhelmed by the alphabet soup of SEO, GEO, PPC, and AI, this episode breaks it all down in plain language. Nick shares actionable steps — some of which cost nothing — to help your firm show up where your next great client is already looking. ⚖️

Join Nick Cohen and me as we discuss the following three questions and more!

  1. 🤔 What are the top three ways a small or mid-size law firm can leverage AI-driven search — like Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT — to reliably generate better cases, not just more clicks?

  2. 💡 For firms that feel overwhelmed by SEO, paid search, and social media, what are the top three pieces of marketing technology or automations they should implement first to turn their website into a true new case acquisition system?

  3. 🏆 Looking across $1 billion+ in case value generated for over 170 law firms, what are the top three technology habits the most successful firms share — and what are their less successful peers simply not doing?

In our conversation, we cover the following:

  • [0:00] 🎤 Introduction & five-star review shoutout

  • [0:45] 👨‍💼 Nick's background: Matador Solutions, Cohen Injury Law Group, and tech stack overview (Jira, Google Suite, Claude, ChatGPT, WordPress, Slack)

  • [1:30] 💻 Hardware setup: MacBook Pro M4, desktop, HDMI monitor — what Nick runs on daily

  • [3:00] 📱 iPhone, planned obsolescence, and the Apple ecosystem slowdown conversation

  • [4:00] ❓ Question 1: Leveraging AI-driven search (Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT) to get better cases — not just traffic

  • [5:00] 🔍 GEO vs. SEO explained — what is Generative Engine Optimization and why it matters for your law firm right now

  • [6:30] 📖 The difference: SEO = Google ranking; GEO = getting cited by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Grok

  • [8:00] 🤖 Schema markup, robots.txt, and opening your website to LLM crawlers — practical steps any firm can take

  • [9:00] 📋 Attorney directory listings (Avvo, Super Lawyers, FindLaw) — are they worth the money in 2026?

  • [10:30] ✍️ Tip #2: High-quality thought leadership content as a GEO and SEO powerhouse

  • [11:30] ⭐ Tip #3: Reviews, reviews, reviews — the single highest-ROI, zero-cost activity for any law firm

  • [12:00] 📲 The "one-click review link" strategy: why text beats email every time

  • [13:00] 😬 How to handle negative reviews — call first, respond professionally, and why a 4.9 rating beats a perfect 5.0

  • [15:00] ❓ Question 2: Top three marketing tech tools/automations for overwhelmed firms — CallRail, case management software, and understanding your channels

  • [17:30] ❓ Question 3: The technology habits that separate high-growth firms from stagnant ones — intake systems, engagement, and growth mindset

  • [19:30] 🗺️ How Matador Solutions walks a brand-new firm from zero to a steady stream of cases — step by step

  • [22:00] 📬 Where to find Nick Cohen

RESOURCES

🔗 Connect with Nick Cohen

📚 Mentioned in the Episode (Non-Hardware / Non-Software)

  • 🎙️ Apple Podcasts — podcasts.apple.com ⚖️ Matador Solutions — Legal marketing agency — matadorsolutions.net

  • 📋 Avvo — Attorney directory — avvo.com

  • ⚖️ Cohen Injury Law Group — Nick's law firm — https://cohenandcohen.net/⭐ Facebook Reviews — facebook.com

  • 📊 GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) — The emerging discipline of optimizing for AI-driven search engines

  • ⭐ Google Reviews — google.com/business

  • 📋 FindLaw — Attorney directory — findlaw.com

  • 📋 Super Lawyers — Attorney directory — superlawyers.com

  • ⭐ Yelp — yelp.com

💻 Hardware Mentioned in the Conversation

  • 📱 Apple iPhone 15 — Nick's smartphone (approximate model) — apple.com/iphone

  • 📱 Apple iPhone (latest, annual upgrade) — Michael's smartphone — apple.com/iphone

  • 🖥️ Apple Mac Studio (M3 chip) — Michael's desktop — apple.com/mac

  • 🖥️ Apple MacBook Pro (M4 chip) — Nick's primary laptop — apple.com/macbook-pro

☁️ Software & Cloud Services Mentioned in the Conversation

🎧 Enjoy the episode? Please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ five-star review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast feeds!

Shout Out: Previous Podcast Guest Ruby Powers Invites Your The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Blogger and Podcaster Back on Power Up Your Practice!

