The Agile Attorney Podcast

060. Practical Uses for Legal AI - No Hype, No Fear with Damien Riehl

Mar 11, 2025
In this enlightening discussion, Damien Riehl, a seasoned lawyer and legal technologist at VLex, explores the tangible benefits of AI for small and mid-sized law firms. He emphasizes the integration of AI tools to streamline legal workflows, enhance issue-spotting, and improve client service. Damien challenges common fears about AI ethics, advocating for practical applications that boost access to justice. He also shares insights on transforming billing models and emphasizes the importance of maintaining human empathy in legal counsel as technology evolves.
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ANECDOTE

Career From Litigation To Legal AI

  • Damien described moving from BigLaw litigation to building legal tech and working on Facebook's Cambridge Analytica investigation.
  • He now works at VLex on Vincent using a billion-document legal dataset for AI features.
INSIGHT

Law Is Words — LLMs Fit Naturally

  • Lawyers' work is fundamentally word-based and large language models excel at ingesting, analyzing, and producing words.
  • LLMs can apply facts to law and produce ideation at superhuman speed, reshaping core legal tasks.
INSIGHT

Automated Intake And Issue Spotting

  • AI tools can transcribe client interviews and perform automated issue-spotting tied to jurisdictional law.
  • Systems can identify missing elements and generate follow-up questions to fill gaps in a client's story.
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