>Non legal background people trying to avoid going to a lawyer. They should definitely NOT use an LLMs.

I used LLMs to replace a lawyer this year to great effect. I successfully advised myself as to the right strategy and drafted an immigration petition in the correct language. Granted it wasn't 100% LLMs (I also supplemented it with "traditional" online research and wrote the letter myself using the LLM version as rough guidance), but still, I certainly would've gone to a real lawyer in 2024 for this stuff but didn't.

Professional advisory work can be divided into two types:

1. Once you know the rules of the game, the next move is immediately obvious.

2. Knowing the rules is not enough to know the next move -- that requires judgement and experience.

LLMs in the hands of someone smart and savvy can easily replace the first type of work.

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throwaway89864 2 days ago | parent [-]

If it is at all possible to replace a lawyer with an LLM, it should always be the preferred choice. Using a lawyer is not a zero-sum game, using an LLM is.

Lawyers nearly universally tend to: convince clients they need a lawyer; promote extreme views; charge legal fees (that ultimately result in financial damages to the client). There are no winners in this game, except for lawyers, who are having a lovely time. Even if you won the case, you've lost, because the pie got smaller due to lawyer fees.

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danielrhodes 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

You’re managing risk and what you pay for is derisking yourself. You be the judge of what that is worth to you, but it’s not zero and it’s not always your attorney’s fee either.

	▲	throwaway89864 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Retaining an attorney is a little bit like feeding a shark in order to catch a ride on its back and do some jousting with your opponent, while your opponent is entertaining a possibly bigger shark or two, and has possibly infested the place with piranhas. There is a chance of de-risking yourself, but the chance of a bloodbath is even higher. And yeah, the sharks are trying to convince you that they are "your" sharks, while it is quite clear that their mates are the other sharks.

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eru 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Is that based on personal experience, or just anecdata?

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LtWorf 2 days ago | parent | prev [-]

BS. Last time I hired a lawyer he advised me on settling rather than going to court, even though he'd have made much more money going to court.