🎙️ ABA Members Save $100 on the Lawyers' Podcasting Conference — Request Your Code by October 18, 2026!

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ABA Members can save $100 on their tickets for a short time!

I just returned from Boston and the ABA Law Practice Fall Meeting. 🏛️ The conversations there reminded me why I value this community. Law Practice Division members think hard about how lawyers work, market, and serve clients. Many of those conversations turned to podcasting.

So I want to say thank you to my fellow ABA members in a practical way. 🙌

💵 The Offer

Through Sunday, October 18, 2026, ABA members can save $100 on registration for The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Lawyers' Podcasting Conference. That reduces the regular $749.99 registration to $649.99.

The conference takes place Friday and Saturday, November 13–14, 2026, at 1765 Greensboro Station Place, 9th Floor, in McLean, Virginia. 🚇 The venue is one minute on foot from the Greensboro Metro station on the Silver Line.

✉️ How to Get Your Code

lawyers need to learn the Podcasting, Ethics, and AI Tools for Legal Professionals to grow your practice!

Requesting the code takes about two minutes. Send an email to LPC@TheTechSavvyLawyer.Page with:

  1. 👤 Your full name

  2. 📧 The email address you will use to register

  3. 🪪 A screenshot of your current ABA membership card

Most members can pull up the card in their ABA account online. A simple screenshot is all I need. I will reply with your code personally.

Please send your request by Friday, October 16 so you have time to register before the offer closes. 🗓️

A few housekeeping points:

  • The discount is for current ABA members only.

  • It cannot be combined with other discounts, including team pricing.

  • Your information is used only to confirm membership. It is not shared or sold.

A practical tip for firms: if two or more ABA members from the same office plan to attend, the $100 member discount beats our team savings of $25 or $50 per seat. Choose whichever saves you more. 👥

🎧 What You Get for Two Days

come learn with your peers how to create lawyer-centric Podcast workflows!

This is a working conference, not a lecture series. Every attendee leaves with a show concept, a format, an affordable gear list, a hosting and distribution plan, and an ethics checklist to review against their own jurisdiction's rules.

The program follows the roadmap in my book, The Lawyer's Guide to Podcasting. We move from strategy to topic and audience, then to format, gear, recording, editing, hosting, distribution, and growth. 📈

You do not need to be technical. We start with the equipment you already own. Windows, Mac, or both are welcome. 💻

🎤 Who Is Teaching

The faculty brings real-world experience to the room:

⚖️ Why Ethics Gets Its Own Block

come learn How Lawyers Can Use Technology to Build Better Podcasts

A podcast is a public communication about your practice. That makes the ABA Model Rules part of every episode.

Rule 7.1 prohibits false or misleading communications about a lawyer's services. Episode titles, show notes, and guest introductions all count. Results-based stories need careful framing.

Rule 1.6 protects client information. A "harmless" anecdote can still identify a client when combined with a date, a location, or a practice niche. Your recording and editing tools matter here too. Under Rule 1.6(c), you must make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure.

Rule 5.5 comes into play once your audience crosses state lines. Listeners in other jurisdictions may treat general education as legal advice. Clear disclaimers and careful phrasing help.

Rule 1.1, Comment 8, ties it all together. Competence includes understanding the benefits and risks of relevant technology. That now includes AI-assisted editing, transcription, and the answer engines that summarize your content. I explored that last point in MTC: Hidden AI, GEO, and the ABA Model Rules. 🤖

If staff or contractors help produce your show, Rules 5.1 and 5.3 on supervision apply as well.

One more reminder about your code request. 🔒 Please send only your name, email, and membership card screenshot. Keep client matters out of the message entirely.

📅 Your Next Step

Come learn about AI, Ethics, and Podcasting in Modern Legal Practice!

Email LPC@TheTechSavvyLawyer.Page today with your name, email, and ABA card screenshot. Once you have your code, register here. Full program details live on the conference information page.

Not ready to commit? Get a feel for the conversation first on The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Podcast. 🎧

To everyone I met in Boston: thank you. I hope to continue the conversation in McLean on November 13–14. 🤗

📢 🎙️ ANNOUNCEMENT: There Is Still Time to Get Tickets for The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Lawyers' Podcasting Conference — November 13–14, 2026, in McLean, Virginia

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Get your tickets today!

Early-bird pricing closed last night. The conference did not. 🎟️ Seats remain for The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Lawyers' Podcasting Conference, and registration is now $749.99 per person. If you meant to register and the deadline slipped past you, you have not missed your chance. You have simply moved to the regular rate.

📅 The essentials

  • When: Friday and Saturday, November 13–14, 2026

  • Where: 1765 Greensboro Station Place, 9th Floor, McLean, VA 22102 — one minute on foot from the Greensboro Metro station on the Silver Line 🚇

  • Price: $749.99 per attendee

  • Team savings: Two seats save $25 per seat. Four or more seats save $50 per seat. 👥

  • Register: Secure your seat here

  • Full details: Conference information page

🎤 Who you will learn from

🎙️ Carolyn Elefant of MyShingle.com on the Ethics of Podcasting.

