Stop Wasting Time with ChatGPT Alone — Here’s Why Lawyers Need Perplexity Too

Today I'm going to talk about how I use Perplexity AI and ChatGPT in my legal practice. If you're an attorney who's trying to understand how to actually use these AI tools in your day-to-day practice and get beyond the hype, you want practical workflows, this video is for you. I'm going to walk you through exactly how I use Perplexity AI and ChatGPT together in my own practice. And while they're fundamentally different tools, I'm going to give you 4 real-world examples of from my week last week as to how I use them in order to add client value. So first thing I want you to do is understand the difference between Perplexity AI and ChatGPT. Let's start with the basics because understanding the difference between these different tools is the key to using both effectively. Perplexity AI, perplexity.ai, is a research engine. Think of it as a next-generation legal research assistant. Part search engine, part analyst. It connects directly to live sources across the web and provides citations, and you can show where you're getting your information from. That means if I'm investigating a recent policy change at the USPTO or trying to understand how a new technology is being commercially implemented, Perplexity gives me real-time source data that I can check. ChatGPT, by contrast, is a reasoning engine. It's where I take that research and turn it into action, and whether that's drafting a client memo, building internal knowledge, developing arguments, or even setting up project workflows. It's not connected to the live web unless you're using one of the special integrations. You can connect it, but it's going to fundamentally work different. So you want to understand these differences so you can use them. So here's the key takeaway: Perplexity finds the facts and ChatGPT turns them into strategy. Let's figure out how to get the most out of Perplexity AI in your workflow. And here's where most lawyers go wrong with Perplexity. They ask it vague questions like, how is the USPTO handling domain name marks? That's too broad. Perplexity works best when you give it narrow, specific, guard-railed prompts. In other words, treat it like you're giving an assignment to a law clerk. For example, summarize how the USPTO currently evaluates descriptive .com domain marks For registrability referencing TTAB decisions from 2021 onward. That gives perplexity boundaries, a date range, a subject, and specific agency action. The more structure you give it, the more valuable and verifiable the research becomes. Then once I've gathered that research, I move over into ChatGPT, I download it, and I use that for analysis and application and client communications or what have you. That's where the real productivity multiplier happens. Let's talk about 4 real-world use cases from last week, and I'm going to give you some real examples of how I used it just from my last week of law practice so you can kind of understand how you might use it given your specific expertise, domain expertise, as a lawyer. Use case number 1, USPTO treatment of descriptive .com marks. I had a client interested in registering a brand name ending in .com And something that's potentially descriptive. Domain names can be that way. So I use Perplexity to research how the USPTO and TTAB are currently handling these cases, specifically since the Booking.com Supreme Court decision. Perplexity pulled the recent TTAB decisions, examiner guidelines, and commentary from IP blogs. Then I brought that research memo into ChatGPT and said, summarize this research for a client memo explaining the likelihood of registration and any relevant strategic recommendations within Within minutes, I had a clear-sighted analysis that I could refine and send to the client. Use case number 2, understanding an emerging technology for a startup client. So I'm working with a new client, a startup building a very niche technology for enterprise clients, and before I could advise them, I needed to understand how that technology actually works, not in marketing terms, but technically. I used Perplexity to research how similar act— uh, technologies and technology stacks function, then I brought that into ChatGPT and asked it to help me identify potential IP and liability issues based on this technology's implementation. That combination gave me technical understanding and the legal analysis that I needed to perform client work. Use case number 3 from this last week was investigating a law firm who was filing mass data privacy claims against many of our clients. And another research project that I wanted it to do was to really kind of dig into what's being reported on the web in terms of how this firm is doing demand letters, arbitration filings, what courts are saying about these filings, what commentators are saying. And I had to do that research, and I brought that research into ChatGPT as for a background memo to the client explaining the current strategy that I'm going to be recommending. And that's something that would have really taken me a good part of the day to do if I didn't have Perplexity to do the research. So use case number 4 was integrating AI into some client workflows. This is where it all ties together. I'm doing research projects while working on client matters. So every client has a ChatGPT project folder where I store analysis threads, memos, emails, even project management tasks. In Teams. And when I get the research from Perplexity, I drop it into ChatGPT Thread and then use it to draft client emails, build project management tools for my team, educate a colleague who I'm bringing into the project, or perform structured legal analysis for the client. It's an integration of workflow, research, reasoning, and action, all powered by different AI tools. So here's my final thoughts for you as attorneys. If you're, if you're trying to figure out how to bring AI into your daily work, Here's my advice: treat Perplexity AI like it's your live on-demand research clerk, and treat ChatGPT like a senior associate who helps you think, draft, and strategize. Use both together, and that's where you're going to start to get 10x, 20x efficiency on your practice. This isn't about replacing you; it's about elevating you in terms of quality and speed of your work so that you can focus on higher value thinking. AI isn't the threat. It's a tool that will help next-generation elite AI-enabled attorneys. If you found this video helpful, please hit subscribe. Please share it with a colleague. And these are real-world examples of how you can use AI in your daily practice in order to streamline workflows, deepen your analysis, and deliver better results and value to your clients. We're entering the age where AI-enabled attorneys, those who adapt early, will lead the field. Again, comment, share, like, subscribe. My name is Enrico, and we'll see you next time.