By Julie Bays, OBA Management Assistance Program Director

In my August Oklahoma Bar Journal Law Practice Tips article, I wrote about clients using AI tools, including AI notetakers. That got me thinking about the other side of the conversation. Lawyers are beginning to use these tools too.

Some AI notetakers join an online meeting as another participant. Others are built into platforms such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom. One product receiving attention from lawyers is Plaud, which offers small recording devices, including a wearable version. The device captures a conversation or voice note, and its accompanying AI service produces a transcript and summary.

It is easy to understand the attraction. A lawyer can concentrate on the conversation instead of trying to listen, ask questions and take detailed notes at the same time. Afterward, the lawyer may have a searchable transcript, a meeting summary and a ready-made task list.

Recording an entire client meeting is not the only possible use. A lawyer could dictate notes immediately after a hearing, organize thoughts for a brief, summarize a conference or capture ideas while preparing for a presentation. Beginning with your own voice notes can be a relatively low-risk way to determine whether the technology actually saves time.

Questions Before You Record

Before recording conversations with other people, however, lawyers should consider more than convenience. Oklahoma generally permits recording with the consent of one party, but participants in an interstate call may be located in states with different requirements. Obtaining everyone’s consent is the safest practice and helps avoid surprising a client or colleague.

Lawyers must also protect client information. Before using an AI notetaker, investigate where recordings and transcripts are stored, who can access them, how long they are retained, whether they can be permanently deleted and whether the provider may use the information to train its AI. The free and paid versions of the same product may offer different protections.

Finally, review every transcript and summary. AI can misidentify speakers, misunderstand names or legal terminology, omit important context and assign a task to the wrong person. A polished summary is not necessarily an accurate one. Firms should also decide whether recordings, transcripts and summaries will become part of the client file and how long each will be retained.

For a practical discussion of recording laws and the risks associated with these tools, read Ernie Svenson’s “AI Note-Takers for Lawyers: The Recording Risk You Need to Fully Understand.”

For a closer look at confidentiality, privilege, informed consent and clients bringing their own notetakers into meetings, read Mark Palmer’s “When AI Notetakers Enter Your Client Meetings: Ethical Duties and Risks for Lawyers.”