AI and the Law - Working Group 13

Drafting Team to Develop and Document Custom Sedona AI Tool

In the spirit of the formation of Working Group 13 and its mission, the Sedona Conference understands that to do is to learn, and to learn is to understand. As such, the Sedona Conference sees the benefit of building a custom Sedona AI tool (“Sedona AI”) leveraging LLM and RAG technologies in conjunction with Sedona’s robust library of content. The practical goal of Sedona AI will be for it to serve as a resource for members of the Sedona Conference Working Group Series to more efficiently research and analyze Sedona content and to facilitate brainstorming and early stage drafting for future content, working within the Sedona Conference’s Generative AI Guidelines (draft pending). The educational goal of Sedona AI will be to offer transparency to the legal community by publishing a whitepaper about the product development process.

The Drafting Team is tasked with:

1. Working closely with the TRP, which will be tasked with building Sedona AI as directed by the Drafting Team.

2. Developing requirements, specifications, prompts, data layer curation, and outputs for Sedona AI.

3. Testing, validating, and refining Sedona AI, documenting the decisions made and challenges experienced in the product development cycle.

4. Drafting user instructions for Sedona AI prior to its publication.

5. Drafting a white paper detailing the Sedona AI product development process.

The Steering Committee liaisons will be Kassi Burns, Tara Emory, and Dean Pelletier.

Expectations of Drafting Team Members

Drafting Teams are typically smaller in size than Brainstorming Groups and usually function over a longer period of time. Drafting Team members are expected to make the following commitments:

• Participation in Drafting Teams is a benefit of individual Sedona Conference Working Group Series membership. All Drafting Team members must keep their membership current at all times during the drafting process.
• Total time commitment is approximately 12–15 hours per month, including actual drafting, review, and Drafting Team virtual meetings. As part of the review and comment process, there may be periodic gaps in activity during the Drafting Team’s efforts.
• Drafting Team members are expected to regularly join and participate in Drafting Team virtual meetings. Drafting Team leaders will take attendance at all meetings, and track meeting participation and contributions during Drafting Team meetings. One or more Drafting Team members will be asked to take notes of Drafting Team meetings.
• Drafting Team members will be expected to draft or assist in drafting portions of the document and/or perform research as needed. Members will be expected to prepare law review quality drafts, including citations to legal authority in accordance with The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. Drafting Team leaders will track contributions to the drafting and/or research.
• Unlike Brainstorming Groups, Drafting Teams are expected to stick to the parameters of their charter (see above) unless authorized or directed otherwise by the Steering Committee.
• Drafting Team members are expected to review all team drafts circulated and comment and/or revise/edit as necessary.
• Drafting Team members are expected to dialogue, not debate, and work collaboratively as part of a team to achieve consensus.
• If feasible, Drafting Team members are strongly encouraged to attend WG13 midyear or annual meetings where their work product is presented to the membership through a panel discussion and dialogue.

It is critical that all team members are active and engaged participants in the drafting efforts in order to produce high-quality work product in a limited timeframe. If the participation requirements outlined above are not something you can commit to, we recommend that you postpone pursuing a spot on a Drafting Team until you can make these commitments. There will be more WG13 drafting efforts in the near future.

We will likely have more well-qualified, well-rounded applicants than we have spots. As a result, we may have a ranked waiting list. Drafting Team member participation and contributions will be evaluated by the Steering Committee liaisons to the Drafting Team. If a Drafting Team member is unable to maintain the commitment to actively participate and contribute, the member may need to be replaced in order to timely achieve the Drafting Team’s objectives.

Drafting Team: Selection and Application Process

As Drafting Teams typically have fewer members than Brainstorming Groups, the Steering Committee will need to be very selective. The Steering Committee attempts to assemble a Drafting Team comprised of a balance of perspectives committed to collaboratively delivering the work product described in the charter. Prior participation in a Brainstorming Group does not guarantee selection for a Drafting Team on the same topic. Note, however, that all WG13 members will have a chance to review and comment on the draft a team produces.

Factors in Drafting Team Selection:

• Expertise and Profession
• Years of experience
• Balance
  
  • As we work to achieve consensus-based documents, it is important that a wide range of perspectives and backgrounds are represented. Accordingly, when selecting Drafting Team members, the Steering Committee will work to ensure these perspectives are fairly represented. Please keep in mind, however, that we do not seek differing perspectives so that one may advocate on behalf of a particular perspective or constituency; we seek differing viewpoints, backgrounds, and experiences in order to build a consensus-based document beneficial to all stakeholders.
  • Perspectives we will seek to have represented on Drafting Teams may include, among others:
    
    • In-house counsel
    • Outside counsel
    • Judges
    • Judicial clerks
    • Government counsel
    • Academics
    • Service providers/Technology companies
    • Small firms/Solo practitioners
    • Relevant technological experience

Should you ultimately not be selected for the Drafting Team, it may simply result from too many applicants representing a particular perspective and not a lack of qualifications.

How to Apply to a Drafting Team

NOTE: If you are not currently a Working Group member but are interested in participating, become a member by signing up for a Working Group Series (WGS) membership. Once a WGS member, one is eligible to take part in the activities of all Working Groups, including WG13. If you have any questions about how to sign up for a membership or encounter any difficulties while doing so, please contact our office at [email protected] or (602) 258-4910.

In order to be considered for either Drafting Team, please complete the below survey no later than June 27, 2025. Please be brief when answering the questions; no more than 50 words per answer.

Drafting Team to Develop & Document Custom Sedona AI Tool Application Link