As clients begin to embrace generative AI, it’s becoming increasingly critical for law firms to do so as well. According to the Association of Corporate Counsel’s recent study Generative AI’s Growing Strategic Value for Corporate Law Departments, more than half of in-house counsel are actively using GenAI in their practice. Yet in-house counsel aren’t clear on what their law firms are doing with GenAI–59% said they don’t even know if their outside counsel are using GenAI, and 80% said they are not requiring or even encouraging their law firms to use it.
This is an opportunity for law firms to set themselves apart from their competition by using GenAI to significantly improve communications by acting as a copilot, helping draft professional content, checking grammar, and tailoring messages to specific audiences. The SkillBurst modules on legal communication teach users how to effectively integrate GenAI into their practice while reinforcing lessons on its limitations. The module “Generative AI for Communication” includes potential use cases for internal and external communications, emphasizing practical scenarios, writing practice, and study questions on AI results and prompting, which benefit in-firm and client communication.
GenAI can also be an invaluable tool to complement traditional professional development, helping legal professionals reflect on and refine critical skills. SkillBurst’s module on “Generative AI for Professional Development” explains the importance of using GenAI for the benefit of one’s career, as a tool to help prioritize personal professional development alongside the busy schedule lawyers always have. The module enhances users’ learning through interactive lessons, safety and security drills, and practice use cases for enhanced client communication, time management, and negotiations —all important skills in today’s legal careers.
GenAI can also be an intelligent “partner” in business development, bridging the gap between this crucial activity and the time limits lawyers face. The SkillBurst module “GenAI for Business Development" demonstrates how GenAI can support creating drafts of business development materials in far less time than it would take to do it manually, while exploring its strengths and limitations with related tasks like ideation, brainstorming, and proposal formatting.
Since many in the legal sphere rely on Microsoft and its GenAI Copilot function, SkillBurst has developed a module specifically for these users. The first step, outlined in the “Mastering Copilot for Legal Practice” module, is to fully understand the nuances of the Copilot access points, followed by the specific operating guidelines Microsoft uses to ensure ethical use. It is vital to learn the Copilot application as an additive tool that can enhance professional development, legal writing, communication, and workflow in the law firm. To ensure tangible skill integration, the content includes specific use cases and scenarios, along with a self-reflection exercise that reinforces responsible use in accordance with firm policies.
Mastering GenAI technology, including tools like Microsoft Copilot, is about thoughtful integration– recognizing its limitations and using it to their benefit. And since clients are already embracing GenAI, it’s more important than ever for law firm lawyers to demonstrate their expertise with this technology.
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