It took a few days, but Fox Rothschild has now barred its attorneys from using the fast, cheap, field-disrupting, and inevitably compromised AI tool.
While DeepSeek has taken the world by storm, promising the same (or better?) results than its Western competitors who are all promising the moon… as long as everyone gives them exponential resources to make linear gains.
WHAT A GREAT DEAL!
So everyone is abuzz with the prospect of an AI model that won’t break the bank. That said, not every law firm is excited. As Bloomberg reports:
Fox Rothschild’s 900-plus attorneys use AI tools and, like many other firms, it doesn’t generally bar its lawyers from using ChatGPT, although it imposes restrictions on the use of AI with client data, Mark G. McCreary, the firm’s chief artificial intelligence and information security officer, said. But DeepSeek, launched by a Chinese investor, poses unique security challenges.
“It’s one thing to have a risk that somebody makes a mistake with ChatGPT,” McCreary said. “It’s a completely different risk for someone to make a mistake with China.”
Is it though? Obviously applications with close ties to the Chinese government raise key concerns. It’s why the country banned TikTok before Trump decided he had the unilateral power to unban TikTok over congressional objection. But are firms really comfortable with ChatGPT?
At some point any data that worms its way into ChatGPT or Claude or any other consumer-facing AI is going to be accessible to bad actors. Whether its a hacking job or a competitor all of these products come with risks. It’s why so much time and energy is going into the legal-specific offerings from trusted vendors who understand the industry and its ethical and security risks.
There’s no reason for anyone to be feeding client information into consumer AI tools. Period.
If your attorneys are using consumer AI then you need to start investing in professional-grade legal solutions so they, you know, stop doing that.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.