Delegate, Direct, or Do · Law, Government & Public Service
Paralegal: what would you hand to AI?
Document search and routine forms are what AI does best; catching what it misses is the new core skill.
AI changes a lot of this job
Printable guide (PDF) · Pick a different career
Three bins
| Delegate | AI does it and a person spot-checks the result. |
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| Direct | AI drafts; a person steers, fixes, and decides. |
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| Do | A person does it. AI stays out. |
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Four questions for every task
Every sort needs a one-line reason that uses at least one of these.
- What does a mistake cost? A typo in a draft is cheap. A wrong dose, a wrong verdict, or a live wire is not.
- Can a person check the output quickly? If checking takes as long as doing it, delegating saves nothing.
- Who answers for the result? Whoever signs, submits, or says it out loud owns it, whoever wrote the draft.
- Does it involve private data or judging people? Health records, student files, and decisions about a person need a person.
Grades 6-8: Sort it
Start with these tasks, then add 3-7 more that people in this job really do. Put each in a bin and write one line on why, using the four questions.
- Search thousands of documents for a name
- Fill in routine court forms
- Catch the deadline the search missed
Some jobs land mostly in Do. That is a real answer, not a failure.
Grades 9-12: Brief it, then audit it
Sort the tasks as above. Then pick one Delegate or Direct task and write a brief with four parts: the goal, the context the AI needs, the constraints it must follow, and what done looks like.
Audit this sample
Pull every deadline out of a lease
- goal
- A list of every deadline in the lease section below, for the client's calendar.
- context
- Lease section: Rent is due on the 1st of each month. A late fee applies if rent is not paid by the 5th. The tenant must give written notice 60 days before moving out. The landlord must return the deposit within 45 days after move-out.
- constraints
- Every deadline in the section, in the order it appears, in plain words.
- done
- A list a client could copy straight onto a calendar.
What the AI sent back
- Rent due: the 1st of each month
- Late fee: applies if rent is unpaid by the 5th
- Deposit returned: within 45 days after move-out
Something here should stop you from signing off. Find it, name which of the four questions it fails, and rewrite the brief so it is less likely to happen again.
A live AI tool is optional, only if your district allows student use.
Close: one task you would never hand off
Which task would you never hand off in this job, and why?
Grades 6-8: one paragraph. Grades 9-12: a short argued response that answers the strongest reason someone might give for handing it off.