From “Oh No” to “Oh Wow!”

My very first on-site visit as a member of the August team was to our friends at Hartmann Doherty Rosa Berman & Bulbulia LLP (shout out to Hackensack!). After meeting with several groups of partners and associates to show them how August could greatly optimize their day-to-day, I vividly remember the feeling of trepidation among the final group we met with, which consisted of staff attorneys, paralegals, and legal assistants.

“You’re here to replace us, aren’t you?” one of them cracked, only half-jokingly.

A few short months later, the team is utilizing August every day and cannot imagine going back to doing their work without it.

Here is Gabby Sandoval’s story, in her own words.

Gabriela Sandoval, Paralegal to the Matrimonial Department
Hartmann Doherty Rosa Berman & Bulbulia LLP

I’ll be honest: when August AI introduced themselves into our firm, I wasn’t excited—I was terrified. Every article about automation replacing jobs felt like it had a legal assistant’s photo attached. I pictured the attorneys I assist using AI to sort through discovery documents at the speed of light while I updated my resumé. But here’s the plot twist nobody warned me about: AI didn’t take my job. It made me absurdly good at it.

I work in matrimonial and family law, where details are everything and the stakes are deeply personal. On any given day, I’m comparing documents to catch discrepancies, sorting through endless discovery from opposing counsel, organizing mountains of documents from our own clients, running reports, printing and assembling court filings, and helping prep for trial. It’s the kind of workload that used to keep me at my desk long after everyone else went home.

Then came August. I started using it with a “let’s see what this thing can actually do” mindset, not expecting much. Within my first real session, I had it analyzing years of expense data across multiple spreadsheets, cross-referencing income discrepancies between domestic and foreign tax filings, and producing a comprehensive case summary memo covering eleven sections of a complex high-net-worth divorce—property disputes, child support calculations, settlement comparisons, the works. What would have taken me the better part of two days was done in an afternoon, and honestly, it was more thorough than what I would have produced on my own at 8:00 PM, running on my third coffee.

Here’s what people get wrong about AI in legal work: it doesn’t replace your judgment—it amplifies it. I’m still the one my attorney trusts to have every number, every date, and every document ready before a conference call. I’m still the one she calls into her office to review a redweld before a court appearance. But now, instead of spending hours manually building comparison charts and re-reading the same correspondence for the fourth time, our department can produce work that makes it look like we have twice the staff. (We don’t. It’s just a legal assistant and her very capable digital colleague.)

And here’s the thing no algorithm can replace: legal assistants are the ones who greet everyone with a smile when they walk through the door. We’re the people who can make a colleague laugh when they need it most and make a stressful day feel a little less heavy. But beyond that, we’re also the ones who keep cases moving—tracking details, anticipating needs, and making sure nothing slips through the cracks. AI can run reports, crunch numbers, and help us assist our attorneys in prepping for trial—but it can’t be a warm, friendly face in an office cubicle. That part is irreplaceably human. 

So to every legal assistant out there doom-scrolling articles about AI taking over: take a breath. Pick up the tool. Learn it. Use it. You’re not being replaced, you’re being upgraded. The attorneys who work with assistants who know how to leverage AI are going to have an unfair advantage. Be that advantage.