The 80/20 Principle

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331: When AI Starts to Look Like Judgment (with Carolyn Elefant)

September 01, 2026

Carolyn Elefant has been practicing law for thirty-five years and writing about solo practice for almost as long. In this episode she and Ernie get into how AI is changing litigation — not in theory, but in the cases she's handling right now. Carolyn walks through experiments she's run and posted publicly, including having AI draft the judge's opinion from both briefs before she wrote her reply, and hiding instructions inside a brief to see which AI tools would follow them. One tool refused. ...

330: Why Claude Gets Dumber—and How Lawyers Can Use AI Better

August 18, 2026

In this episode, Ernie Svenson talks with Docket Drafter co-founder Tommy Eberle about what lawyers need to understand to use AI tools like Claude more effectively. They unpack why Word documents consume so many tokens, why AI performance can decline during long chats, how context windows and compaction affect results, and when to use different Claude models and thinking levels. Tommy also explains how lawyers can use AI to organize files, automate repetitive document work, and build more eff...

329: Introduction to Claude and Its Potential

July 21, 2026

Most lawyers using Claude are only scratching the surface of what it can do. In this episode, Ernie Svenson talks with former litigator and software founder Nick Chapleau about using Claude as more than a chatbot—as a chief of staff that can help run a modern law firm. They explore email triage, workflow automation, firm knowledge bases, custom dashboards, security, and what it takes to build a truly Claude-native practice. Chapters 0:05 Using Claude as Chief of Staff 2:34 Nick's Legal and...