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

I recently had the honor of joining Ruby Powers on her Power Up Your Practice Podcast, and I could not be more excited about what we covered for fellow lawyers. We talked about legal podcasting as a practical, ethical, and highly effective way for attorneys to build visibility, deepen relationships, and modernize their marketing without needing to be “hardcore tech people.”

On Ruby’s show, I shared why I believe that podcasting is becoming the new networking standard for lawyers. When you regularly publish episodes—whether about your day-to-day practice, a niche topic, or even a related interest—you push your name and your ideas into the online world in a consistent way. Search engines and AI systems notice this. Over time, your name and your content start to surface more often when people search for your practice area, your type of work, or your expertise. That is real SEO, and it comes from steady, quality content rather than tricks or gimmicks.

Another reason I encourage lawyers to podcast is simple: your voice makes you more human. Listeners hear how you think and how you explain things. They hear your tone and your values. That goes far beyond a static bio or a profile page. Whether your audience is potential clients, referral sources, peers, or the broader public, a podcast lets them get to know you in a safe and scalable way. This is networking that keeps working for you even when you are in court, in a hearing, or taking a much-needed break. 🌟

I also understand that many lawyers hesitate because they are concerned about ethics. That concern is healthy. As attorneys, we cannot ignore ABA Model Rules and similar state rules when we put content into the world. On the podcast, Ruby and I discussed that while a show can be an excellent educational and marketing tool, we must avoid giving individualized legal advice and avoid accidentally creating an attorney–client relationship. I strongly recommend clear, prominent disclaimers that explain the podcast is for informational purposes only, does not create an attorney–client relationship, and should not be relied on as legal advice for any specific matter.

This aligns with our obligation of competence under Model Rule 1.1, which now includes understanding relevant technology, and with our duties around communications and advertising under Model Rules 7.1 and following. A well-run legal podcast respects those boundaries. It presents general information and insights, and it invites listeners to seek formal counsel if they need advice for their specific situation. When you treat your podcast as education plus relationship-building, not as a substitute for representation, you are already thinking in the right direction.

In our conversation, Ruby and I also addressed a common fear: “I’m not tech-savvy enough to start a podcast.” As someone known as the Tech-Savvy Lawyer, I want to be clear: you do not need to be a full-time tech enthusiast to do this. You likely already have access to most of what you need. A solid microphone, a decent camera, and a platform like Zoom, Riverside, or StreamYard can take you surprisingly far. Many of these tools are user-friendly and continue to improve. You can start with the basics and then layer on more sophistication as you grow more comfortable. 🎧

Ruby shared her own experience of initially overthinking her podcast. She wanted it to be perfect, and that almost stopped her from launching. I hear that from lawyers all the time. My advice is simple: do not wait for perfect. Your early episodes will probably make you cringe later, which means you are improving. That is a good sign. Focus on clear audio, honest content, and consistent scheduling. Over time, you can refine your editing, your format, and even your branding. You can bring in a contractor or a service to help with editing once you know you want to keep going.

We also discussed the flexibility podcasting offers. You can publish weekly, every other week, or monthly. You can create solo episodes where you explain key topics. You can host interviews with colleagues, experts, or community leaders. You can even experiment with live formats, where audience members submit questions in advance, and you answer them at a general, educational level. The format should fit your bandwidth, your goals, and your audience.

One concept I emphasized is the idea of an “ideal listener” or avatar. Before you hit record, think about exactly who you are speaking to. Is it a potential client in a specific practice area? Other lawyers in your niche? Law students or young practitioners? Having that profile in mind will guide your topic choices, your language, and your examples. It also helps you stay focused on value rather than drifting into random conversations that do not support your goals.

From a business perspective, legal podcasting can support your referral network in powerful ways. Colleagues can share your episodes, which subtly introduce you as a trusted resource. Prospective clients may listen to several episodes before they ever contact you, which means they arrive already familiar with your style and approach. That can shorten the trust-building curve and make consultations more productive.

What I appreciate about Ruby’s Power Up Your Practice platform is that it treats podcasting not as a vanity project, but as part of a larger ecosystem of law practice management, technology, and professional development. My appearance on her show gave me a chance to tie together what I see in my own practice, my blog, my podcast, and my book: lawyers do not need to fear technology. We need to engage with it thoughtfully, guided by the same ethics and judgment we apply in every other part of our work.

