Law://WhatsNext

Legal Tech Trends with Peter Duffy (Q1 2026)


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πŸŽ™οΈPeter Duffy is back for our quarterly deep dive into the biggest stories from his ever-popular Legal Tech Trends newsletter (celebrating its recent 50th edition πŸŽ‰). This time around, the conversation is dominated by one name: Anthropic. Between a legal plugin that spooked public markets, a viral tweet showcasing a "Claude-native" law firm, and a principled stand-off with the US Defense Department that sent millions of users switching sides β€” it's been quite the quarter.

What we else dive into:

Vibe coding hits legal β€” From weekend hackathons to working prototypes in 30 minutes. Peter explains why it's transforming ideation and prototyping, but flags the considerable leap from "amazing demo" to "enterprise-ready." Plus, Alex reveals his salmon regulation app β€œBranchly” is storming the charts over at vibecode.law.

The privilege and compliance watch-outs β€” An SRA investigation into a solicitor uploading client docs to ChatGPT, a US ruling that use of consumer Claude waived attorney-client privilege, and judges struggling with where "AI" begins and ends. Shadow IT is alive and well.

The LLM numbers blind spot β€” Peter's public service announcement: LLMs are not designed for numerical calculations and it's one of the easiest ways to trigger hallucinations.Β 

The McKinsey security incident β€” A security researcher accessing 45 million+ internal chatbot messages. Not an AI-specific problem per se, but a timely reminder that vibe-coded tools and internal chatbots need proper security scrutiny β€” especially when you have client data and a reputation on the line.

Harvey, Legora, and the question you shouldn't be asking β€” "Which one should I buy?" Maybe start with your problems, not the product. Talk to your users, define your requirements, understand the commercial value β€” then go to market with a structured evaluation.Β 

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Listen if: You want a grounded, hype-free take on the quarter that put legal AI firmly in the mainstream spotlight.

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Rate, subscribe, comment, and share if you enjoyed this chat with Peter!

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For more conversations at the intersection of law and technology, head to https://lawwhatsnext.substack.com/.

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Law://WhatsNextBy Tom Rice and Alex Herrity