The Benefits (and Shortcomings) of AI when working with your Association Attorney

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of the daily operations of Florida condominium associations and homeowners’ associations. Board members, community association managers, and management companies increasingly use AI tools to organize information before seeking legal advice. AI can be helpful in gathering documents, creating timelines, and summarizing communications. However, when AI is used to identify legal issues or generate questions for counsel, it can sometimes make legal advice more costly and less efficient by shifting the focus away from the facts that actually matter. The manner in which information is presented to counsel can directly influence both the association’s legal expenses and the speed and efficiency with which practical legal advice is obtained.

The rise of artificial intelligence has changed how boards and managers prepare information for legal counsel. Rather than simply providing relevant facts and documents, many now submit AI-generated summaries accompanied by extensive lists of legal questions. While intended to save time, these materials often create additional work because they reflect AI’s effort to identify all possible issues rather than the client’s actual legal issue requiring analysis. While AI can help organize a client’s thoughts and form a question, it can also muddy the waters with too many possible scenarios that do not apply and therefore do not require a legal solution.

One of the primary limitations of AI-assisted summaries is their tendency to address every issue that might relate to the facts. As a result, they often include assumptions, legal conclusions, peripheral facts, and hypothetical concerns that obscure the core issue. Have you ever noticed how AI creates a list of possible questions it thinks you should ask your attorney?  What may be a straightforward governance matter can quickly become a lengthy narrative requiring counsel to separate relevant information from unnecessary detail before meaningful legal analysis can begin.

For condominium associations, this issue frequently arises when AI is used to summarize owner complaints, maintenance disputes, or proposed board actions. What may be presented as a complex legal matter often turns on a much narrower question regarding board authority under the governing documents and Chapter 718, Florida Statutes. Section 718.111(3), Florida Statutes, provides that the powers and duties of the association are exercised by its board of administration. In plain language, the board generally has authority to act on behalf of the association unless the governing documents or applicable law provide otherwise. Consequently, a matter framed as multiple legal issues may ultimately require answering only a single threshold question regarding the board’s authority to act.

For homeowners’ associations governed by Chapter 720, Florida Statutes, similar concerns arise. A relatively simple covenant enforcement or architectural review matter can become buried within pages of discussion about potential claims, defenses, and unrelated legal theories when the real issue is often much narrower. Section 720.303(1), Florida Statutes, provides that association officers and directors have a fiduciary relationship to the members, meaning they must act in the community’s best interests and exercise reasonable care when making decisions. For example, when an architectural application is denied, counsel may receive an AI-prepared memorandum discussing discrimination claims, constitutional issues, contract principles, and litigation strategies, only to determine that the actual question is whether the restriction is authorized by the declaration and whether the association followed the procedures required by its governing documents and Chapter 720. In many cases, a concise summary of the facts and relevant documents provides a far more efficient path to obtaining practical legal advice.

When seeking guidance from your association attorney, this is where experience and professional judgment really matter. Community association attorneys spend years advising boards and managers on topics like elections, enforcement matters, maintenance obligations, reserve issues, contracts, governing-document interpretation, official records disputes, and owner conflicts. Their role is not simply to answer questions, but to determine which questions actually need to be answered. That process requires identifying the relevant facts, determining whether additional information is necessary, assessing risk, and developing practical recommendations that can be implemented in the real world.

Another challenge arises when AI-assisted summaries contain unverified assumptions. Legal analysis is only as reliable as the facts upon which it is based. When summaries fill informational gaps with inferences or alternative scenarios, counsel must first verify the underlying facts before meaningful legal guidance can be provided. Time spent confirming assumptions is time that could otherwise be spent addressing the actual issue facing the association.

Board members and managers should remember that the most effective legal consultations often begin with a concise description of the issue and the relevant documents from the client. Providing relevant contracts, correspondence, photographs, meeting minutes, and a concise but accurate factual summary will often allow counsel to identify the appropriate legal framework more efficiently than reviewing extensive AI-generated narratives and lists of questions. From there, counsel can ask targeted follow-up questions to obtain any additional information needed for the analysis, ensuring that legal advice is based on the facts that actually matter rather than hypothetical concerns about scenarios and caselaw that may not apply to the association.

To maximize efficiency and control legal expenses, directors and managers should focus on presenting succinct questions, accurate facts and relevant records rather than attempting to predetermine the legal analysis. A clear description of the issue will typically allow counsel to identify the applicable statutes, governing-document provisions, and legal considerations, while asking any necessary follow-up questions to obtain the information needed to complete the analysis.

This does not mean AI lacks value in community association operations. AI can be a useful tool for organizing records, creating timelines, summarizing documents, and assisting with administrative communications. Its greatest value, however, is often as an organizational aid rather than as a mechanism for framing facts or legal issues for counsel. In community association law, effective legal advice rarely depends on asking more questions, but on identifying the right issue.  AI can be used to help gather one’s thoughts about an issue, but taking the time to review and refine what it provides will save an association unnecessary legal fees and result in a faster, more focused product, one that even AI would find impressive.