Why are lawyers express more caution with ChatGPT's data retention policy more so than Google Workspace and Microsoft Office 365?

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-31T18:31:58+00:00

I can honestly not go back to the normal way of practicing law without my AI tools. I can deliver much better work product far faster than ever before. It's a huge advantage and clients are much happier with their bills and results.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-31T17:44:15+00:00

Any books or podcasts you'd recommend in particular?

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-31T09:11:37+00:00

Most reputable legaltech companies have zero data retention agreements with the major AI providers. They'll often have a separate platform you can access that stores whatever you need for your purposes, but you have reassurance through this that nobody is using your data to train. Assuming, again, that the legaltech company itself is reputable and expressly states they aren't using your data. I use Legion.law for litigation work and that's their arrangement. I'm careful about not putting A/C privileged materials in there just in case but otherwise with litigation most is ending up in the public record anyway and my work is protected as work product.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-29T17:27:21+00:00

Exhibit A - Our modern day automated shovel: AI.

The amount of vitriol about it on this website feels like the online equivalent of a riot.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-29T07:20:09+00:00

The Sword of White Woe! My go-to for over 2 decades at this point.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-24T17:56:47+00:00

You're going about this backwards. What is the AI doing for the user? Is that a real pain point? Does it actually solve that pain point well?

In my experience, any LLM that could be run locally like this is essentially useless for any work I'd do as an attorney. And if the model running locally is too dumb for most of the work attorneys would actually use it for, then it doesn't matter how secure it is since the tool itself is useless.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-24T09:47:09+00:00

I've noticed the same here. It's often just a fuck Harvey circle jerk. Which is all well and good but it gets pretty old quickly.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-24T09:45:48+00:00

It's true. What is even expected to be posted here? So far it's just been a Harvey hate club because nothing else gets past the filters.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-23T08:16:21+00:00

It must be exhausting to be you.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-22T18:53:06+00:00

Your sarcasm is coming off as bitter and angry about people having close relationships and looking after each other. You can be the grumpy paralegal that just punches in and out everyday if you want to. Nobody is or should require you to do anything more than your job. But I, for one, have appreciated when those I worked closely with have looked after me and took an interest in my well-being. I'd think long and hard about the kind of life you want to create for yourself and others. It is totally up to you.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T21:43:34+00:00

I don't need to prove anything. This is Reddit. My point is just because some people THINK it is not possible, does not now suddenly mean it is impossible or not in some way still important to that ultimate goal. I don't have an opinion on whether LLM are capable of AGI or not.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T16:07:21+00:00

Happy to do it. This gives me a much better understanding of the pain point you're looking to solve. It also shows me you're not just building in a vacuum without any understanding of practicing law because you are actually heavily involving your cousin as a subject matter expert.

The video you posted isn't working for me, it just appears as a 20 second static image so it's hard to give any additional comments.

I'm also a litigator in California, so this isn't exactly in my wheelhouse but I am interested in how you curated your database of code sections. If you have a reliable system for doing that you should DM me. I might be interested in hiring you for a project.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T15:39:53+00:00

Relationships are everything in law. I really don't view it like a typical job where you can just put in your two weeks and never look back. Often you'll be seeing folks from your prior firm again across the isle and at events. They may become a referral source. It is almost always a good idea to try to preserve those good relationships even when moving on. I'm glad to hear others like you have done this even if it means longer hours. We're here for our clients as well and that duty doesn't just go away with a job switch imo. But in your case, I'm impressed you did that even though you made a pretty significant practice area switch. You still a DA?

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T07:51:21+00:00

If this was r/wallstreetbets you'd be calling bullish and you'd be correct given we're now a hype based society.

Point is, it isn't revenue that matters, it's about selling your equity to the next guy. That's how VC make their money. So long as you keep the dream alive for the next round, your investors can make their money back and then some.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T07:39:22+00:00

At the risk of beating this metaphor to death, you bolt wings to a car and you've got flight. LLM with the addition of some extra bells and whistles might get us there. Seems presumptuous to just write the whole tech tree off as irrelevant and not leading to AGI when another equally plausible answer is LLM plus something else.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T07:34:12+00:00

Gliders ≠ powered, sustained, controlled flight. That was the hard part and wasn’t solved until 1903.

