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Rather than fighting clients’ appetite for AI, law firms can look to scratch the itch themselves with branded chatbots that offer round-the-clock support in a controlled environment.
As clients’ chatbot use creates friction around billing and AI-generated confusion, law firms may find the solution in beating them at their own game, Parachute co-founder and chief executive Vivienne Chan said during a recent AI Innovate live stream.
Chan said firm leaders were reporting growing tensions with clients who believe they are “doing a lot of work with these tools themselves” and expect lower fees or faster turnaround.
“But in reality, it’s actually created more friction. It hasn’t streamlined the process at all because lawyers don’t want to take on the risk of their client’s AI output – they have no idea where it came from or how verified it is,” Chan said.
“Both sides are using AI a lot more but it still hasn’t converged in a way where it’s made the whole end-to-end process smoother for everybody, and I think it’s introduced friction in new and interesting ways. That’s what we’re seeing at least.”
Chan also highlighted the risks of clients and law firms relying on off-the-shelf AI tools, recounting how one customer initially reported hallucinations in Parachute, only for further investigation to reveal the errors actually came from Claude.
As opposed to Claude and other OpenAI models, Parachute has systems and guardrails in place: “We verify every piece of source material, so we know that everything Parachute is drawing on is legitimate, up-to-date, and actual source material,” Chan said.
To address the tensions while keeping AI use within a controlled and safe environment, Parachute has introduced an extension that clients can access themselves. The chatbot has been fully white-labelled to look as though it sits within the client portal.
Chan said it becomes a “safe space” for clients to access round-the-clock legal support and get immediate answers. For questions that need further strategy or discussion, it is pushed up to the law firm to investigate and respond to.
Further, Chan said the tool can be packaged up for billing.
“Clients love this because they feel they’re getting so much more value, so much more bang for their buck,” Chan said.
“That itch to check everything with AI is scratched, but it’s in a safe environment that is co-sponsored with the law firm.”
On the firm’s side, this not only ensures that lawyers are not wasting their time on “low-value legal work” but also promotes better relationships that, in turn, lead to retention or referrals.
“Trust is elevated because you’re being transparent about your use of AI and you’re also sponsoring their use and helping them find a way to use it safely together,” Chan said.