The faculty has grown since we first saved the date. Carolyn Elefant of My Shingle was our first confirmed speaker (Carolyn Elefant Confirmed as First Speaker for the Lawyers' Podcasting Conference). Robert Ingalls of Lawpods joins me to discuss why lawyers should podcast and when outsourcing production makes sense (Robert Ingalls of Lawpods Joins Michael D.J. Eisenberg at The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Podcasting Conference). Most recently, Gordon Firemark, The Podcast Lawyer™, signed on to address the legal side of content creation (Last Day for Lawyer Podcasting Conference Early-Bird Pricing: Meet New Speaker Gordon Firemark, The Podcast Lawyer™).

More faculty announcements are coming. Watch this space. 👀

🛠️ What two days actually buys you

This is not an inspiration seminar. It is a working program. You arrive with an idea, or with nothing more than curiosity. You leave with a one-page launch plan covering your show premise, audience, format, gear list, hosting platform, launch date, and first three guests.

Day One covers the "why, what, and with what." We start with the business case for a legal podcast. Then we turn to findability. That means how episode titles, show notes, and transcripts work for traditional search and for AI answer engines. 🔎 You will choose a format that fits your calendar. You will also learn which gear to buy first and what to skip. A hands-on gear lab lets you hear the difference between setups yourself. 🎧

Day Two moves from recording to a published show. We cover guest preparation, release forms, editing, show notes, hosting, RSS ownership, and distribution. We also cover the marketing habits that build an audience over time. If you want a preview of the production mindset, read MTC: Why My Ecamm Creator Camp 2026 Trip Is a Signal for Every Lawyer Podcaster to Up Their Game! I am bringing those lessons to McLean.

No technical background is required. Windows, Mac, or both — you are welcome. 💻

⚖️ Why the ethics block matters

🎙️ Robert Ingalls of Lawpods: Podcast Production, DIY vs. Outsourcing.

A podcast is a public communication from a lawyer. The ABA Model Rules follow you into the recording booth. That is why the conference gives professional responsibility its own dedicated block.

Rule 1.1 (Competence), Comment 8, expects lawyers to understand the benefits and risks of relevant technology. Podcasting tools, AI transcription, and editing platforms fall within that duty once you use them.

Rule 1.6 (Confidentiality) governs every client story you are tempted to tell. Anonymizing facts is not always enough. Sometimes informed consent in writing is the only safe path. 🔒

Rules 7.1 through 7.3 apply when an episode functions as a communication about your services. A statement that creates unjustified expectations can be misleading even when it is technically true.

Rule 5.5 (Unauthorized Practice) becomes relevant once listeners in other states start sending questions. Knowing the line between legal information and legal advice protects you and your audience.

Rules 5.1 and 5.3 (Supervision) apply when an associate, editor, virtual assistant, or AI tool helps produce your show. You remain responsible for the final product.

I explored how AI and search now shape the way clients find lawyers in MTC: Hidden AI, GEO, and the ABA Model Rules: What Every Lawyer Needs to Know Before Their Next Client Finds Them Online. I also addressed AI verification duties in MTC: Even Though AI Hallucinations Are Down, Lawyers Still Must Verify AI, Guard PII, and Follow ABA Ethics Rules. The conference turns those principles into a practical checklist. You will review it against your own jurisdiction's rules before you leave. 📋

📘 The roadmap behind the program

The conference follows the structure of my book, The Lawyer's Guide to Podcasting. It moves from strategic purpose to topic and audience, then format, gear, publishing, audience growth, and ethics. Two days in a room together let us turn those chapters into decisions you can act on Monday morning.

🤝 Bring a colleague

Podcasts are easier to sustain with a partner. A co-host shares the prep, the recording schedule, and the promotion. Our team pricing reflects that. Two seats save $25 per seat. Four or more save $50 per seat. Consider bringing your associate, your paralegal, or a colleague from your bar section.

❓ Still have a question?

🎙️ Gordon Firemark, The Podcast Lawyer™, on the business of podcasting!

Email me directly at LPC@TheTechSavvyLawyer.Page. ✉️ I read every message myself. If you are wondering about CLE in your jurisdiction, ask. I will give you a straight answer. One practical reminder: keep client details out of your email. Rule 1.6 applies to your inbox, too.

🎟️ Reserve your seat today

Early bird is over. Opportunity is not. Seats are limited, and the room will fill.

👉 Register now for $749.99
👉 Review the full conference details

I hope to see you in McLean on November 13–14! Let's build your show the right way — practical, findable, and ethical!!!🎙️

Michael D.J.

📢 Library of Congress Recognizes The Tech-Savvy Lawyer Podcasting Guide—and the Conversation Continues at The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page 🎙️

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Excited and honored to share that the library of congress has accepted “The Tech-Savvy Lawyer, Lawyer’s guide to podcasting” into its collection!

I am pleased to announce that the Library of Congress has accepted The Tech-Savvy Lawyer: Lawyer’s Podcasting Guide for inclusion in its collection. I am honored for this recognition. It is a meaningful milestone for the guide, for The Tech-Savvy Lawyer, and for the growing community of lawyers who use podcasting to educate, connect, and contribute to the public conversation about law and technology. 📚

Library of Congress Control Number: 2026395311.