If you are a lawyer with limited to moderate tech skills and you have been on the fence about starting a podcast, I invite you to listen to my conversation with Ruby and let it serve as a practical, encouraging blueprint. You will hear that you are not alone in your concerns, that there are clear ways to stay compliant with ABA Model Rules, and that the path to becoming a “tech-savvy lawyer” does not require perfection—only willingness, consistency, and a focus on delivering value. 🚀

Enjoy!

TSL.P Labs 🧪 Initiative: Why 96% AI Accuracy Still Fails Lawyers: Ethics, Hallucinations, and the Future of the Billable Hour ⚖️🤖

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

📌 To Busy to Read This Week’s Editorial?

Welcome to the TSL Lab’s Initiative. 🤖 This weeks episode builds on my March 3rd, 2026, editorial “Even Though AI Hallucinations Are Down: Lawyers STILL MUST Verify AI, Guard PII, and Follow ABA Ethics Rules ⚖️🤖” is a misleading comfort blanket for lawyers, and how ABA Model Rules on confidentiality, competence, diligence, candor, supervision, and client communication must govern every AI prompt you run. Our Google LLM Notebook hosts translate the theory into practical workflows you can implement today—from document grounding and tokenization to vendor due diligence and line‑by‑line verification—so you can leverage AI confidently without sacrificing ethics, privilege, or your professional license.

You will hear how document grounding changes what LLMs actually do, why uploading active case files to cloud AI tools can quietly trigger Rule 1.6 problems, and how cross‑border data flows, vendor training rights, and retention policies can erode privilege if you do not negotiate them carefully. 🔐 We also unpack practical safeguards like tokenization, internal sandbox testing, and bright‑line “danger zones” where AI must never operate unsupervised—especially on open‑ended research, choice of law, and any task that turns statistical text into real‑world legal risk.

Finally, we confront the economic paradox: when AI can compress 100 hours of document review into seconds, but partners must still verify every line to protect their licenses, what exactly are clients paying for—and how does the billable hour survive? 💼

In our conversation, we cover the following

  • 00:00 – Why “96% fewer hallucinations” is still not good enough in law ⚖️

  • 01:00 – How the remaining 4% error rate can trigger malpractice, sanctions, and ethics violations

  • 02:00 – From IT issue to ethics issue: ABA Model Rules as the real constraint on AI adoption

  • 03:00 – Document grounding 101: turning a free‑floating LLM into a reading‑comprehension engine

  • 04:00 – The hidden danger of “just upload the file”: how Rule 1.6 confidentiality is instantly implicated

  • 05:00 – Cloud AI architecture, cross‑border data transfers, GDPR, and privilege risk 🌐

  • 06:00 – Model training nightmares: when your client’s trade secrets leak back out through someone else’s prompt

  • 07:00 – Negotiating no‑training clauses and ring‑fencing vendor data use (before you upload anything)

  • 08:00 – Tokenization explained: turning John Doe into “Plaintiff 01” without losing legal meaning 🔐

  • 09:00 – What AI does well today: grounded summarization, clause extraction, and playbook‑based redlines

  • 10:00 – The “danger zone” of tasks: open‑ended research, choice of law, and abstract legal reasoning

  • 11:00 – Phantom case law: how LLMs manufacture perfect‑looking but fake citations (and Rule 3.3 candor)

  • 12:00 – Sandboxing AI tools internally and measuring real‑world failure rates against known outcomes 🧪

  • 13:00 – Building bright‑line firm policies around forbidden AI use cases

  • 14:00 – Verification as a workflow, not a suggestion: what Model Rules 5.1 and 5.3 demand from supervisors

  • 15:00 – The efficiency paradox: when partner‑level verification erases associate‑level time savings ⏱️

  • 16:00 – Making AI verification as routine as a conflict check in your practice

  • 17:00 – Falling hallucination rates, rising risk: why better AI can still make lawyers more vulnerable

  • 18:00 – Client communication under Rule 1.4: when and why clients may be entitled to know you used AI

  • 19:00 – “You can delegate the task, not the liability”: Rule 1.2 and ultimate responsibility for AI‑assisted work

  • 20:00 – Treating every AI prompt and ToS as a potential ethics document

  • 📝21:00 – The existential question: if AI drafts in seconds, what exactly are clients paying lawyers for?

👉 Tune in now to learn how to stay tech‑forward without becoming the next ethics cautionary tale, and start designing AI policies that actually protect your clients, your firm, and your bar license.

