Lantz Savage heads up our New Orleans office. He has a background in software coding before he went to law school. I met with him, our paralegal staff, and law librarian Jennifer Dabbs in our New Orleans office yesterday. A good portion of our discussions was on the implementation and use of AI at Merlin Law Group. I had similar discussions with public adjusters and restoration contractors at a fun event we hosted last night.

AI is not what it was a year or even a few months ago. Its implementation is becoming more widespread as the models improve. Our law firm just hired a fractional AI Officer. Our firm is committed to providing faster and more accurate service to our clients. AI will be a major part of that.

The question is how AI will impact claims handling, public adjusters, and even restoration contractors. For those of you who are leaders of organizations involved with property insurance claims, AI is here, and you need to keep up or be left behind.

Let me be very clear about something. AI is not magic. It is not a substitute for judgment, integrity, or experience. It is a tool. A powerful one. But still a tool.

There has been a great deal of noise lately about how AI will eliminate lawyers, adjusters, accountants, and every other professional who works on a screen. I have read those pieces. Some are persuasive. Some are hype. Most are a mix of both.

Here is what I know from the trenches. AI can already read policies quickly, summarize case law in seconds, and flag inconsistencies in large document productions. It can compare versions of estimates and identify scope gaps that might take a person hours to catch. It can draft outlines, organize deposition themes, and suggest lines of inquiry.

That is not theoretical. We are doing it.

Claims handling is not just data. It is discretion. It is good faith. It is accountability. It is the disciplined application of policy language to messy, real-world facts. AI can assist in that process. It can even enhance it. But it does not replace the responsibility that rests on human shoulders.

For public adjusters, the same lesson applies. Those who use AI to analyze estimates, track carrier communications, model business interruption losses, and prepare documentation will have an advantage. You will move faster. You will present cleaner files. You will likely win more arguments because you will be better prepared.

But those who think AI will do the thinking for them will find themselves in trouble. Blind reliance on any tool, whether it is a calculator, a drone, or an algorithm, has always been dangerous in claims work. Professional judgment is not optional.

There is also a second side to this discussion that should not be ignored. Insurers are using AI as well. They are deploying it in underwriting, fraud detection, and claims review. That means those helping policyholders must be equally sophisticated. If a carrier is using models to evaluate scope or causation, we better understand how those models work, where they fail, and how to challenge them when they are wrong.

The playing field is changing. Pretending otherwise is not leadership. The answer is not panic. It is preparation.

Lawyers must learn how to use these systems ethically and competently. Public adjusters must incorporate them into documentation and advocacy workflows. Restoration contractors must use them to improve estimating accuracy and project management.

Those who embrace AI thoughtfully will enhance their practice. Those who ignore it will fall behind. But those who surrender their professional responsibility to it will regret it.

We are entering a period of rapid technological acceleration. That is undeniable. Yet the fundamentals of trust, accountability, and advocacy remain human. The firms and professionals who thrive will be the ones who combine cutting-edge tools with old-fashioned integrity.

Thought For The Day

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” 
— Charles Darwin