For years, The Tech-Savvy Lawyer has focused on practical technology issues that affect real law practices. The goal has never been technology for its own sake. It has been to help lawyers make sound decisions about tools that influence client service, confidentiality, competence, communication, efficiency, and professional judgment.

The Library of Congress acceptance of the Lawyer’s Podcasting Guide recognizes that lawyer-created educational content can have lasting value. A legal podcast may begin as a conversation, an interview, or a short practical lesson. Yet it can become something more durable: a resource for lawyers, clients, students, researchers, and members of the public who want to understand how the profession responds to changing technology.

That work continues at The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page. 💻

The site is designed as a practical home for lawyers who want clear guidance on legal technology, AI, cybersecurity, digital communications, ethics, and law-practice management. It is written for solo practitioners, small-firm attorneys, and legal professionals who do not need another abstract discussion of innovation. They need practical analysis that respects both their intelligence and their professional obligations.

Recent coverage has examined the growing risks of autonomous and agentic AI systems in legal practice. In “MTC: Claude Can Answer Your Emails. Why Lawyers Should Not Let AI Just Send Them Unreviewed”, I addressed the danger of allowing an AI system to send substantive communications without lawyer review. The issue is not merely whether a draft is grammatically polished. It is whether the message is accurate, confidential, authorized, and appropriate for the client’s matter.

The related challenge becomes even more serious when AI tools can act through connected systems. As discussed in the recent Tech-Savvy Lawyer analysis of AI agents, these systems may browse the web, access connected accounts, retrieve information, interact with software, and take multistep actions. That potential can improve a workflow, but it also expands the lawyer’s responsibility for access controls, supervision, confidentiality, and final review. 🔒

That is why the Lawyer’s Podcasting Guide is about more than microphones, recording software, and publishing platforms. It is about professional communication. It helps lawyers think through the decisions that make a podcast sustainable and trustworthy:

The library of congress has recognized, “The Tech-Savvy Lawyer, Lawyer’s guide to podcasting” , as a national resource - get your copy today!

  • Who is the intended audience?

  • What subject can the lawyer address with genuine experience and consistency?

  • What format serves listeners without consuming an unreasonable amount of practice time?

  • How can a lawyer promote educational content without creating unjustified expectations?

  • What safeguards protect client-related information during recording, transcription, editing, hosting, and promotion?

  • How should AI-assisted production tools be evaluated before they touch confidential or sensitive material?

Those are legal-technology questions. They are also ethics questions.

ABA Model Rule 1.1 requires competent representation. Comment provides that lawyers should keep abreast of the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology. A lawyer who uses a remote-recording service, transcription platform, cloud-hosting provider, AI-generated show-notes tool, or social-media distribution service should understand enough to make responsible decisions about that tool. The lawyer does not need to be an audio engineer or software developer. The lawyer does need to understand how the technology may affect the practice. ⚖️

ABA Model Rule 1.6 is equally important. It generally prohibits revealing information relating to representation without informed consent, implied authorization, or another applicable exception. It also requires reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure or access. That duty does not disappear because a lawyer describes a matter as an “anonymous example” on a podcast. The combination of facts, timing, location, and context may reveal more than the lawyer intended.

The best legal podcasts recognize that responsibility. They do not use client matters as raw material. They use informed analysis, carefully selected hypotheticals, public sources, interviews, and professional experience to help listeners understand an issue.

The Library of Congress recognition also arrives at an important moment for legal podcasting. Lawyers are using audio and video formats to explain developing legal issues, discuss technology, spotlight access-to-justice efforts, and connect with colleagues across practice areas and jurisdictions. The medium is accessible. A lawyer can begin with a focused topic, basic equipment, a repeatable workflow, and a commitment to quality. 🎧

But starting is not the same as sustaining.

That is why I am especially excited to connect this announcement to the Lawyer’s Podcasting Conference. The conference will bring together lawyers, legal-technology professionals, podcasters, and communications leaders to discuss how attorneys can create ethical, effective, and enduring podcasts. Participants will explore strategy, content planning, recording, interviewing, editing, publishing, promotion, accessibility, AI-assisted workflows, and the professional-responsibility issues that shape every stage of the process.

The conference is intended to be practical. It will help lawyers move from “I have been thinking about starting a podcast” to “I have a responsible plan for launching one.” It will also help established podcasters improve their process, sharpen their audience focus, and evaluate emerging technology without sacrificing lawyer oversight. 🤝

For lawyers who are AI-curious, the discussion will be particularly timely. AI can assist with transcripts, summaries, episode outlines, clip selection, metadata, and workflow organization. It cannot replace the lawyer’s duty to verify accuracy, protect confidential information, supervise the work, or exercise professional judgment. The lawyer remains accountable for what is published and how client-related information is handled.

Find “The Tech-Savvy Lawyer, Lawyer’s guide to podcasting” in congress or get your own copy today!!!

The acceptance of the Lawyer’s Podcasting Guide by the Library of Congress is an honor. More importantly, it is an invitation to keep building. The legal profession needs more thoughtful voices. It needs clearer explanations of difficult subjects. It needs lawyers who can use technology with competence, care, and a commitment to public service.