TSL.P EP# 132 (Special Episode): AI, Deepfakes, and Metadata: Guest-Hosting Capital University Law School’s First Law Library Podcast Club with Professor Jennifer Wondracek 🎙️⚖️

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

🎙️ This week, we have something special for you. Your The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page blogger and podcaster, Michael D.J. Eisenberg, was invited back to his alma mater, Capital University Law School, to guest host their very first Podcast Club — a live, recorded podcast conversation featuring real law students, real questions, and real talk. Moderated alongside Professor Wondracek, this is an unscripted, in-the-moment discussion — not a produced studio episode, not a rehearsed explainer — just an honest, practitioner-led conversation about the issues shaping the legal profession today. 🎓 We think that's exactly what makes it worth your time. 🛡️⚖️

In our conversation, we cover the following:

  • [00:00] 🎬 Welcome & Introductions — Professor Raik introduces Michael D.J. Eisenberg; Michael shares his background representing veterans before the VA and his work at The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page, including his Amazon #1 bestselling book The Lawyer's Guide to Podcasting

  • [01:00] 🕵️ What Is a Deepfake? — Defining deepfakes and the real-world Bethesda incident where a fabricated video triggered a police raid and wasted critical law enforcement resources

  • [02:30] ⚖️ Deepfakes in Legal Practice — The serious professional responsibility consequences when attorneys introduce fake or AI-generated evidence into a trial or negotiation — and why "I didn't know" won't always protect you

  • [03:00] 📋 ABA Model Rule 1.1 — Competence & Comment 8 — Why technology competence is an ethical obligation, not optional — and what "competent use of technology" actually means for your daily practice

  • [05:00] 📶 Public Wi-Fi & VPN Security — The real dangers of using public Wi-Fi at airports, coffee shops, and on planes without a VPN, especially when accessing client portals, trust accounts, or confidential client communications

  • [05:45] 🔐 VPN Recommendations — NordVPN vs. ExpressVPN; why the right VPN matters for protecting your clients and your license

  • [07:00] 🔍 How to Detect Deepfakes in Evidence — Reviewing file metadata, spotting visual anomalies, and the Mendones v. Cushman & Wakefield case (Cal. Super. Ct. 2025) where Judge Victoria Kolakowski spotted deepfake videos — and imposed terminating sanctions

  • [08:30] 📜 ABA Model Rule 3.3 — Candor to the Tribunal — Your duty of honesty to the court and the compounding risks of unknowingly submitting falsified AI-generated evidence

  • [09:30] 🧑‍⚖️ ABA Model Rule 8.4 — Dishonesty, Fraud, Deceit & Misrepresentation — How these rules can stack with Rule 3.3 to multiply your ethical exposure

  • [10:30] 🖼️ Live Demo: Accessing File Metadata — A real-time screen share showing how to right-click and access image properties, including GPS coordinates, camera settings, file timestamps, and modification history — using a photo taken right at Capital University Law School

  • [14:00] 🗂️ Metadata Scrubbing — Why some law firms strip metadata from outgoing emails and documents, and why "scrubbed" evidence should raise red flags during discovery

  • [17:30] 🛡️ Five Basic Safeguards for Legal Professionals in the AI Era:

    • Invest in ongoing education — CLEs, podcasts, blogs

    • Know and follow your office's technology protocols

    • Be transparent with clients about your use of AI — in your engagement letters and contracts

    • Update your engagement letters and retainer agreements now

    • Stay alert to the rapidly changing AI landscape — ignoring it is not an option

  • [20:00] 💬 Student Q&A — George's question: Does the ethical obligation to review metadata create a resource gap between large firms and solo practitioners? What AI tools can help level the playing field?

  • [22:00] ⚠️ United States v. Heppner (S.D.N.Y. 2026) — The landmark federal ruling that AI-generated documents used with consumer AI tools are NOT protected by attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine — and why your choice of AI platform is now an ethics decision

  • [23:30] 🔒 Consumer AI vs. Secure Legal AI Platforms — The critical difference between free and low-cost consumer AI accounts and enterprise-grade legal AI tools with zero-data-retention contracts

  • [25:30] 📚 LexisNexis Protégé & Secure AI — How LexisNexis's zero-retention, end-to-end encrypted AI platform — including access to ChatGPT and Claude — lets attorneys use AI ethically without jeopardizing client data

