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- 📩 Silicourt Valley – Issue #2
📩 Silicourt Valley – Issue #2
Glad it's Tuesday
Silicourt Valley
May 20, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
⏱️ How to Use AI Without Violating Client Confidentiality (Or Getting Disbarred)
Let’s talk about the elephant in the courtroom: client confidentiality and AI.
The hype cycle has you wondering if you’re falling behind, and the ethics rules have you wondering if you're risking your license.
This issue is about threading that needle.
📌 This Week in Legal Tech (The TL;DR Version)
🧾 California Bar issues AI ethics guidance - (https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/ethics/Generative-AI-Practical-Guidance.pdf)
Verdict: It’s not banned, but you’d better supervise it like it’s a first-year associate with no common sense.
⚙️ GPT-4.1 Launches - (https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9624314-model-release-notes)
It’s fast, it’s smart, it’s... not something you should feed client data to. OpenAI’s new model is impressive, but the privacy policy remains fuzzy.
📈 Thomson Reuters Expands AI Tools - (https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/artificial-intelligence/ai-overview.html)
They're betting the billable hour can coexist with automation. Cute.
🕒 30-Second Win
Before pasting anything into ChatGPT, run your document through a redaction tool like Redact.dev or use “Find and Replace” to swap out names, firms, and dates.
Bonus: Save that redacted doc to test future AI tools without risk.
🛡️ The Real Stuff: AI Without Risking Privilege
Using AI in legal practice is like handling fire: useful, but dangerous if you’re careless.
👀 The Risk Everyone Ignores
Many lawyers assume that if they’re “not giving names,” it’s safe. It’s not. Details like location, dates, case facts, or even tone can re-identify a matter, especially in small communities or niche practice areas.
And yes, OpenAI says they don’t use your data for training… unless you’re not logged in, or you’re using third-party plugins. So, unless you enjoy risk? Play it safe.
✅ Safe AI Habits You Can Start Using Today
Use redacted hypotheticals - “In a hypothetical slip-and-fall at a large retailer, what are the elements needed to establish premises liability under Georgia law?”
Use local tools when possible:
Private hosted models (like Claude Pro)
On-premise tools (like LM Studio + open models)
Browser extensions with privacy-first settings
ChatGPT Enterprise or tools with signed DPAs.
Strip metadata and language markers - Remove client names, case references, headers, and formatting that could tip off identity.
Create reusable “shell prompts” - “You are a legal assistant helping summarize medical chronology documents. You will always receive redacted text.”
🧠 Prompt of the Week
Summarize this factual scenario into a neutral, legally relevant timeline. Assume all identifying info has been removed.
📎 Useful for: medical chronologies, deposition prep, or just sounding like you know what you’re doing.
📚 Extra Credit
✉️ Until Next Week…
Next up: Your AI Research Assistant: Fast, Flawed, and Kinda Genius — we’ll compare what happens when you ask ChatGPT, Westlaw AI, and Claude the same legal question.
If you liked this, forward it to a lawyer who still thinks AI means Alexa.
Got thoughts on this issue?
👇
Hit reply and let me know what landed, what didn’t, or what you’re wrestling with.
We read every message—and yes, even the spicy ones.
🔐 (Don’t Forget) Coming Soon: Silicourt Pro
Silicourt Valley will always be free. But I’m building a paid version for professionals who want to:
Save time with a searchable legal prompt library
Get access to real-world workflows + templates
Go deeper on the tech without getting lost in it
No paywall yet. But when colleagues start asking why you're not using these tools, you'll want to be ready:
The Silicourt Valley Team
P.S. Forward this to that one colleague who still prints their emails. They need this more than you do.
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