Visit The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page to follow the latest analysis, learn more about the Lawyer’s Podcasting Conference, and maybe buy your copy of the Lawyer's Podcasting Guide today to get a head of the conference attendees! I hope you will join the conversation!!!

🎙️ Ep. 139, From MyCase to Claude: Building a Secure, AI-Ready Tech Stack for Solo and Small Law Firms.

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My next guests are Gabriela “Gabby” Cubeiro, Senior Vice President of Product at 8am — the powerhouse behind MyCase, LawPay, CASEpeer, and DocketWise — and Majo Castro, founder and managing attorney at CastroMand Legal in Austin, Texas. 🌟 Gabby is a 16-year legal tech veteran who co-founded CASEpeer and now drives product strategy across one of the most widely adopted law practice management platforms in the country. Majo is a Venezuelan-born cybersecurity and AI attorney whose solo firm helps growing companies navigate AI implementation, data management, and cybersecurity — and she writes about all of it on her Substack, The Cyber Law Gal. 🛡️ This is a no-fluff, peer-to-peer conversation about the exact workflows that separate a modern LPM from a liability, why the Data Processing Agreement is the most important acronym in your practice right now, and what your employees are almost certainly already doing with AI — whether you've approved it or not.

Join Gabriela “Gabby” Cubeiro, Majo Castro, and me as we discuss the following three questions and more!

  1. What are the top three integrations or workflows a solo, small, or midsize firm should expect from a modern cloud-based LPM platform like 8am — and what's missing that signals a real red flag around efficiency, cash flow, or security?

  2. As AI gets baked into cloud LPM tools like 8am, what are the top three day-to-day tasks that will change most for solo and small firm lawyers — and what basic security or ethical guardrails should they put in place to use those AI features without putting client data at risk?

  3. For solo and small firms without a CISO or CTO, what are the top three cybersecurity mistakes you see over and over again?

In our conversation, we cover the following:

  • [00:00:00] 🪝 Show Hook — Gabby's critical warning: if your firm hasn't "adopted" AI, your employees probably already have — on free consumer tools

  • [00:00:00] Title read — Episode 139

  • [00:01:00] Host intro: why this conversation goes tactical on AI, security, and LPM workflows

  • [00:02:00] Guest introductions — Gabriela “Gabby” Cubeiro (8am/MyCase) and Majo Castro (CastroMand Legal / The Cyber Law Gal)

  • [00:03:00] Majo celebrates 1.5 years as a solo practitioner 🎉

  • [00:03:00] Ad: Five-star review request for The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page

  • [00:03:30] Tech setups — Gabby's MacBook Air (M4 chip), iPhone Max, Slack, Zoom, Google Drive, Claude Enterprise

  • [00:06:00] Gabby's portable USB-C external monitor for travel (Amazon, highest-rated)

  • [00:09:00] Majo's MacBook Pro 14" M4 (16GB RAM), performance issues, upgrade path discussion

  • [00:10:00] Michael recommends Onyx (free Mac maintenance utility); Michael's Mac Studio M3 Ultra with 256GB

  • [00:11:00] Mac Mini and Mac Studio as desktop alternatives; MacRumors Buyer's Guide tip

  • [00:13:00] Apple Business Account benefits — small discounts + white-glove service

  • [00:15:00] Majo's full setup: iPhone 16 Pro Max, Google Workspace + Gemini (team account with DPA), DJI Osmo Pocket 3, Hollyland wireless mic

  • [00:16:00] Q1: Top three LPM workflows — intake, secure client communication (client portal), and getting paid (trust accounting + automated invoicing)

  • [00:19:00] Majo on switching from QuickBooks to MyCase after discovering QuickBooks mishandles trust accounting

  • [00:20:00] 🎉 Gabby announces: AI case summary features are now LIVE in 8am/MyCase

  • [00:21:00] Cloud vs. local access debate — SaaS uptime, SLAs, and asking vendors for proof

  • [00:23:00] Michael's redundant backup strategy: Backblaze + Dropbox + local Mac Mini

  • [00:25:00] Cautionary tale: ransomware attack converts a server-based firm to the cloud overnight

  • [00:28:00] Majo's Google Drive third-party backup with 2-hour recovery window

  • [00:29:00] Q2: How AI changes daily workflows — drafting, case summaries, surfacing critical info fast

  • [00:30:00] Why reading vendor Terms of Service and activating Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) is non-negotiable

  • [00:31:00] 8am's SOC 2 Type 2 compliance; updated AI terms and opt-in controls coming

  • [00:32:00] SOC 2, HIPAA, end-to-end encryption as baseline vendor security requirements

  • [00:34:00] AI as the great equalizer — leveling the playing field for solo firms vs. BigLaw

  • [00:35:00] Majo's real data: ~12 hours saved last month across 27 consultations using Gemini for proposals

  • [00:36:00] Plaud and Pocket AI recording devices — data retention, PII, and DPA concerns

  • [00:37:00] Majo's stance on wearable AI recorders; Apple Watch comparison; one-party vs. two-party consent

  • [00:39:00] Plaud's terms say no AI training — but it's not a DPA; terms can change without notice 🚨