  • [27:00] 💾 Prompt Discoverability — Why your AI prompts may be subpoenaed in malpractice claims or bar investigations, and why documenting and downloading your AI usage history matters

  • [28:30] 📁 Cassia's Question — Documenting AI research and adopting a random sampling strategy for metadata review: practical approaches to demonstrating "reasonable" due diligence

  • [30:00] 🗃️ eDiscovery Tools for Metadata at Scale — Relativity, Disco, and how these platforms help even resource-limited firms surface metadata anomalies across large document sets

  • [33:00] 📰 Current Awareness Resources — Where to stay current on legal tech: law.com, bar association newsletters, The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page blog and podcast, CLEs, and legal listservs

  • [33:30] 🚨 Hallucinated AI Citations & Real Consequences — Mata v. Avianca, Wadsworth v. Walmart (Morgan & Morgan pro hac vice revoked), the Chicago firm dissolution case — and why citation-checking is now a non-negotiable litigation skill

  • [37:00] 🎲 Book Giveaway — Rolling the virtual dice; congratulations to the winner of Michael's book, The Lawyer's Guide to Podcasting!

  • [38:00] 🗓️ Upcoming Events — Michael joins the Capital Law Spring Summit/Bootcamp in April; dinner with students at The Red Door Tavern

Resources

Connect with Professor Jennifer Wondracek:

  • E-Mail: jwondracek@law.capital.edu 

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-wondracek

📌 Mentioned in the Episode

🏛️ ABA Model Rules

⚖️ Case Law

🤔 Other

💻 Hardware Mentioned in the Conversation

☁️ Software & Cloud Services Mentioned in the Conversation

TSL Labs 🧪 Initiative: Attorney-Client Privilege vs. Public AI: The Hoeppner Decision Lawyers Need to Understand in 2026 ⚖️🤖

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

Join us for an AI-powered deep dive into the ethical challenges facing legal professionals in the age of generative AI. 🤖 We unpack the February 23, 2026, editorial AI may not be your co‑counsel—and a recent SDNY decision just made that painfully clear. ⚖️🤖.  Our Google Notebook LLM hostsbreaks down why a single click on a public AI tool’s Terms of Use can trigger a privilege waiver, and what “tech competence” really means in 2026—especially after United States v. Hoeppner and Judge Jed Rakoff’s wake-up-call analysis of confidentiality and third-party disclosure risk.

🔗 Read the full editorial on The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page and share this episode with a colleague who is experimenting with AI in client matters.

In our conversation, we cover the following

  • 00:00 — The “superhuman assistant” promise, and the procedural nightmare risk. 🧠⚖️

  • 00:01 — The core warning: AI use can “blow a hole” in privilege.

  • 00:02 — Editorial overview: “The AI Privilege Trap” by Michael D.J. Eisenberg.

  • 00:02 — The case: United States v. Hoeppner (SDNY) and why it matters.

  • 00:03 — Why Judge Jed Rakoff’s opinion gets attention (tech-literate, influential).

  • 00:03 — The facts: defendant drafts with a public AI tool, then sends outputs to counsel.

  • 00:04 — The court’s conclusion: no attorney-client privilege, no work product protection.

  • 00:05 — Privilege basics applied to AI: “confidential + lawyer” and why AI fails that test.

  • 00:06 — The Terms-of-Use problem: inputs/outputs may be collected and shared. 🧾

  • 00:07 — The “stranger on the street” analogy: you can’t retroactively make it confidential.

  • 00:08 — PII and client facts: why pasting sensitive data into public AI is high-risk.

  • 00:08 — ABA Model Rule 1.1: competence includes understanding tech risks.

  • 00:09 — ABA Model Rule 1.6: confidentiality and waiver risk with public AI.

  • 00:10 — “Reasonable safeguards”: read policies, adjust settings, and know training/logging.

  • 00:11 — Public vs. enterprise AI: why contracts and “walled gardens” matter.

  • 00:11 — Legal research AI examples discussed: Lexis/Westlaw-style AI offerings.

  • 00:12 — ABA Model Rules 5.1 & 5.3: supervise AI like a nonlawyer assistant/vendor.

  • 00:13 — Redefining “tech-savvy lawyer” in 2026: judgment and restraint. 🧭

  • 00:14 — The “straight-face test”: could you defend confidentiality after a judge reads the policy?

  • 00:15 — Client-side risk: clients can sabotage privilege before contacting counsel.

