Shadow AI in Legal Practice: Governing Unauthorized Technology, Professional Responsibility, and the Frameworks Attorneys Need Now

Brett Holubeck, Senior Attorney | Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC

Brett Holubeck is a Senior Attorney at Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC whose practice focuses on labor and employment law, advising and defending employers in a broad range of workplace matters. His work includes counseling clients on discrimination claims, wage and hour issues, labor relations, and noncompetition matters while helping organizations manage employment risk and regulatory compliance. He represents employers through all stages of employment disputes, including counseling, litigation, arbitration, and agency proceedings, and regularly advises on workplace policies, internal investigations, and preventative compliance strategies designed to minimize liability.

Education & Credentials

• Brett Holubeck earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law in 2015. He also holds a Master of Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (2012) and a Bachelor of Arts from The Ohio State University (2010). He is Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law and has been admitted to practice before the State Bar of Texas since 2015.

Recognition & Leadership

• Holubeck’s thought leadership in labor and employment law has been recognized within the legal and HR communities. He received the LexBlog Excellence Award in 2019 for Best “How-To” Post, reflecting the impact of his practical legal commentary directed at employers and HR professionals. In addition to his written work, he frequently presents at industry and human resources events on employment law, workplace safety, and compliance topics.

Professional Involvement

• Holubeck is active in the legal community and serves on the Labor and Employment Section Council of the Houston Bar Association. Through this involvement, he participates in professional discussions and initiatives related to workplace law and employment regulation. He also contributes to legal thought leadership through blogging and educational programming designed to help employers navigate evolving employment law issues.

Experience

• Holubeck advises employers on a wide spectrum of workplace matters, including discrimination claims, wage and hour disputes, noncompetition agreements, labor relations issues, and workplace compliance strategies. His experience includes drafting legal motions and briefs, negotiating settlements, conducting internal workplace investigations, and representing employers before administrative agencies such as the EEOC, NLRB, and OSHA. He also assists organizations with policy development, employment agreements, employee handbooks, and union-related matters such as organizing campaigns and collective bargaining.

Melissa J. Sachs, Partner | Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

Melissa J. Sachs is an attorney with Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP whose practice focuses on employment law and litigation. She advises employers on workplace compliance, policy development, and risk management while representing clients in employment disputes and administrative proceedings. Her work includes counseling organizations on emerging workplace issues, employment policies, and regulatory compliance. Through both litigation and advisory work, she helps employers navigate complex legal risks and evolving workplace regulations.

Education & Credentials

• Melissa J. Sachs earned her Juris Doctor and is admitted to practice law in multiple jurisdictions where she represents employers in labor and employment matters. Her legal training and credentials support a practice focused on workplace compliance, employment litigation, and regulatory guidance for corporate clients.

Recognition & Leadership

• She has been recognized within the legal community for her work in labor and employment law and has contributed thought leadership on workplace compliance and emerging employment issues. Her professional reputation reflects her experience advising organizations on complex employment risk management.

Professional Involvement

• Melissa J. Sachs participates in professional legal organizations focused on employment law and workplace policy developments. Through these affiliations she engages with legal practitioners and industry leaders addressing evolving labor and employment issues affecting employers nationwide.

Experience

• Her practice includes advising employers on workplace policies, regulatory compliance, and employment-related litigation. She represents organizations in disputes involving employment claims and administrative proceedings while also helping clients proactively address risk through policy development and compliance counseling.

Paul McVoy, SVP and Shareholder | Repario

Paul H. McVoy is Senior Vice President and Shareholder at Repario, a client-focused technology company that provides concierge-style litigation support services. With more than three decades of experience in discovery, he has worked on matters ranging from smaller disputes to complex, large-scale litigations. McVoy has been at the forefront of the evolution of electronic discovery and was an early advocate for technology-assisted review (TAR). He is actively involved in shaping best practices in the field through his work with The Sedona Conference and other industry initiatives focused on advancing eDiscovery standards and technology use in litigation.

Education & Credentials

• Available public biographies primarily emphasize McVoy’s extensive professional experience in electronic discovery and litigation support rather than detailing formal academic credentials. His career has been defined by leadership in the development and implementation of technology-driven discovery practices and litigation technology solutions.

Recognition & Leadership

• McVoy has been recognized by Chambers as a Trusted Advisor for eDiscovery since 2018, reflecting his reputation within the litigation support and discovery community. His leadership also includes serving as editor of The Sedona Conference Glossary (5th Edition), a widely referenced resource addressing terminology and concepts in electronic discovery.

Professional Involvement

• He is an active member of The Sedona Conference Working Group 1 on Electronic Document Retention and Production (WG1), a leading legal think tank dedicated to developing best practices and guidance on electronic discovery issues. Through this involvement, McVoy collaborates with judges, attorneys, and technology experts to address evolving challenges in digital evidence and discovery processes.

Experience

• Over the course of more than 30 years, McVoy has worked extensively in discovery across matters involving both individuals and large organizations in complex litigation. His work has included advancing the adoption of technology-assisted review and helping legal teams implement defensible discovery workflows. Through his role at Repario and his broader industry involvement, he continues to contribute to discussions surrounding technology, artificial intelligence, and the future of electronic discovery in modern litigation.

I. Shadow AI in the Law Firm: Ethics, Competence, and Guardrails for Generative AI | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Attorneys, paralegals, and staff are using AI at a frantic pace and those that fail to incorporate AI in their practice will eventually be left behind. Unfortunately, many law firms do not have policies for attorneys or staff, forbid any use of AI, or are too lenient in what they allow employees to use. The news is and will continue to be filled with cautionary tales about the failures of attorneys, staff, judges, and pro se individuals using AI in ways that resulted in sanctions or embarrassment. In this session, attendees will review strategies to deal with this emerging issue and some of the basic steps that all attorneys should take to address AI. Among the topics that will be reviewed are the Duty of Competence, responsibilities that attorneys generally have to clients regarding AI, how generative AI tools work, policies that firms should consider implementing to reduce risk, and the difference between shadow or unauthorized AI use and approved tools.

As generative AI tools rapidly enter everyday legal work, many firms face growing risks from “shadow AI”, unauthorized or unsupervised technology use by attorneys and staff. This session examines how professional responsibility rules, including the duty of competence and confidentiality, apply to AI-assisted legal practice. Attendees will learn how generative AI works, how to recognize shadow AI within legal workflows, and how to implement practical policies and guardrails that reduce ethical and operational risk.

Break | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

II. Shadow AI Governance in Legal Workflows: Risk Mapping, Proportional Controls, and Incident Readiness | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session provides a practical, defensible framework for governing shadow AI in legal workflows, focusing on where untracked AI use appears, how information moves and persists, and which exposure points create the greatest confidentiality and evidentiary risk. Attendees will apply a “reasonable security” lens and a DoCRA-style proportionality model to score AI use cases and vendor tools, align controls to risk, and document decisions through concise tool-level risk records. The session concludes with a litigation-aware response approach, including a playbook for the first 24–72 hours and discovery readiness steps that reduce downstream exposure.

This session provides a practical governance framework for identifying and managing shadow AI across legal workflows, focusing on how untracked AI use can expose confidential information and create evidentiary risks. Participants will learn how to map data exposure pathways, evaluate AI tools using proportional risk-scoring models, and implement baseline controls aligned with a “reasonable security” approach. The session also addresses vendor diligence and incident response strategies, including how to prepare for discovery issues and manage the critical first hours following an AI-related event.