BAR LAUNCHES FREE LEGAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MEMBER BENEFIT THROUGH CLIO

New collaboration gives eligible members complimentary access to Clio Work and legal AI education

Florida lawyers will soon have free access to an artificial intelligence platform designed specifically for legal work, making The Florida Bar the first state bar in the nation to offer complimentary legal AI as a member benefit.

The Preferred Bar Program, launched June 16 in partnership with Clio during the Bar Convention in Orlando, will provide eligible members with four months of unlimited access to Clio Work, followed by limited access for the duration of the agreement.

To register, click here.

“The Florida Bar is committed to ensuring our members have the support they need to navigate new technology responsibly,” said Rosalyn Sia Baker-Barnes, the Bar’s immediate past president in a June 19 statement. “Collaborating with Clio gives our members access to legal AI that was built for the way lawyers actually work, alongside the training and education they need to use it professionally and reliably. We’re proud to be first and leading the nation.”

Terry Hill, director of the Bar’s Programs Division, says the Bar is excited to add Clio Work to the member benefits lineup.

“We have a longstanding, successful relationship with Clio, and we worked diligently with the Clio team to bring the Clio Work AI workspace to Florida Bar members first,” Hill said.

Eligible Florida Bar members will receive:

• Four months of full, unlimited access to Clio Work, Clio’s AI-powered legal workspace.

• Continued limited access to Clio Work upon completion of the four-month period.

• A structured training program in the responsible and ethical use of legal AI, including live and on-demand sessions designed specifically for Florida lawyers.

• A certification path in responsible legal AI use, available to members who complete the training.

“AI is profoundly transforming the legal profession, but too many lawyers are using generic AI tools that can lead to an ethical minefield,” said Philip Rosenthal, head of bar and academic partnerships at Clio. “There’s a huge risk to client confidentiality and hallucinations when AI has no grounding in the law. Together, The Florida Bar and Clio offer a better path with the launch of the Preferred Bar Program. It gives lawyers free access to state-of-the-art, safe, and secure legal AI with Clio Work.  We are thrilled to inaugurate this program with The Florida Bar, one of the most innovative state bars in the country.”

Clio Work is designed to address hallucinations and confidentiality risks by using Clio’s library of more than one billion primary legal documents covering all 50 states and federal jurisdictions, according to the company. As legal professionals add documents, matter details, and contacts to the workspace, Clio Work develops a broader base of the legal context.

Using both a lawyer’s matters and the law, Clio Work delivers law-based research, analysis, and strategy, resulting in outputs that are more relevant, more precise, and more aligned with the lawyer’s approach, according to Clio.

Eligible members of The Florida Bar can register their interest for free access to Clio Work now.

(Editor’s Note: Lawyers and law firms should conduct their own analysis and consider all relevant facts, professional obligations, and applicable rules before adopting any new technology.  Florida Ethics Opinion 24-1 addresses many of the ethics issues related to using AI.)