  • 00:16 — Practical takeaway: check settings, read the fine print, keep true secrets offline (for now). 🔒

RESOURCES

Mentioned in the episode

Software & Cloud Services mentioned in the conversation

⭐ First Five-Star Amazon Review for “The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting” – Why Tech-Savvy Lawyers Should Care About ABA Ethics, Client Trust, and Smart Marketing 🎙️⚖️

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

“The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting” by your favorite blogger/podcaster just earned its first five-star Amazon review, and it’s a milestone worth your attention. 🎉📘 The reviewer highlights what many of us in legal tech have been saying: podcasting is no longer a fringe hobby; it is a strategic, ethics-aware marketing channel for modern law practice. 🎙️

For lawyers with limited to moderate tech skills, this book demystifies microphones, workflows, and publishing tools without assuming you want to become an engineer. Instead, it walks you through practical steps to share your expertise in a format today’s clients already trust—long-form, authentic audio. 🔊

From a professional responsibility perspective, the guidance aligns with ABA Model Rule 1.1 on technology competence and Model Rule 1.6 on confidentiality by emphasizing the use of secure platforms, thoughtful content planning, and careful handling of client-identifying details. The book reinforces that podcasting can showcase your substantive knowledge while staying within the guardrails of Model Rule 7.1, avoiding misleading claims about your services. ⚖️

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The first five-star review underlines two themes: listeners want real conversations, and they quickly recognize when a lawyer respects both the audience’s time and the profession’s ethical duties. That is exactly the posture this book encourages—credible, compliant, and client-centered. 🌟

If you are ready to build authority, differentiate your practice, and satisfy your tech-competence obligations without drowning in jargon, now is the perfect time to get your copy of “The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting” on Amazon and start planning your first ethically sound episode. 🚀

📌 Too Busy to Read This Week’s Editorial: “Lawyers and AI Oversight: What the VA’s Patient Safety Warning Teaches About Ethical Law Firm Technology Use!” ⚖️🤖

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Join us for an AI-powered deep dive into the ethical challenges facing legal professionals in the age of generative AI. 🤖 In this episode, we discuss our February 16, 2026, editorial, “Lawyers and AI Oversight: What the VA’s Patient Safety Warning Teaches About Ethical Law Firm Technology Use! ⚖️🤖” and explore why treating AI-generated drafts as hypotheses—not answers—is quickly becoming a survival skill for law firms of every size. We connect a real-world AI failure risk at the Department of Veterans Affairs to the everyday ways lawyers are using tools like chatbots, and we translate ABA Model Rules into practical oversight steps any practitioner can implement without becoming a programmer.

In our conversation, we cover the following

  • 00:00:00 – Why conversations about the future of law default to Silicon Valley, and why that’s a problem ⚖️

  • 00:01:00 – How a crisis at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs became a “mirror” for the legal profession 🩺➡️⚖️

  • 00:03:00 – “Speed without governance”: what the VA Inspector General actually warned about, and why it matters to your practice

  • 00:04:00 – From patient safety risk to client safety and justice risk: the shared AI failure pattern in healthcare and law

  • 00:06:00 – Shadow AI in law firms: staff “just trying out” public chatbots on live matters and the unseen risk this creates

  • 00:07:00 – Why not tracking hallucinations, data leakage, or bias turns risk management into wishful thinking

  • 00:08:00 – Applying existing ABA Model Rules (1.1, 1.6, 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3) directly to AI use in legal practice

  • 00:09:00 – Competence in the age of AI: why “I’m not a tech person” is no longer a safe answer 🧠

  • 00:09:30 – Confidentiality and public chatbots: how you can silently lose privilege by pasting client data into a text box

  • 00:10:30 – Supervision duties: why partners cannot safely claim ignorance of how their teams use AI

  • 00:11:00 – Candor to tribunals: the real ethics problem behind AI-generated fake cases and citations

  • 00:12:00 – From slogan to system: why “meaningful human engagement” must be operationalized, not just admired 

  • 00:12:30 – The key mindset shift: treating AI-assisted drafts as hypotheses, not answers 🧪

  • 00:13:00 – What reasonable human oversight looks like in practice: citations, quotes, and legal conclusions under stress test

  • 00:14:00 – You don’t need to be a computer scientist: the essential due diligence questions every lawyer can ask about AI 

