J. Cliff McKinney II is the author of an article on artificial intelligence in Probate & Property, a magazine published by the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section.
All Right, Mr. AI, I’m Ready For My Close-Up: Becoming the Director of Artificial Intelligence Through Prompt Engineering examines the growing role of AI in legal practice and argues that lawyers must approach AI as directors rather than passive users, applying deliberate instruction, known as prompt engineering, to produce reliable, client-specific results. The article identifies five prompt engineering techniques that can improve the quality and reliability of AI-generated work. These include assigning AI a specific professional persona; breaking complex projects into manageable components, known as “chunking”; providing examples through few-shot prompting; improving responses through iterative refinement; and stress-testing results by evaluating issues from multiple perspectives.
You can find the complete article here.
A managing member of Quattlebaum, Grooms & Tull PLLC, Cliff McKinney speaks nationwide on the rapidly evolving role of AI in law practice, covering cutting-edge tools, prompt engineering, ethical obligations, risk management, and actionable strategies lawyers can implement immediately. He has presented for organizations including the American Bar Association (ABA), the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL), the American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA), and has written extensively on AI for ACMA, USLAW, and the Arkansas Law Review. Mr. McKinney holds a Prompt Engineering Specialization certification from Vanderbilt University and is a Fellow of both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.
Probate & Property is a bi-monthly magazine designed to provide lawyers with up-to-date, practical information regarding real estate, wills, trusts and estate planning. The Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section of the American Bar Association is a leading national forum for lawyers with over 16,000 members.