A weekly brief · Est. 2026
AI, carefully,
for lawyers.
The Redline helps solo and small-firm lawyers in the UK and US use AI tools without breaching client confidentiality. Each week, one short issue with a plain verdict and the primary source linked.
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Start with a topic
Find the guide you need
- 01
AI and client confidentiality
What happens to client information once it goes into an AI tool: whether it trains a model, how long it is kept, who can read it and when privilege is at risk.
9 guides → - 02
AI rules, ethics and compliance
The rules that now apply to lawyers who use AI: ABA Formal Opinion 512 and the state bar opinions in the US, the SRA in England and Wales, and the court decisions on fabricated citations that show where the line is.
14 guides → - 03
Running a small practice with AI
The practical side: what to charge when AI does part of the work, where AI fits in intake and contract review, and which paid tools are worth it for a firm of one to fifteen.
5 guides →
Written for UK practice (the SRA and the Bar Standards Board) and US practice (ABA Model Rule 1.6 and the state bars), for firms of one to fifteen lawyers. The Redline is independent: not a law firm and not a vendor. How we work.
The archive
Recent issues
Issue 024 · Confidentiality
7 min readCan lawyers use AI notetakers? What the NYC Bar's 2026 opinions actually say
Every guide this year says get consent and proceed. The City Bar's newest ethics opinion says the default should be not to record at all.
Issue 023 · Compliance
7 min readCan a lawyer be disbarred for using AI? What the 2026 cases actually punished
The first strike off landed in September 2026. Next to the Ninth Circuit and Nebraska orders, the escalator is the same: the second document.
Issue 022 · Compliance
7 min readDoes any state require AI CLE? What the 2026 rules actually say
No US jurisdiction mandates an AI-specific credit. Five require a technology credit an AI course can fill, and the dates and categories differ.
Issue 021 · Operations
7 min readDoes your malpractice insurance cover AI mistakes? What the 2026 exclusions actually hit
The ISO exclusions everyone is forwarding attach to your general liability policy, not your professional liability cover. The real gap sits elsewhere.
Issue 020 · Compliance
7 min readAgentic AI for lawyers in 2026: the risk is the document you did not write
An agent acts on material drafted by people with an interest in your case. In August 2026 a Connecticut judge caught the first US attack built on exactly that.
Issue 019 · Operations
8 min readCan you bill a client for AI time? What ABA Opinion 512 actually permits
You can bill the minutes you spent prompting and checking. The subscription is overhead, and your flat fee may have quietly become unreasonable.
Issue 018 · Operations
8 min readHarvey AI review: what Harvey's own benchmark tells a small firm
Skip the feature lists. Harvey publishes a benchmark of its own agents, and the numbers in it answer the buying question better than any review does.
Issue 017 · Compliance
8 min readAre AI legal research tools safe in 2026? What the Sixth Circuit just held
Every case in the brief was real. The quotations inside them were not. The Sixth Circuit's April 2026 opinion changes what a cite-check must catch.
More from the archive
- 016What is a DPA and why every lawyer using AI needs one
- 015How to anonymise a document before using AI (step by step for lawyers)
- 014Does using AI waive legal privilege? What United States v. Heppner actually decided
- 013Your firm's AI policy problem isn't the tools, it's the missing training
- 012Does ChatGPT Free's opt-out actually stop training on your prompts?
- 011Is Microsoft Copilot safe for law firms?
- 010The best AI contract review tools for small firms (2026)
- 009The EU AI Act and your law firm: what August 2026 actually requires
- 008AI hallucinations in legal work: sanctions, cases, and how to avoid them
- 007ABA Opinion 512 explained: what solo lawyers actually need to do
- 006When do lawyers have to tell clients they're using AI?
- 005How to write an AI policy for a small law firm (with template)
- 004AI for client intake: where it's safe, and where it isn't
- 003What does the SRA actually say about lawyers using AI?
- 002Is it safe to use ChatGPT for legal work in 2026?
- 001What 'do not train on my data' actually means in 2026
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Free starter kit
The client-confidentiality checklist, free as a PDF.
Mapped to the SRA (UK) and ABA Model Rule 1.6 (US), with a shortlist of 10 AI tools and 12 ready-to-use prompts. Free for subscribers.
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