Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
The closest analogy [for AI] is a U.S. Supreme Court clerk at your elbow: astonishingly well-read, relentlessly available and capable of an extraordinary turnaround. …
That’s why the clerk analogy is so apt. A clerk doesn’t relieve a judge of judgment. A clerk makes more judgment possible.
— American legal scholar and lexicographer Bryan Garner, writing for the ABA Journal, explaining why lawyers should view artificial intelligence as an exceptionally capable law clerk rather than a substitute for their own judgment. AI may research, analyze, and produce work at remarkable speed, but the lawyer must still decide what’s accurate, relevant, and persuasive. As Garner puts it, when “used properly,” AI “keeps the lawyer in command while making the work quicker, tougher and better.”
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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