Why a lawyer says to try using AI to draft legal documents – NBC4 Washington
From wills to prenups to basics contracts, having an attorney write up even simple legal documents can cost thousands. It’s no wonder more people are asking, why pay that much when AI can do it for free?
That’s what Stephanie Palacino did when an attorney quoted her and her fiancé $10,000 to write a prenuptial agreement.
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“We essentially asked ChatGPT what we should do, and from there we started actually getting it to draft,” she said.
Ahmad Castellanos turned to ChatGPT for help fighting a traffic violation in court.
“It told me basically what to do, what the outcome would be if I do no contest, if I do this or that,” he said.
Castellanos said it worked and his case was dismissed.
So, News4 tried it ourselves. We asked three different AIs – Grok, ChatGPT and Gemini – to draft a prenup and a will.
Gemini refused entirely and said it couldn’t produce legal documents because it wasn’t a professional.
Grok and ChatGPT both gave similar disclaimers and said they weren’t lawyers and we should consult one. But both went ahead and drafted the documents anyway.
How did they stack up against a real attorney?
“With the wills, I would say if you were to come to my office, we probably would zhuzh it up a little bit,” attorney Leslie Peters said.
For simple wills, Peters said the AI versions weren’t bad and were just missing a few professional touches, like making sure your listed beneficiaries line up with your financial accounts, addressing state-specific legal requirements, and adding those “what if” clauses an algorithm wouldn’t know to ask about.
But when it came to the prenups that AI drafted, the lawyer said human expertise really mattered.
“A prenup has such a long-lasting effect that I would really want to really sit down with the person,” Peters said.
You don’t want an algorithm guessing its way through a life-changing document, Peters said. She spotted a glaring legal issue when we asked AI to include an infidelity clause in the prenup. She said AI got it flat-out wrong.
“I just found it odd that ChatGPT kept insisting that’s not enforceable when that’s not necessarily the case,” she said.
What would Peters suggest to people who are considering trying AI to draft legal documents?
“I think it’s a great idea. I mean, you’re saving yourself money, you’re trying to get to the end goal of what you’re trying to do if you need to sit with a lawyer for one hour as opposed to five because you already have the draft,” she said. “More power to you.”
That’s what Palacino and her fiancé are doing.
“We are still in the process of writing it. So, we’re pretty close now, though, to the point where we feel ready to take it to an attorney,” she said.
OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT, updated their user policy in October and will no longer provide tailored advice that requires a license, including legal advice. But it will still give general advice such as drafting templates for wills or prenups.
News4 reached out to all the companies in this report. ChatGPT did not respond. We did get a quick response from Grok saying, “Legacy media lies.”
There have been several news reports about AI hallucinations in legal case citations, meaning bots provided users with made-up cases.
When it comes to legal questions, even the smartest AI is still saying to consult an attorney. But if you use it wisely, it may help you to ask the right questions first.