  • 00:15:00 – Risk mapping: distinguishing administrative AI use from “safety-critical” lawyering tasks

  • 00:16:00 – High-stakes matters (freedom, immigration, finances, benefits, licenses) and heightened AI safeguards

  • 00:16:45 – Practical guardrails: access controls, narrow scoping, and periodic quality audits for AI use

  • 00:17:00 – Why governance is not “just for BigLaw” and how solos can implement checklists and simple documentation 📋

  • 00:17:45 – Updating engagement letters and talking to clients about AI use in their matters

  • 00:18:00 – Redefining the “human touch” as the safety mechanism that makes AI ethically usable at all 🤝

  • 00:19:00 – AI as power tool: why lawyers must remain the “captain of the ship” even when AI drafts at lightning speed 🚢

  • 00:20:00 – Rethinking value: if AI creates the first draft, what exactly are clients paying lawyers for?

  • 00:20:30 – Are we ready to bill for judgment, oversight, and safety instead of pure production time?

  • 00:21:00 – Final takeaways: building a practice where human judgment still has the final word over AI

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🎙️ My Law School Library Adds The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting to Empower Ethical, Tech-Savvy Attorneys ⚖️

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

https://law-capital.libguides.com/SpecialCollections/NewBooks

I’m thrilled to share that my alma mater, Capital University Law School, has added my book, The Lawyer’s Guide to Podcasting, to its Law Library Special Collections. 🎉📚 Seeing this guide on the same shelves where I learned to think like a lawyer underscores how central ethical technology use has become to modern advocacy. 🎙️ Written for attorneys with limited to moderate tech skills, it walks readers through planning, recording, and promoting a law‑firm podcast while honoring ABA Model Rules on technology competence, confidentiality, and attorney advertising, helping you communicate confidently, credibly, and compliantly. ⚖️🚀

You can pick up your copy on Amazon Today!

🎙️ Ep. #131, Supercharging Litigation With AI: How StrongSuit Helps Lawyers Transform Research, Doc Review, and Drafting 💼⚖️

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

My next guest is Justin McCallan, founder of StrongSuit, an AI-powered litigation platform built to transform how litigators handle legal research, document review, and drafting while keeping lawyers firmly in control. In this episode, Justin and I dig into practical, real-world workflows that solos, small firms, and big-firm litigators can use today and over the next few years to change the economics, pace, and strategy of litigation—without sacrificing accuracy, ethics, or the quality of advocacy.

Join Justin and me as we discuss the following three questions and more!

  1. What are the top three ways litigators should be using AI tools like StrongSuit right now to change the economics and pace of litigation without sacrificing accuracy, ethics, or quality of advocacy?

  2. What are the top three mistakes lawyers make when adopting AI for litigation, and what practical workflows help lawyers stay in the loop and use AI as a force multiplier instead of a risk? 

  3. Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, what are the top three AI-driven workflows every litigator should master to stay competitive, and how can platforms like StrongSuit help build those capabilities into day-to-day practice? 

In our conversation, we cover the following

  • 00:00 – Welcome and guest introduction

    • Justin joins the show and shares his current tech setup at his desk. 

  • 00:00–01:00 – Justin’s current tech stack

    • Lenovo laptop, ultra-wide monitor, and regular use of StrongSuit, ChatGPT, and Gemini for different AI tasks.

    • Everyday tools: Microsoft Word and Power BI for analytics and fast decision-making.

  • 01:00–02:00 – Android vs. iPhone for AI use

    • Why Justin has been on Android for 17 years and how UI/UX familiarity often drives device choice more than AI capability.

  • 02:00–05:30 – Q1: Top three ways litigators should be using AI right now

    • Using AI for end-to-end legal research across 11 million precedential U.S. cases to build litigation outlines and identify key authorities.

    • Scaling document review so AI surfaces relevant documents and synthesizes insights while lawyers focus on strategy and judgment.

    • Leveraging AI for drafting and editing—improving style, clarity, and consistency beyond traditional spelling and grammar checks.

  • 05:30–07:30 – StrongSuit vs. basic tools like Word grammar check

    • How StrongSuit aims to “up-level” a lawyer’s writing, not just catch typos.

    • Stylistic improvements, clarity enhancements, and catching subtle inconsistencies in legal documents.

  • 06:00–08:00 – AI context limits and scaling doc review

    • Constraints of large models’ context windows (around ~1M tokens ≈ ~750 pages).

