AI for Barristers: CommBar Executive
Tailored AI session for the Commercial Bar Association executive committee.
A tailored session for members of the Commercial Bar Association executive committee. This session is shaped specifically around commercial practice.
Background
AI promises to transform legal work, save hours of research, draft documents in seconds. However, most barristers we speak to with subscriptions to tools like LexisAI or CoCounsel have used them once or twice then returned to familiar methods.
This is understandable. These tools are useful, but not intuitive. Getting good results requires learning a particular kind of interaction, and that is not something most practitioners have the time to invest in alone.
This session focuses on general-purpose AI tools: Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini. These are distinct from legal-specific platforms like LexisAI, though the skills transfer directly. General-purpose tools tend to be more flexible, cheaper and are increasingly present in the wider world beyond legal work.
How the session works
The session is hands-on: after the introductory talk, participants will be on their own laptops, working through real-world tasks.
- How AI tools work
What they can do reliably, where they go wrong, and why. This frames everything else the session covers.
- Working through practical tasks
Each participant will choose one or two tasks to work through, depending on what is most relevant to their practice.
- Risk discussion
Confidentiality, accuracy, professional obligations. What the actual risks of using AI are (and which common concerns are overblown or easily managed) and what practical safeguards make sense.
What's included
- 2-hour in-person workshop at Ninian Stephen Chambers
- Three facilitators: Oliver Tod, Cooper Corbett, and Isaac Wong
- Pre-session survey to tailor content to the group
- Remote follow-up session approximately one month later to compare notes, answer questions, and keep momentum going
Who this is for
Members of the CommBar executive committee and invited colleagues. Practising barristers at any level of AI experience. No prior use of AI tools is assumed.