The AI Sidebar

How Paralegals Are Becoming the AI Power Users of the Legal Industry

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:00:00 -0000

Paralegals have been prompt engineers long before the term existed, and that background is shaping how they're approaching generative AI today. Kristine Custodio Suero, California Paralegal of the Year and paralegal educator at the University of San Diego School of Law, and Kelli Radnothy, a 20-plus year litigation paralegal with the Nevada Attorney General's office and chief ideas officer of KLR Paralegal, join the show to talk through how they're using AI tools in practice and in the classroom. They walk through their advice for paralegals just starting out, why starting low stakes and low risk matters before touching client data, and how they trained their own LLMs, nicknames included, to build confidence with the technology. The conversation covers the guardrails needed for confidentiality and ethics, the shift from task-based work to strategic work that AI is pushing paralegals toward, and why billing models may need to evolve alongside it. Suero and Radnothy also share how government and firm settings shape what tools they're allowed to use, their takes on Claude versus ChatGPT, and why they both land firmly on the techno-optimist side of the debate.

AI Adoption in Law Firms: What's Really Happening Behind the Numbers

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 11:00:00 -0000

Generative AI usage among attorneys jumped from 31% to 69% in a single year, but most law firms still haven't caught up with formal policies or training. Attorney and legal tech columnist Nicole Black, who has covered the intersection of law and technology for two decades, breaks down what's driving that gap and what it means for firms trying to keep pace. She explains why solo and small firms tend to adopt new technology faster than their mid-size and large counterparts, and why immigration attorneys in particular are using generative AI at a much higher rate than other practice areas. Black also discusses the slow erosion of the billable hour, why in-house counsel and insurance defense attorneys are among the most likely to push firms toward flat rate pricing, and what the current wave of legal tech consolidation means for the tools attorneys rely on day to day. The conversation turns to the rise of vibe coding in the legal industry, including attorneys building their own case management software from scratch, and Black shares her own experience using AI tools to navigate a New York liquor license application for a winery she and her husband are launching. She closes with her honest take on where she lands between AI optimism and AI pessimism, and why she thinks regulation may already be behind the curve.

The AI Sidebar Trailer

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 17:36:00 -0000

AI isn’t coming for the legal profession. It’s already changing it. The AI Sidebar cuts through the noise around legal AI and legal technology. Hosted by Phillip Vaden, each episode explores how lawyers and litigation teams are using artificial intelligence in legal research, drafting, discovery, and practice management through honest conversations, real workflows, and practical takeaways you can apply immediately. Understand what AI actually means for legal practice and navigate the future of law with clarity and confidence, not hype. Presented by Infotrack.