  • [00:40:00] Google Workspace DPA must be manually activated — most users don't know; creating user friction around protection

  • [00:41:00] Q3: Top cybersecurity mistakes — shadow AI, no MFA, undertrained employees

  • [00:42:00] Majo's checklist: DPA + no model training on client data + enterprise/team-tier subscriptions + MFA

  • [00:43:00] Gabby: employees are the #1 security risk; fractional IT and CISO options for small firms

  • [00:44:00] AI-powered phishing attacks on law firms will only intensify

  • [00:45:00] Majo's training method: positive AI policies + 45-second staff video explainers 🎬

  • [00:46:00] 🚨 Gabby's shadow AI reminder (Show Hook callback): audit your tech stack — your team already has

  • [00:47:00] Episode originally recorded at ABA Techshow; re-recorded after a technical snafu 😅

  • [00:47:00] Where to find Gabby: LinkedIn, X, 8am.com, Kaleidoscope conference (September — banner at 8am.com)

  • [00:48:00] Where to find Majo: LinkedIn (Majo Castro), CastroMand Legal, Substack: The Cyber Law Gal

  • [00:48:30] Outro — michaeldj@thetechsavvylawyer.page | next episode in ~two weeks

RESOURCES

Connect with Gabriela “Gabby” Cubeiro

Connect with Majo Castro

Mentioned in the Episode

Hardware Mentioned

MTC: AI Won’t Replace Solo and Small-Firm Lawyers — It Will Supercharge Them ⚖️🤖

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Solo lawyers can use artificial intelligence as a virtual associate to handle legal research, drafting, intake, and billing in a modern small law firm ⚖️🤖

If you run a solo or small-to-medium firm, you’ve probably heard the predictions: AI will automate legal tasks in “12 to 18 months” or replace traditional lawyers entirely by 2035. Those headlines make great clickbait, but they miss what is actually happening on the ground in smaller practices. AI is not wiping out solo and small-firm lawyers; it is changing the mix of tasks we do — and creating more opportunities for us if we adopt it intentionally and ethically. 

In a recent Washington Post opinion, Damien Charlotin argues that AI won’t replace lawyers. It will create more of them. His logic is especially important for solos and small firms. He describes legal jobs as “bundles of tasks,” many of which are tightly linked and not easily peeled apart for automation. If you’ve ever juggled intake, research, drafting, negotiation, and billing in a single day, you know exactly what that tight bundle feels like. AI is about to start pulling on pieces of that bundle — and your job is to decide how to rebundle your work in a way that serves clients, protects ethics, and keeps your business healthy. ⚖️🤖

Why Solo and Small Firms Should Ignore the Doom Headlines 😅

Charlotin points out that lawyers have never been more numerous in the United States, with law school applications rising and record-high employment in bar-required jobs. That’s happening at the same time as AI hype, which should tell you something: the profession is not collapsing.

For solos and small firms, the bigger risk is not AI replaces me, but AI-literate competitors out-serve my clients. Larger firms may have innovation teams and internal IT, but you have agility and direct control over your workflows. If you can use AI to shave hours off routine tasks — and reinvest that time into client counseling, business development, or flat-fee offerings — you can turn AI from a threat into a differentiator. As I often say on The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page podcast, AI is the junior associate you don’t have to hire, but still have to supervise.

Your Practice as a “Tight Bundle” of Tasks 🧩

Charlotin’s “bundles of tasks” concept is tailor-made for solo and small-firm reality. In big firms, tasks can be split across teams; in smaller shops, you wear most of the hats. Research, drafting, strategy, client communication, and billing are often intertwined in a single matter.

For experienced lawyers, Charlotin notes, “doing legal research and evaluating an argument are … often the same mental activity” — we check the argument by writing it. If you offload only the writing to AI, verification becomes a separate, deliberate act that takes time, and if you skip it, you risk sanctions for hallucinated filings. This is why I push solo and small-firm lawyers to treat AI as an assistant that drafts and summarizes, while you retain control over the analysis and final product.

Lessons from E-Discovery for Small Practices 📂➡️📈

Charlotin likens the current AI hype to the e-discovery wave more than a decade ago. Back then, headlines like those from The New York Times predicted “Armies of Expensive Lawyers, Replaced by Cheaper Software.” What actually happened? The volume of discoverable material exploded; the tools became part of practice; and lawyers moved into new roles managing, interpreting, and litigating around that information.

That same Jevons paradox — cheaper processes leading to more usage — is already playing out in tools marketed to solo and small firms. AI-assisted drafting and research platforms now make it viable for smaller shops to handle matters that previously required big-firm staffing, and to offer more predictable pricing without cutting quality. Cheaper legal work often means more legal work — especially for clients who previously couldn’t afford you.

ABA Model Rule 1.1: Competence for Lean Teams 📚

Small law firm team using legal AI tools to improve collaboration, client service, and ABA-compliant workflows across a lean practice 👩‍⚖️👨‍⚖️💻.

For solos and small- to medium-sized firms, ABA Model Rule 1.1 on competence is both a challenge and an opportunity. It requires you to understand “the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology,” including AI. But unlike big firms, you can’t delegate that understanding to an IT department or an internal AI committee; you are the committee.

