“Burnout” and “AI” are certainly two major buzzwords in the legal field in recent years. Burnout has become one of the most talked-about challenges in the profession, now that many are putting a spotlight on their mental health. If you’re an avid reader of this blog, you already know that burnout is not an interchangeable term for feeling tired. It’s a serious condition caused by chronic stress, and it robs you of energy, creativity, and the drive that brought you to law in the first place.
As for artificial intelligence, the fast-paced advancements it has made over the last few years can be a little bit scary. Some have embraced the technology and seek to make it work in their favor. Others are adamantly against it, convinced we’ll all lose our jobs to it. The truth is: artificial intelligence could never replace lawyers (and humans in general). We have too much creativity, experience, and nuance for that.
Instead of fearing AI, it’s time to let it empower you, and utilize it to defeat burnout. When used thoughtfully, it can be a powerful tool that takes over repetitive, time-consuming tasks that sap your energy and attention, allowing you to focus on what matters.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re drowning in emails, documents, deadlines, and billable hours…then this blog post is for you. Let’s take a deeper look into how AI can help you work smarter and beat burnout at its source.
Once you’ve finished reading, be sure to sign up for “A Day in the Life of a Lawyer with Practical AI” on Wednesday, February 18, for an even deeper dive! Through video demonstrations and real-world examples, you’ll witness firsthand how leading AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, and more, can enhance your productivity and make your life easier. Hope to see you there!

What causes burnout? When your brain is always in high gear, your emotional and physical reserves can quickly run dry. Lawyers are especially susceptible to burnout due to long, billable hours, high-pressure cases, and cognitive overload due to juggling multiple complex issues. Lawyers are especially good at just getting by, but this can take a toll on your mental health before you even realize it.
Enter AI, which can be used as a strategic assistant to handle the repetitive, low-value tasks and cut down on the long hours spent reviewing documents! But first, did you know there are different types of AI?
Generative AI vs. Agentic AI. Between the two, you might be more familiar with generative AI. It’s the one that will cheerfully converse with you and create silly images to share over the internet. It requires human prompts for output and its intelligence is based on algorithms and patterns.
Agentic AI has more autonomy; it can plan, execute, and adapt to multi-step workflows. This AI is maturing all the time and especially useful to lawyers because it has more efficiency and scalability. It’s the assistant you’ve always wanted—but it’s just that, an assistant. Not an attorney and not a replacement.
If you’d like to learn more about the differences between these two types of AI, check out this article on GoSearch. Otherwise, continue reading to find out how agentic AI can help you reduce stress, reclaim valuable time, and focus on the work that truly matters.

1. Review & Summarize Documents. Discovery materials, contracts, case law…no matter which it is, one of the biggest time sinks in the legal world is sifting through, reading, and organizing these documents. But with one click, AI can read through these PDFs in the blink of an eye. You can ask it for a summary of a lengthy document, and it’ll have one in seconds. It can highlight key provisions or discrepancies. Or it can extract important dates, clauses, and definitions.
Just say the word and you’ll have it. No more manual scanning paragraph by paragraph as your eyes grow weary. AI brings you context fast, so that you can spend your brainpower on bigger issues.
2. Generate First Drafts. Drafting documents is essential in law, but can often become very repetitive. AI can help by producing an initial draft of a memo, contract, or brief. If you’ve already got a first draft, it can help refine by suggesting alternative phrases or pointing out which areas to strengthen. Let it do the heavy lifting while you handle editing and finalizing. After all, AI can make mistakes too, just like us (often referred to as hallucinations)…but by working together, you can cover each other’s weaknesses.
3. Manage Emails. The email overwhelm hits hard in law. Constant back-and-forth. Threads that go on scrolling for miles. The chaos of an inbox can feel draining sometimes. So let AI be your virtual organizer!
AI can help you prioritize emails that matter, suggest responses based on context, or summarize long threads in case you need a refresher of where the conversation was at. Outsourcing the heavy cognitive load of sorting through emails just might make you feel lighter as you move through the workday.
4. Research Assistance. It’s vital to keep up with the latest legal research in your field. That’s what PBI is here for, but AI can help with that too! These tools can be made to pull relevant cases faster, present trends across jurisdictions, and suggest related authorities on the latest topics. Instead of spending hours in research mode, you can get insights quickly, allowing you to move onto the next task.

One legitimate concern attorneys raise about AI is ethical use, especially around confidentiality, competence, and client protection. That’s why it’s so important to be a part of the ever-evolving conversation, while also selecting the most optimal tools for your practice. Check out the highest recommended AI tools for lawyers in this recent ranking from Spellbook to find your perfect match and be sure not to miss our upcoming CLE to explore the relationship between AI and ethics even further!
While AI handles these time-draining tasks, you get freed up for high-value work, such as focusing on your client’s needs. You might even find yourself with more mental clarity and a better work-life balance now that you’re able to concentrate on the part of the job that you enjoy. Then you’ll know for sure that you’ve defeated the threat of burnout. After all, it’s not about working less or working harder…it’s about working smarter!































