The Legal Minefield: Using AI for Contracts and Legal Docs

In 2023, a lawyer made headlines for citing fake court cases invented by ChatGPT. In 2026, the stakes are even higher. AI has become a standard tool in law firms for summarizing discovery and drafting initial clauses, but it remains a dangerous capability if unchecked.

The Hallucination Problem

Legal language is precise. One word—"shall" vs. "may"—can change a billion-dollar outcome. AI models, however, prioritize fluency over accuracy. They might draft a beautifully written clause that references a regulation that almost exists but doesn't.

Risk: You are legally liable for the text you sign, regardless of who (or what) wrote it.

Confidentiality Breaches

Public AI models (like the free version of ChatGPT) train on user data.

Scenario: A lawyer pastes a confidential M&A term sheet into a chatbot to "summarize it." That data is now potentially part of the model's training set. This is a massive breach of attorney-client privilege.

The Safe Path

1. Use Enterprise Models: Only use "walled garden" AI instances that do not train on your data. 2. The "Red Pen" Rule: Never copy-paste AI legal text directly into a final doc. Treat it as a "junior associate's first draft" that requires line-by-line verification.

Conclusion

AI can make lawyers faster, but it cannot make them smarter. The judgment call—the "counsel" part of "legal counsel"—is strictly human.