    • How StrongSuit runs multiple AI agents in parallel, each handling small page sets with heuristics to maintain cohesion and share insights.

  • 08:00–09:00 – Handling tens of thousands of documents

    • How StrongSuit can handle between roughly 10,000–50,000 pages at a time, with the ability to scale further for enterprise matters.

  • 09:00–11:30 – Origin story of StrongSuit

    • Why Justin saw a once-in-a-generation opportunity when large language models emerged and how law, with its precedent and text-heavy nature, is especially suited to AI.

    • StrongSuit’s focus on litigators: supporting lawyers from intake through trial while keeping them in the loop at every step.

  • 11:30–13:30 – From intake to brief drafting in minutes

    • Generating full litigation outlines, research, and analysis in about ten minutes, then moving directly into drafting memos, briefs, complaints, and motions.

    • StrongSuit’s long-term goal: automating 50–99% of major litigation workflows by the end of 2026 while preserving lawyer control and judgment.

  • 12:00–14:30 – How StrongSuit tackles hallucinations

    • Building a full database of all precedential U.S. cases enriched with metadata: parties, summaries, holdings, and more.

    • Validating citations by checking whether the Bluebook citation actually exists in StrongSuit’s case database before surfacing it to the user.

    • Why lawyers should still review cases on-platform before filing, even when AI has filtered out hallucinations.

  • 14:30–16:30 – Coverage and jurisdictions

    • Coverage of all U.S. jurisdictions, federal and state, focused on precedential cases.

    • Handling most regulations from administrative agencies, and limits around local ordinances.

    • Uploading your own case files and using complaints and prior research as inputs into StrongSuit workflows.

  • 15:00–17:00 – Security and confidentiality for litigators

    • SOC 2 compliance and industry-standard encryption at rest and in transit.

    • No model training on user data.

    • Optional end-to-end encryption that can even prevent developers from accessing case content, using local encryption keys.

  • 16:30–20:30 – Q2: Top mistakes lawyers make when adopting AI for litigation

    • Mistake #1: Talking about AI instead of diving in with structured experiments and sanitized documents.

    • Using a framework to identify high-impact tasks: high volume, repetitive work, and heavy data/analysis (e.g., doc review, research, contract drafting).

    • How to shortlist tools: look for SOC 2, real product depth, awards, and a focus on your specific workflows.

    • Mistake #2: Expecting immediate mastery instead of moving through predictable adoption stages—from learning the tool, to daily use, to stringing workflows together.

  • 20:30–22:30 – Building firm-wide AI workflows over time

    • Moving from isolated experiments to integrated, low-friction workflows, such as automatic intake-to-research pipelines.

    • Using client intake audio or transcripts to automatically extract facts, issues, and research paths.

  • 22:30–24:30 – Time constraints and “no-time” lawyers

    • Why lawyers don’t need to be “technical” to use StrongSuit.

    • Reframing AI as text-based tools where lawyers’ writing skills and analytical thinking are assets, not obstacles. 

  • 24:00–26:00 – Practical workflows beyond intake

    • Using AI to prepare for expert depositions, including reviewing valuation analyses, flagging departures from market consensus, and generating targeted questions.

    • Reinforcing the value of AI-enhanced legal research and drafting as core litigation workflows.

  • 26:00–29:30 – Q3: 2026 and beyond – AI-driven workflows every litigator should master

    • Rapid improvement of baseline models (e.g., jumping from single-digit to high double-digit performance on difficult benchmarks year over year). 

    • The idea of “tipping points,” where small performance gains turn AI from marginally useful to essential in specific tasks.

    • Why legal research is a great training ground for understanding where AI excels, where it falls short, and how to divide labor between human and machine.

    • The value of learning basic prompting skills to get more from AI systems, even when platforms offer visual workflows.

  • 29:30–32:30 – Will workflows actually change—or just get better?

    • Why Justin expects familiar litigation workflows (doc review, research, drafting) to remain structurally similar, but become far faster and more sophisticated.

    • AI agents handling the grind work while lawyers focus on synthesis, judgment, and strategy.

    • A future where “AI + lawyer vs. AI + lawyer” resembles high-level chess: same rules, but much deeper thinking on both sides.

  • 32:30–End – Where to find Justin and StrongSuit

    • How to connect with Justin and learn more about StrongSuit’s litigation tools.

Resources

Connect with Justin

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