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Most AI training for lawyers is shiny-object stuff. That\u2019s exactly why none of it sticks.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve seen the headlines. \u201cNine prompts that\u2019ll change everything.\u201d \u201cThe ultimate AI playbook for your firm.\u201d It might capture attention, but the promise is empty. You wind up wasting time adapting someone else\u2019s prompt to your situation, getting frustrated, and learning nothing \u2014 instead of doing something that makes a real difference.<\/p>\n
My old golf instructor figured this out decades ago, before AI existed.<\/p>\n
The Best Teacher in New Orleans<\/h2>\n
His name was Jimmy Self, and he was the best golf teacher in New Orleans. He was so good he kept a waiting list. When he called with a day and time, you took it or you waited longer.<\/p>\n
The other instructors at the range had video cameras and fancy equipment. I figured that\u2019s where the good teaching was, so that\u2019s where I went. My score didn\u2019t budge.<\/p>\n
Jimmy used none of that. He\u2019d put a ball down, fix your grip, then stand behind you and move your whole body through the swing. Back and forth. Back and forth. He\u2019d say two words \u2014 \u201cgoing back\u201d and \u201cgoing forward\u201d \u2014 over and over until the motion sank in.<\/p>\n
Then he\u2019d step away, put a ball in front of you, and say, \u201cHit it.\u201d And it would go straight. He\u2019d put down another. Straight again. If you flubbed one, he came back around and ran you through the motion again.<\/p>\n
My score dropped fast. For the first time, I was hitting it straight every time.<\/p>\n
When I Got Restless<\/h2>\n
Then I made the mistake every learner makes. I got restless.<\/p>\n
Once I could hit it straight on a regular basis, I asked Jimmy if I should start putting a draw on the ball \u2014 going right to left, like Jack Nicklaus<\/a>. More roll, more distance. It seemed like the obvious next thing.<\/p>\n He looked at me like I was speaking childish gibberish. Then he snatched the club out of my hand, put down a few balls, and hit a string of dead-straight shots. He handed the club back and said, \u201cThat\u2019s what you want. Any more questions?\u201d<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t have any.<\/p>\n The lesson stuck with me. I couldn\u2019t sit with success. I needed to chase something new, and in chasing it, I would\u2019ve wrecked the thing that was working.<\/p>\n I thought about Jimmy this week while helping a lawyer learn Claude.<\/p>\n She showed up the way most people do \u2014 with a long list of things she wanted to fix. That\u2019s the natural instinct. It\u2019s also the fastest way to chase shiny objects and get nowhere.<\/p>\n So we did the opposite. Instead of adding tools, we took one thing she already did every day: writing emails. We built it into a simple, reusable skill.<\/p>\n The skill wasn\u2019t fancy. It told the chatbot to ask one question before drafting anything \u2014 who are you writing to? A close friend, a colleague, a court clerk? Once it knew that, it could match the tone. That\u2019s it. Nothing you could sell as a secret template, because anyone can set it up.<\/p>\n The plan from there was just as plain. Keep using it. When it needs work, refine it with Claude. The next time we meet, we either polish it further or pick one new thing to build the same way.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what nobody tells you about learning AI: the thing holding you back isn\u2019t failing to try new stuff. It\u2019s trying to do too much, too fast.<\/p>\n Focusing on one skill feels too slow. It feels hokey, the same way it felt hokey that Jimmy wouldn\u2019t talk about my swing and instead just forced my body through the motion until it became second nature.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s the point. Repetition is what turns a skill into something you don\u2019t have to think about. You can\u2019t rush it, and the shiny-object chasers never tell you that, because \u201cslow and steady\u201d doesn\u2019t sell a playbook.<\/p>\n Pick one thing you want AI to help you do better \u2014 something you already do all the time. Make it work once. Then use it again, and again. Refine it each time so it gets a little better.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t hoard prompts. Don\u2019t buy some random expert\u2019s special playbook. And don\u2019t beat yourself up for being slow.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t get good at AI by collecting tricks. You get good by taking one real task and doing it with AI over and over until it\u2019s second nature \u2014 then moving to the next one.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the whole secret. Yes, it\u2019s slow. Yes, it\u2019s boring. But it\u2019s the only thing that works.<\/p>\n How Using AI Skills for Law Firm Workflows Can Turbocharge Your SOPs<\/a><\/p>\n Why I Switched From ChatGPT to Claude (And What Finally Pushed Me Over)<\/a><\/p>\n Loom for Lawyers: Why You Should Be Creating Shareable Videos<\/a><\/p>\n Top 8 Tech Tools for Solo and Small Firm Lawyers to End the Chaos<\/a><\/p>\n AI Tools for Lawyers: Why You Shouldn\u2019t Stick to Just One<\/a><\/p>\n Our Fingers Can\u2019t Keep Up With AI<\/a><\/p>\n Image \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n Sign up for Attorney at Work\u2019s daily practice tips newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to our podcast<\/a>, Attorney at Work Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ernie Svenson: Most AI training aimed at lawyers is shiny-object stuff. That’s exactly why none of it sticks. The post AI Training for Lawyers: Why One Skill Beats Nine Prompts appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers. In \u201cThe 80\/20 Principle,\u201d Ernie Svenson demystifies technology and introduces tools that improve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Learn One AI Skill, Not 10<\/h2>\n
Why Is AI Training for Lawyers So Hard?<\/h2>\n
How to Start<\/strong> Learning a New AI Skill<\/h2>\n
The Bottom Line on Learning AI<\/h2>\n
\nMore From Ernie Svenson and the 80\/20 Principle<\/h2>\n
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