1. Use AI Now, Effectively and Safely.

Implementing AI is challenging for professions where progress often means figuring out how to get your printer to work. Many lawyers are waiting until they have developed a perfect implementation strategy. They wind up doing nothing.

Lawyers can and should benefit from AI today rather than waiting to develop the world’s greatest policy. Until that perfect policy arrives, follow two rules:

1. Never rely on anything AI tells you about crucial issues.
2. Always ask AI for advice on crucial issues.

AI does not merely save time. It can make your work product better. The time to get these benefits is now.

At the same time, safety matters. Conceptualizing AI as a sort of super research assistant can help. Wouldn’t you always verify any research assistant work product before using it for anything crucial? You don’t want your memo to be a Shakespearean sonnet about the existential angst of a CPA.

Can it be malpractice to fail to use AI, as people as wise as Carolyn Elefant have suggested? Not today, and probably never. It’s just a giant missed opportunity.

Pro Tip: Explore specialized AI-powered legal research tools like Lexis+ AI or Westlaw Edge. These tools can help you find what you need faster and more safely.

2. Reassess Your Social Media Strategy.

Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover has been… interesting. It’s like watching a dumpster fire try to reinvent itself as a gourmet marshmallow roast.

The Elon Musk-led Twitter/X meltdown has changed the social media landscape for microblogging. Many are eager to escape the Chernobyl-size disaster. Changing a primary platform can be painful for those who have many followers. Despite this, many are looking for alternatives. Neither Facebook nor Threads has established itself as a credible platform for business-oriented microblogging. Some leading alternatives are:

• Mastadon’s decentralized approach appeals to many, and with good reason. [Editor’s Note – follow Sabrina Pacifici’s beSpacific blog and LLRX on Mastodon]
• Bluesky is the trendy new platform. Catherine (Sanders) Reach discusses the pros and cons at LLRX.com. [Editor’s Note – follow Sarina Pacifici’s blog beSpacific and LLRX on Bluesky]

Pro Tip: Whichever new platform you use, resist the temptation to make a political statement by deleting your Twitter/X account. If you move to a new platform, keep your old account active to make it easier for your audience to find and follow you elsewhere.

3. Be Cautious on Crypto.

“Crypto is like Vegas without the drinks or dinners or shows. And you’re playing in an unlicensed, unregistered casino.”

Ben McKenzie, writing in Fast Company

Pro Tip: Learn more about crypto risks by checking out the LLRX.com article Is A Crytpo Collapse Inevitable?

4. Keep Control of Your Public-Facing Work Product.

Is the Internet “vanishing,” as Dennis Kennedy has suggested? Not exactly, but websites do disappear, sometimes sunset an article you have published there or add a paywall. Remember Google+? Now it’s just a ghost town.

Don’t let your valuable content disappear or become lost. Take control by archiving everything in an organized and easily accessible location. This way, you can ensure your work is always at your fingertips, not at the mercy of changing platforms or disappearing websites.

Pro Tip: Blogs may seem outdated to some, but they remain a reliable way to archive articles, slide decks, and more. The most significant advantage is that you don’t need to worry about a platform that may disappear or become undesirable. Blogs are entirely under your control.

5. Embrace Plain English.

Clients shouldn’t need a Latin dictionary and a team of cryptographers to understand what they’re paying for. More than a few professionals who are capable of writing clearly fail to do so because they fear that clients would be less willing to pay hefty fees for work product not wrapped in ponderous and incomprehensible jargon. Butthe reality isthatgoodwriting should be more salable, not less. MoreatPlainEnglishforLawyers:TheWaytoaC-LevelExecutive’sHeart.

The reality is that good writing should be more salable, not less. More at Plain English for Lawyers: The Way to a C-Level Executive’s Heart.

Pro Tip: Use your favorite AI App, Hemingway Editor Plus, or a similar dedicated writer app.

6. Hone Your Negotiation Skills.

Negotiation may be the single most crucial skill for lawyers. Upgrading your skills may pay significant dividends. Consider these approaches:

Formal training. Programs like the university consortium Program of Negotiation or Bar Association CLE programs will get you headed in the right direction.

Self-study. Start with classics like Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In or newer works like Transformative Negotiation: Strategies for Everyday Change and Equitable Futures.

Pro Tip: Practice your negotiation skills in low-stakes situations.

7. Trust No One—At Least Online.

Detecting scams used to be relatively easy. Social engineers nearly always left clues that made spotting and avoiding them easy.

Things have changed. Scammers are enormously more sophisticated. The Washington Post’s personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary‘s top three rules will go a long way toward keeping you safer:

• Trust no one. Trust nothing you get via email, text, or phone call. If your husband calls and says to transfer money, hang up and call him back. AI is allowing criminals to impersonate people’s voices.
• Try to remember not acting protects you more than reacting quickly when someone says you have to pay a bill or fine, or you may be arrested. If you do nothing and your money is stolen, the bank has to give it back. But, if through manipulation, you make a move by giving a criminal a code or access to your account, it’s harder to get the money back, if not impossible.
• The moment someone says, “Don’t tell anyone,” it’s a scam. 100% of the time.

Pro Tip: Regularly update your security practices. Use password managers, enable multi-factor authentication, and be cautious about sharing sensitive information, even with trusted sources. When in doubt, verify through a separate trusted channel.

8. Multitask Effectively.

So the Harvard Business Review tells us that “multitasking does not exist.” I dunno. It’s worked pretty well for me.

I regularly walk anywhere from 4 to 12 miles and spend much more time than I would like shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, and removing leaves. For 20+ years, I’ve maximized the benefits of exercise by multitasking and listening to audiobooks and podcasts for both business and pleasure. Audible is the go-to source for audiobooks. You can find podcasts that suit your tastes from many sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.

Pro Tip: Keep a playlist or queue ready so you can jump in without hesitation and maximize every moment.

9. Spring For the Apps That Make a Difference.

Learning to use the tools you already have is usually wiser rather than chasing the newest shiny object du jour. There are a few exceptions. I’ve found two apps particularly useful:

Grammarly. It’s not a spell checker. It’s not a grammar checker. It’s much more. Give it a try. Even lawyers need someone to tell them when they’ve accidentally declared war on the Oxford comma.

Gemini. So far, Google’s AI flagship seems better than ChatGPT or MS CoPilot. Testing continues.

Pro Tip: It’s usually best to get the premium versions of the apps you use most.

10. Let AI Help You at Home, Not Just at Work.

As an Apple Watch fanboy, I often tell my skeptical friends, “Get one. It will improve your quality of life.” Apple Watches have their benefits but are trivial compared to the benefits I’ve gotten using AI for my home and personal needs. AI can help you with everything from finding a recipe for that weird vegetable your aunt gave you to composing a love letter to your Roomba. (Don’t judge).

AI can help you find the best flight deals, schedule appointments, and choose the perfect wine pairing for your dinner. It’s like having a personal assistant who knows your every need.

I use it to find safe storage times for chicken leftovers, find a famous chess game, find a list of a Chinese director’s best films, buy bedsheets, learn how to resell tickets on StubHub, and much more.

Could I locate most of this information through web search engines? Sure, but it would take longer, and my results would likely not be as good.

Pro Tip: Learn to recognize situations where AI will help you. ChatGPT has some suggestions.

The road to productivity in 2025 is not about achieving perfection. It’s about taking steady, meaningful steps toward progress. So, archive that blog, experiment with Bluesky, and give those AI-generated sonnets a second glance (or a hearty laugh). Here’s to embracing innovation, staying adaptable, and making 2025 your most productive—and enjoyable—year yet.