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Artificial intelligence tools are now a part of everyday life – including how people explore legal issues, draft documents, and prepare for discussions. At Burch & Co, we welcome this evolution. Used thoughtfully, AI improves efficiency, sharpens questions, and makes legal conversations more productive.
To use these tools well, however, it’s important to also understand their limitations, particularly when it comes to legal accuracy, potential bias, confidentiality, and privilege.
What AI Tools Do Well and Where They Fall Short
AI tools are excellent at producing clear, well‑structured text. They can help summarise ideas, generate early drafts, and explain concepts at a high level. What they don’t do (yet) is exercise legal judgment, deploy critical thinking or understand the real‑world context behind your matter.
Some important limitations to keep in mind:
- AI does not understand your specific circumstances. It cannot assess commercial objectives, risk appetite, or nuanced factual contexts.
- AI can be confidently wrong. Outputs often sound authoritative even when they contain errors, outdated law, hallucinations or misleading assumptions.
- AI may omit what matters most. Critical exceptions, drafting nuances, or compliance steps can be missing without any obvious sign.
- AI does not stay reliably current. Laws, cases, and regulatory guidance change frequently, and AI tools may not reflect the latest position.
- AI does not carry responsibility. There is no professional duty, regulatory oversight, or accountability behind the advice it generates.
- AI relies on its inputs. The outputs from an AI tool rely solely on what you have put in. There is no room for judgement calls and unlocking further avenues of enquiry based on prior learning.
Often, the challenge isn’t that AI generated advice looks poor it’s that it looks plausible.
Confidentiality and Legal Privilege: An Often‑Overlooked Risk
One of the most important and least understood limitations of AI tools is how they interact with confidentiality and legal professional privilege.
When information is entered into an AI platform:
- It may be stored, logged, or processed externally, sometimes outside Australia.
- It may be accessible to third parties involved in operating or improving the tool.
- It may fall outside the protections that ordinarily apply to confidential lawyer–client communications.
- Your inputs into an AI platform may be discoverable in legal proceedings.
This creates real risks that:
- Confidential information is exposed unintentionally
- Sensitive commercial details are shared more widely than intended
- Legal professional privilege may be waived or undermined by disclosing information outside the lawyer–client relationship
Because of this, entering detailed facts, draft agreements, or strategic legal issues into AI tools can carry consequences that are not immediately obvious and are not easily undone.
A Better Way to Use AI
We believe AI works best as a supporting tool, not a substitute for legal advice or a secure communication channel.
AI can be very effective when used to:
- Explore general legal concepts
- Generate initial ideas or rough drafts
- Help frame questions before seeking advice
- Improve understanding at a high level
Problems tend to arise when AI output is treated as final, reliable, or confidential particularly where legal risk, sensitive information, or important decisions are involved.
Where Legal Advice Adds Real Value
A lawyer’s role goes well beyond drafting or explaining the law. Good legal advice involves:
- Applying current law to your specific situation
- Identifying risks you may not have considered
- Protecting confidentiality and privilege
- Providing advice you can confidently rely on
- Calling on prior dealings and relationships
AI can assist this process, but it cannot replace it.
Our Approach at Burch & Co
At Burch & Co, we actively engage with technology and encourage clients to do the same. If you’ve used AI to generate ideas, outlines, or draft language, that is a helpful starting point.
Our role is to review, refine, and stress‑test that material. We’ll focus on ensuring it is legally sound, up to date, tailored to you, and handled in a way that protects your interests.
Used thoughtfully, AI enhances legal conversations. Used without proper care, it can create unnecessary risk. We’re here to help make sure it adds value.
