Hosts Ian Hull, LSM, and Suzana Popovic-Montag discuss AI use in their legal practice and how it impacts legal understanding and performance of their lawyers. They talk about a study by Professor Daniel Schwarcz, University of Minnesota Law School, who examined how AI affects law students' cognitive development. The research found that AI actually enhances students' understanding of legal materials and improves their performance when applying law, contrary to initial hypotheses about cognitive impairment with AI usage.

Key guidelines from Schwarcz's work are highlighted, including using AI for specific tasks rather than broad reasoning, maintaining active oversight of outputs, avoiding over-reliance in high-risk contexts, prioritizing skill development through mentorship, and continuously reassessing AI developments. They also discuss a book called "The AI-Driven Leader" by Geoff Woods, which emphasizes the importance of strategic thinking and using AI as a strategic thought partner rather than just managing the technology.

In this episode of "A Better Place to Be, AI and the Law," Ian Hull and Suzana Popovic-Montag discuss the growing adoption of AI in legal practices. They highlight insights from the STEP Barometer survey, which identifies document drafting and review, administrative processing, and research as the top areas where AI is most useful for professionals.

The discussion also touches on concerns about AI replacing human roles in law, emphasizing that AI cannot replace the critical human elements of judgment, legal knowledge, and client interaction.

Guest Doug Higgins, from cnsl.ai, provides a hands-on demonstration of AI usage in legal practice with CoCounsel AI Transcript Analysis and a review of prompt scripts developed.

They discuss key AI blind spots identified in a 2026 Thomson Reuters report regarding AI implementation in law firms. The main blind spots discussed included treating AI as a project rather than a strategic shift, ignoring cultural change requirements, missing business case benefits beyond legal work, confusing risk management with avoidance, and not being transparent with clients about AI usage.

In this episode of "A Better Place to Be, AI and the Law," hosts Ian Hull and Suzana Popovic-Montag welcome Doug Higgins, Chief Innovation Officer at cnsl.ai, to discuss practical considerations when implementing AI tools in a legal practice. Doug shares his transition from practicing law to advising on AI innovation. Doug explains how cnsl.ai helps law firms evaluate and implement AI tools effectively touching on the consultation process, efficiency gains, tool selection, cost management, and data confidentiality. The conversation also addresses on the challenges of technology adoption in law firms, the role of legal education in AI, and how AI is becoming a talent management consideration for firms.