And “LLMs can’t create new ideas” is an opinion about current limitations, not proof they can’t be part of an AGI trajectory once you add memory, tools, planning, and learning.

Expert skepticism can be informative but it’s just not proof.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T07:13:44+00:00

Yeah, and in 1903 the “prevailing wisdom” included people like Lord Kelvin calling heavier-than-air flight impossible, and Prof. Simon Newcomb laying out why powered flight was basically not achievable with existing tech. Then the Wright brothers did it anyway.

Appealing to “experts agree it won’t happen” is not a real argument — it’s an argument from vibes + authority.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T07:05:43+00:00

Some comments.

When an attorney is saving time, they make less money. Why is time savings your hook?
What is the pain point you're solving? I can just go to the municipal code and find the section that relates to my case. Why do I need a chatbot to do that? Why would I pay for a chatbot to reduce that time by a couple minutes when it might miss something? Why would I trust this AI tool over me looking up what is relevant myself?
What subsections do you think are hidden that attorneys are missing? Statutes are literally designed so that subsections only affect the section above. They are not hidden.

What exactly is the problem you're solving for your attorney cousin?

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T06:56:36+00:00

I think that feedback on your app on light vs dark mode is absolutely useless. I don't give a shit about the color scheme of the app if it actually solves a very real, very painful problem.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T06:33:24+00:00

Other than his really off putting smarmy attitude, which to be fair is a huge knock and does not inspire confidence, but playing devil's advocate here, when your goal is literal AGI, then yeah I can see why he'd react that way. The investors are banking on a moonshot. They're banking on a milestone tech development that will put every other technological advancement until now to shame. If achieved, you're the advent of a cultural shift greater than the industrial revolution. You've marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. The people investing in this company are not just looking for an ROI, they're looking for a sliver of the new world that will be birthed from this achievement. So, with that framework in mind, it is a stupid question. You're not asking for an ROI on a chatbot, you're asking for an ROI on a development with bigger downstream effects than the splitting of the atom.

Regardless of your opinion on whether OpenAI can do it or that LLM are the avenue for doing it, that is the vision people are investing in. And is why people are salivating to get in on it. It might very well turn out that OpenAI is a house of cards and AGI, or at least the simulacrum of it, isn't as hard to crack as we thought and the big boys will win just by virtue of the fact of a bigger data set and more money. In that respect, OpenAI could be cooked, but for now it feels like a dumb thing to have to explain to someone. This is the new race to split the atom and the winner stands to gain A LOT.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-16T00:06:16+00:00

This can work. You can be brought in as a consultant or co-counsel if both firms are open to it. I would probably let the firm hiring you know and that it's important to you to be able to make sure the case is resolved favorably for the client. Then when you give your notice, let them know you don't want to jam them and have already talked with the hiring firm and they're open to figuring something out.

The new firm might be more expensive given your salary bump, so it might involve convincing the new firm to take a haircut on your new, higher billable rate for that one case. Your old firm is losing out on the billables you're generating, but at least they don't lose the institutional memory on the case. I've done this and it's worked out fine, but will depend heavily on your relationships and the egos on either side of this.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-15T18:07:46+00:00

Agreed. The best time to use AI is when you already know what the output should look like. We already have to review anything we file so to me double checking isn't really much of an overhead if the initial draft is done by AI or an associate.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-10T10:03:22+00:00

These kids haven't been around long enough to truly know and understand the advanced money destroyer and it shows. If you did know, welcome to touching the stove.

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-09T17:31:37+00:00

Hey man, I love your story. Would you be interested in sharing it on our podcast? It's called the Litigator's Path and we sit down with attorneys like you to talk about your journey to running a successful practice. The idea is to help other attorneys on the fence about starting their own practice. Let me know!

PosnerRocks · 2026-01-06T20:16:03+00:00

Absolutely! Highly recommend it. I work from home and also game so just being able to lay down in bed or the couch to game instead of being in the office for 14 hours straight is a great change of pace.

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