Last week, I announced that I’ll be speaking on an ACEDS webinar titled “Why Paralegals Are the Secret Weapon for Legal Teams in an AI Era” on August 21, 2026. The response was immediate — and revealing.

Some celebrated the framing.

Janice Holman, Head of Global Academic Partnerships at Relativity called paralegals “the glue, soul and spirit that keep firms together.”

Shannon Bales, LitigationSupport Senior Manager at Munger Tolles, simply said, “This is true.”

Others pushed back.

Kai Huffman, Paralegal Manager-Midwest at Freeman Mathis & Gary LLP noted, “I don’t know that being the ‘secret’ weapon is what we should be striving for as a profession.”

And Sheila Grela, well known Advocate for Legal Education and Training and Sr. Paralegal and Certified eDiscovery Specialist at Buchalter in San Diego, in classic Sheila fashion, responded:

“Secret weapon? Bless your heart. We have been sitting at the table all along.”

That line stuck with me — because it’s at the heart of the issue.

We’re Still Having The Wrong Conversation

The surprise isn’t that paralegals matter in the age of AI. The surprise is that we’re still talking about their value as if it’s a new discovery.

The legal industry is obsessed with AI right now in demos, tools, workflows, conferences. And yes, the technology is impressive. But as Sheila points out in several related posts, the real transformation doesn’t come from the tool. It comes, rather, from the person in the meeting asking, “Are we sure we collected everything, considered the risk, and asked the right question?”

That person is very often the paralegal.

AI may provide the ship but paralegals are the navigators.

AI Produces Answers. Paralegals Ask Better Questions.

Sheila notes that the legal profession loves efficiency, and AI delivers it:

  • Need a summary? AI can do it.
  • Need a first draft? AI can do it.
  • Need themes across thousands of documents? AI can help.

But before any tool is selected, configured, or trusted, someone must ask:

  • Did we collect the right data?
  • Did we identify the right custodians?
  • Are we solving the actual problem?
  • What risk are we overlooking?
  • How will we validate the results?

Those aren’t technology questions. They’re judgment questions and judgment is the paralegal’s domain.

AI Is Making Paralegals Less Reactive and More Proactive

According to the 2026 ILTA Legal Technology Survey, 61% of law firms have deployed AI tools specifically to augment paralegal productivity. These tools aren’t just time‑savers — they’re reshaping the role itself.

AI‑literate paralegals are now:

  • Suggesting claims or defenses based on patterns
  • Spotting contradictions in witness statements
  • Building pre‑trial checklists from past matter data
  • Assisting privilege review with AI tagging systems

This shift mirrors what New Orleans attorney and AI consultant Daya Naef said recently in a video she posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgRCzk67v7Y and Above The Law columnist Joe Patrice mirrored in his column at https://abovethelaw.com/2026/08/the-ai-user-experience-is-more-important-than-ever/ have been saying, technology only works when workflows exist to support it.

Most firms don’t have those workflows documented. But AI can help capture them and it doesn’t have to be expensive.

The Demo Is Never the Reality

Sheila nails this point when she says “In the demo, the data is clean… Then reality arrives.”

  • The custodian retired.
    The shared drive was never collected.
    The retention schedule is a decade old.
    Half the files are duplicates.
    And fourteen versions of “Final.xlsx” are floating around.

AI doesn’t fix that. Paralegals do.

Choosing the Right Tool Is a Judgment Call, Not a Tech Decision

Successful AI adoption isn’t about picking the newest tool. It’s about picking the right tool for the right objective.

Paralegals translate matter needs into testable questions:

  • What result do we need?
  • What information will the tool receive?
  • What will remain outside its view?
  • How will we test the output?
  • Who decides when an exception requires escalation?

AI output is not self‑validating. It can be polished, consistent, and confidently wrong.

It’s paralegals who ensure the process is thoughtful, tested, and grounded in reality.

Stop Calling Paralegals a Secret

A “secret weapon” sounds like something you pull out only when you’re already in trouble.

Paralegals have never been a secret. They’ve been here from the beginning. They’ve been connecting dots, filling gaps, challenging assumptions, coordinating stakeholders, and asking the questions that prevent avoidable mistakes.

Sheila says it best:

“The future of legal work is not artificial intelligence alone. It is amplified intelligence guided by professionals who know how to connect the dots, fill the gaps, identify risk, and move the work forward.”

I’ve said for years: keep the attorney in AI.  Now it’s time to say: keep the attorneys and the paralegals in AI.

Join the Conversation

If you care about the future of legal work — and the people who actually make it run — join us on August 21.

Register here:
https://events.zoom.us/ev/AgERnLQI_bT-zcEazVHeopdSNvio2rKMECUNmcpShP7MKzGE-g_E~AnxpS0Vj7zir40mz7CVCxLQiJPz-JzaObsfXiYkpBWVYXcm15i9Q54uEKlgRKaWGD9AxMhYJg68wgC9UU0tpFH5twA (events.zoom.us in Bing)

I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Tom O’Connor

Aug.16, 2026