P2P

P E E R T O P E E R M A G A Z I N E · F A L L 2 0 2 5 15 virtually and sometimes in person, on a set cadence for a period of weeks to engage in interactive, hands-on exercises, role-playing, friendly competition, and a capstone hackathon event that requires cooperative preparation. WHAT IS PRACTICAL? In 2023, the Chief Innovation Officer of an Am Law 100 firm shared her vision for training lawyers on generative AI and related technologies. Her ambition was expansive: lawyers need to learn everything. She wanted them to understand how the technology functions across various industries, including both the theoretical foundations and practical applications, as well as the broader implications for the profession. However, that was her job as the CINO —to be the subject matter expert, track developments across industries, and translate trends into digestible pieces for her lawyers to apply in their client matters. Expecting practicing lawyers to carry that same breadth of knowledge was a mistake. This CINO should have shifted the expectation and the burden, recognizing that she was the expert and the lawyers should equip themselves with what they need to function confidently in their roles and to serve their clients. Lawyers need to be able to identify the issue and take the necessary steps to translate it into actionable advice. That is what their clients have come to expect of them, and in turn what they should expect of their business leaders. The analogy is straightforward. When a client comes to a lawyer for advice, the lawyer does not walk them through everything they learned from law school to the present day. They do not try to transfer the full scope of their subject matter expertise. That would be overwhelming and ineffective. Instead, the lawyer listens to the facts, applies the law, and distills their expertise into practical courses of action. GenAI training should function similarly. Lawyers do not need a lecture on the comprehensive history of large language models or the numerous potential use cases in other industries. They require targeted guidance on the tool's capabilities and limitations within their practice, how to supervise its outputs responsibly, and how to communicate with clients about it in clear and understandable language. That is what "practical" means. Exactly what lawyers need, when they need it.

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