Practically, that means you need at least a working grasp of what your chosen AI tools do, how they handle data, and where they fit in your workflows. You don’t need to run every experiment at once. Start with one or two high-impact areas — say, summarizing long PDFs, generating first drafts of routine emails, or creating checklists from statutes or rules — and build from there. Competence for solo and small-firm lawyers is not about chasing every new feature; it’s about picking the right tools for your practice and using them deliberately.

Rules 5.1 and 5.3: Supervision When “You Are the Management” 👥🤖

You might think Rules 5.1 and 5.3 (supervision of lawyers and nonlawyers) are big-firm problems. They’re not. If you have even one staff member, contract attorney, or virtual assistant, you are responsible for how they use AI. And even if you’re truly solo, you’re still responsible for supervising the AI tools you deploy as if they were a nonlawyer assistant.

For small practices, the most practical move is a simple written AI policy, even if it’s a one-page document:

  • Which tasks can use AI (e.g., research assistance, first-draft documents);

  • Which tasks require heightened review (e.g., anything filed with a court);

  • Which tasks are off-limits (e.g., unsupervised client advice, sensitive fact patterns pasted into consumer chatbots).

As discussed both in Charlotin’s piece and in bar guidance for smaller firms, formal policies help you avoid ad hoc, inconsistent AI use that could jeopardize client confidentiality or court obligations.

Rule 1.6 Confidentiality: Cloud Tools on a Budget 🔐

Model Rule 1.6 on confidentiality doesn’t change just because you’re a small shop — but your margin for error is thinner. Many solos and small firms rely on cloud-based tools because they can’t host their own infrastructure. That’s fine, as long as you are careful.

Before pasting client facts into an AI tool, you must know whether it stores or reuses data, whether it trains on your inputs, and whether there’s an option for a “no training” or “enterprise” mode. When in doubt, prefer AI features built into reputable legal platforms (research tools, practice management systems, document automation suites) with clear confidentiality commitments, rather than generic consumer apps. On The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page, I hammer this point because solos cannot absorb the cost of a major data mishap the way some larger organizations can.

Legislative Inflation and Niche Opportunities for Smaller Firms 📜📈

Charlotin notes that every jurisdiction is “afflicted by legislative inflation” — more rules, more norms, more regulations. That means more interpretation, more disputes, more filings, and more need for lawyers. For solos and small-to-medium firms, this is an opportunity to carve out narrow niches and use AI to keep up with complex, evolving regimes that might otherwise be out of reach.

An AI-enabled solo can monitor regulatory changes, generate quick client alerts, and update templates far faster than before. Combined with targeted content marketing and SEO, this makes it possible to dominate specific micro-niches without a big marketing budget — something I frequently discuss on The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page when we talk about modern business development.

Entry-Level Work and the Solo/Small Pyramid 🧑‍🎓➡️⚖️

a Small-firm lawyer can use AI-powered legal technology to serve niche clients, track changing regulations, and deliver efficient legal services across a local market 🎯⚖️

Charlotin flags a serious concern: AI may change entry-level work. For big firms, that means rethinking associate leverage. In smaller firms, it means you may hire differently — or delay that first hire because AI picks up some of the routine drafting and research.

But Charlotin also notes that young lawyers are hired for reasons beyond their marginal drafting value — future partnership, signals to clients, bench strength for unpredictable surges. The same is true for small and mid-size firms. AI can handle some grunt work, but it can’t attend a community event, build a local reputation, or bring in referrals. If you use AI to free juniors from the most repetitive tasks, you can push them earlier into client-facing and business-building roles, which is exactly where smaller firms thrive.

Reorganization, Not Replacement — Especially for You 🔄

Charlotin closes by emphasizing that while the profession will look different in 2035, the lawyer is here to stay, and there will likely be more lawyers, not fewer. They will use AI — “they would be fools not to” — and they will charge for that value.

For solo and small-to-medium firms, the reorganization is already underway:

  • Routine drafting and research shift toward AI-assisted workflows.

  • Verification, judgment, and client counseling become even more central.

  • Niche expertise, responsiveness, and pricing flexibility become your competitive edge.

If you treat AI as a core part of your toolkit — governed by the ABA Model Rules and aligned with your business goals — you must position your firm not just to survive the AI wave, but to ride it. ⚖️🤖

Its been said many times by myself and others, lawyers must embrace AI into their practice of law or be left behind by those who do!

📽️ BONUS Labs 🧪 Initiative: Tech-Savvy Lawyer on Law Practice Today Podcast — Essential Trust Account Tips for Solo & Small Law Firms w/ Terrell Turner (Copy)

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

For those who prefer video over plain audio, enjoy this take on my guest appearance on Law Practice Today Podcast!

🙏 Special Thanks to Terrell Turner and the ABA for having me on the Law Practice Today Podcast, produced by the Law Practice Division of the American Bar Association. We have an important discussion on trust account management. We cover essential insights on managing trust accounts using online services. This episode has been edited for time, but no information was altered. We are grateful to the ABA and the Law Practice Today Podcast for allowing us to share this valuable conversation with our audience.

