Pioneering a new era in legal practice, family law sits at the forefront of innovation and flexibility, navigating a landscape reshaped by artificial intelligence while reaffirming that technology can never replace the nuance, judgement, and trust that an experienced lawyer brings.
Speaking on a recent episode of The Boutique Lawyer Show, Siobhan Mullins, founder of Paper Advocate, shared how family law is reshaping practice in the AI era, proving that while technology can streamline processes, it can never replace the human judgement, empathy, and trust that clients rely on.
As AI becomes an increasingly common tool for clients seeking legal guidance, Mullins highlighted a growing trend of more clients attempting to “DIY” their own legal documents using AI, often leading to costly mistakes and creating gaps that only a skilled lawyer can identify and resolve.
“I think the reality is recognising that people are going to go out and use ChatGPT to prepare their consent orders for parenting and financial matters,” she said.
“We, as the profession, we all know, oh, gosh, somebody’s DIY’d it. Now I’m going to have to educate them as to where all the holes are, discredit it, and tell them and communicate why they should pay me x thousands of dollars to do it for them.”
While technology can help with the administrative or procedural aspects of legal work, Mullins emphasised that the true value of a family lawyer goes far beyond drafting documents – it lies in the experience, judgement, and insight that no AI can replicate.
“Technology exists for people to DIY part of their family law paperwork and so forth, but it’s not there yet where a lawyer in their entirety and their experience and their expertise can, in fact, be fully replaced,” she said.
Reflecting on the rise of AI in family law, Mullins noted that it’s prompting practitioners to pause and consider which aspects of their work technology can never replace and remain inherently irreplaceable.
“I think one of the interesting considerations when we look at tech and applications is, what is it that AI can’t do? And it can’t replace likability and trust in a lawyer?” she said.
At the same time, this reflection is encouraging family lawyers to explore how technology can simplify and support their day-to-day work – without sacrificing the essential human connection that lies at the heart of legal practice.
Mullins explained that this realisation has driven many family lawyers to adopt hybrid practice models – blending technology with traditional legal services to guide clients who may be tempted to “DIY” their legal advice, while ensuring they still receive the accurate, strategic guidance only a lawyer can provide.
“So really adopting a hybrid approach means saying, look, yes, there’s technology that exists out there in applications that could help you to DIY it,” she said.
“But our value as lawyers is to apply our expertise, skills and experience in looking at risk, whether the words and the document itself do, and do what the client wants and intends, but also strategy. Is there anything else that we’re missing?”
She added: “I think a hybrid approach really leverages and addresses some of the barriers that the demographic faces, but also really helps lawyers to apply their skill set at its highest value.”