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

  1. What precautions should lawyers using online services to manage trust accounts be aware of?

  2. How can solo and small firm attorneys find competent bookkeepers who understand legal trust accounting?

  3. What security measures should attorneys implement when using online payment processors for client funds?

⏱️ In our conversation, we cover the following:

00:00 – Introduction & Preview: Trust Accounts in the Digital Age

01:00 – Welcome to the Law Practice Today Podcast

01:30 – Today's Topic: Online Services for Payments

02:00 – Guest Introduction: Michael D.J. Eisenberg's Background

03:00 – Michael's Experience with Trust Accounts

04:00 – Challenges for Solo and Small Practitioners

05:00 – Ensuring Security in Online Services

06:00 – Questions to Ask Online Payment Providers

07:00 – Password Security & Two-Factor Authentication

08:00 – Finding a Competent Legal Bookkeeper

09:00 – Why 8AM Law Pay Works for Attorneys

10:00 – Daily Monitoring of Trust Accounts

11:00 – FDIC Insurance & Silicon Valley Bank Lessons

13:00 – Researching Trust Account Best Practices

15:00 – Closing Remarks & Podcast Information

📚 Resources

🔗 Connect with Terrell

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrellturner/

🌐 Website: https://www.tlturnergroup.com/

🎙️ Law Practice Today Podcast – https://lawpracticetoday.buzzsprout.com

📰 Mentioned in the Episode

💻 Software & Cloud Services Mentioned in the Conversation

  • 8AM Law Pay – Legal payment processing designed for trust account compliance – https://www.8am.com/lawpay/

  • 1Password – Password manager for generating and syncing complex passwords – https://1password.com/

  • LastPass – Mentioned as a password manager with noted security concerns – https://www.lastpass.com/

Word of the Week: "Constitutional AI" for Lawyers - What It Is, Why It Matters for ABA Rules, and How Solo & Small Firms Should Use It!

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

Constitutional AI’s ‘helpful, harmless, honest’ standard is a solid starting point for lawyers evaluating AI platforms.

The term “Constitutional AI” appeared this week in a Tech Savvy Lawyer post about the MTC/PornHub breach as a cybersecurity wake‑up call for lawyers 🚨. That article used it to highlight how AI systems (like those law firms now rely on) must be built and governed by clear, ethical rules — much like a constitution — to protect client data and uphold professional duties. This week’s Word of the Week unpacks what Constitutional AI really means and explains why it matters deeply for solo, small, and mid‑size law firms.

🔍 What is Constitutional AI?

Constitutional AI is a method for training large language models so they follow a written set of high‑level principles, called a “constitution” 📜. Those principles are designed to make the AI helpful, honest, and harmless in its responses.

As Claude AI from Anthropic explains:
“Constitutional AI refers to a set of techniques developed by researchers at Anthropic to align AI systems like myself with human values and make us helpful, harmless, and honest. The key ideas behind Constitutional AI are aligning an AI’s behavior with a ‘constitution’ defined by human principles, using techniques like self‑supervision and adversarial training, developing constrained optimization techniques, and designing training data and model architecture to encode beneficial behaviors.” — Claude AI, Anthropic (July 7th, 2023).

In practice, Constitutional AI uses the model itself to critique and revise its own outputs against that constitution. For example, the model might be told: “Do not generate illegal, dangerous, or unethical content,” “Be honest about what you don’t know,” and “Protect user privacy.” It then evaluates its own answers against those rules before giving a final response.

Think of it like a junior associate who’s been given a firm’s internal ethics manual and told: “Before you send that memo, check it against these rules.” Constitutional AI does that same kind of self‑checking, but at machine speed.

🤝 How Constitutional AI Relates to Lawyers

For lawyers, Constitutional AI is important because it directly shapes how AI tools behave when handling legal work 📚. Many legal AI tools are built on models that use Constitutional AI techniques, so understanding this concept helps lawyers:

  • Judge whether an AI assistant is likely to hallucinate, leak sensitive info, or give ethically problematic advice.

  • Choose tools whose underlying AI is designed to be more transparent, less biased, and more aligned with professional norms.

  • Better supervise AI use in the firm, which is a core ethical duty under the ABA Model Rules.

Solo and small firms, in particular, often rely on off‑the‑shelf AI tools (like chatbots or document assistants). Knowing that a tool is built on Constitutional AI principles can give more confidence that it’s designed to avoid harmful outputs and respect confidentiality.

⚖️ Why It Matters for ABA Model Rules

For solo and small firms, asking whether an AI platform aligns with Constitutional AI’s standards is a practical first step in choosing a trustworthy tool.

The ABA’s Formal Opinion 512 on generative AI makes clear that lawyers remain responsible for all work done with AI, even if an AI tool helped draft it 📝. Constitutional AI is relevant here because it’s one way that AI developers try to build in ethical guardrails that align with lawyers' obligations.

Key connections to the Model Rules:

  • Rule 1.1 (Competence): Lawyers must understand the benefits and risks of the technology they use. Knowing that a tool uses Constitutional AI helps assess whether it’s reasonably reliable for tasks like research, drafting, or summarizing.

  • Rule 1.6 (Confidentiality): Constitutional AI models are designed to refuse to disclose sensitive information and to avoid memorizing or leaking private data. This supports the lawyer’s duty to make “reasonable efforts” to protect client confidences.

  • Rule 5.1 / 5.3 (Supervision): Managing partners and supervising attorneys must ensure that AI tools used by staff are consistent with ethical rules. A tool built on Constitutional AI principles is more likely to support, rather than undermine, those supervisory duties.

  • Rule 3.3 (Candor to the Tribunal): Constitutional AI models are trained to admit uncertainty and avoid fabricating facts or cases, which helps reduce the risk of submitting false or misleading information to a court.

In short, Constitutional AI doesn’t relieve lawyers of their ethical duties, but it can make AI tools safer and more trustworthy when used under proper supervision.

🛡️ The “Helpful, Harmless, and Honest” Principle

The three pillars of Constitutional AI — helpful, harmless, and honest — are especially relevant for lawyers:

  • Helpful: The AI should provide useful, relevant information that advances the client’s matter, without unnecessary or irrelevant content.

  • Harmless: The AI should avoid generating illegal, dangerous, or unethical content, and should respect privacy and confidentiality.

  • Honest: The AI should admit when it doesn’t know something, avoid fabricating facts or cases, and not misrepresent its capabilities.

For law firms, this “helpful, harmless, and honest” standard is a useful mental checklist when using AI:

  • Is this AI output actually helpful to the client’s case?

  • Could this output harm the client (e.g., by leaking confidential info or suggesting an unethical strategy)?

  • Is the AI being honest (e.g., not hallucinating case law or pretending to know facts it can’t know)?

If the answer to any of those questions is “no,” the AI output should not be used without significant human review and correction.

🛠️ Practical Takeaways for Law Firms

For solo, small, and mid‑size firms, here’s how to put this into practice:

Lawyers need to screen AI tools and ensure they are aligned with ABA Model Rules.

  1. Know your tools. When evaluating a legal AI product, ask whether it’s built on a Constitutional AI–style model (e.g., Claude). That tells you it’s designed with explicit ethical constraints.

  2. Treat AI as a supervised assistant. Never let AI make final decisions or file work without a lawyer’s review. Constitutional AI reduces risk, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for human judgment.

  3. Train your team. Make sure everyone in the firm understands that AI outputs must be checked for accuracy, confidentiality, and ethical compliance — especially when using third‑party tools.

  4. Update your engagement letters and policies. Disclose to clients when AI is used in their matters, and explain how the firm supervises it. This supports transparency under Rule 1.4 and Rule 1.6.

  5. Focus on “helpful, honest, harmless.” Use Constitutional AI as a mental checklist: Is this AI being helpful to the client? Is it honest about its limits? Is it harmless (no bias, no privacy leaks)? If not, don’t rely on it.

📻 BONUS: Tech-Savvy Lawyer on Law Practice Today Podcast — Essential Trust Account Tips for Solo & Small Law Firms w/ Terrell Turner

/ The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page/

🙏 Special Thanks to Terrell Turner and the ABA for having me on the Law Practice Today Podcast, produced by the Law Practice Division of the American Bar Association. We have an important discussion on trust account management. We cover essential insights on managing trust accounts using online services. This episode has been edited for time, but no information was altered. We are grateful to the ABA and the Law Practice Today Podcast for allowing us to share this valuable conversation with our audience.

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

  1. What precautions should lawyers using online services to manage trust accounts be aware of?

  2. How can solo and small firm attorneys find competent bookkeepers who understand legal trust accounting?

  3. What security measures should attorneys implement when using online payment processors for client funds?

⏱️ In our conversation, we cover the following:

00:00 – Introduction & Preview: Trust Accounts in the Digital Age

01:00 – Welcome to the Law Practice Today Podcast

01:30 – Today's Topic: Online Services for Payments

02:00 – Guest Introduction: Michael D.J. Eisenberg's Background

03:00 – Michael's Experience with Trust Accounts

04:00 – Challenges for Solo and Small Practitioners

05:00 – Ensuring Security in Online Services

06:00 – Questions to Ask Online Payment Providers

07:00 – Password Security & Two-Factor Authentication

08:00 – Finding a Competent Legal Bookkeeper

09:00 – Why 8AM Law Pay Works for Attorneys

10:00 – Daily Monitoring of Trust Accounts

11:00 – FDIC Insurance & Silicon Valley Bank Lessons

13:00 – Researching Trust Account Best Practices

15:00 – Closing Remarks & Podcast Information

📚 Resources

🔗 Connect with Terrell

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrellturner/

🌐 Website: https://www.tlturnergroup.com/

🎙️ Law Practice Today Podcast – https://lawpracticetoday.buzzsprout.com

📰 Mentioned in the Episode

💻 Software & Cloud Services Mentioned in the Conversation

  • 8AM Law Pay – Legal payment processing designed for trust account compliance – https://www.8am.com/lawpay/

  • 1Password – Password manager for generating and syncing complex passwords – https://1password.com/

  • LastPass – Mentioned as a password manager with noted security concerns – https://www.lastpass.com/