Best Use of AI Winner: Sills Cummis & Gross

Sills Cummis & Gross received the New Jersey Law Journal’s Best Use of AI Award at the 2026 New Jersey Legal Awards held on October 29, 2026 in Somerset, New Jersey. This award was one of four awards the Firm and its attorneys received at the Legal Awards banquet.

In connection with the award, the New Jersey Law Journal published a Q&A with Richard H. Epstein, Managing Partner of Sills Cummis. In it, he talks about how the Firm proactively adopted secure, closed-universe generative AI tools to improve efficiency while maintaining the Sills Cummis brand of excellence, and how attorneys across the Firm put that technology to work. His responses, published in the New Jersey Law Journal on October 30, 2026, appear below.

What specific problem or client need did your AI initiative address, and why was AI the right solution?

Closed-universe generative AI is an amazing tool that can help improve efficiency in a range of tasks. The problem to be solved is simple: how to use AI while still maintaining the Sills Cummis brand of excellence, where clients rely on the judgment, expertise, and industry and subject matter knowledge of our attorneys. Across our practice groups, we saw an opportunity to apply new technology to tasks such as reviewing large document sets, summarizing depositions and records, researching discrete legal questions and comparing contract provisions, so our attorneys could devote even more of their time to applying their experience and judgment to develop the best strategy for our clients. We did not wait for clients to ask; we proactively chose Harvey, CoCounsel and Lexis+ Protégé, elite closed-universe generative AI products. These products protect client confidentiality and let us serve clients better. Our litigators use AI to analyze pleadings, stress-test briefs and organize discovery. Our corporate and real estate lawyers use AI to review and compare agreements, issue-spot during due diligence and prepare initial drafts. Our bankruptcy attorneys use AI to analyze claims and case filings, and other groups apply it to regulatory research. In every instance, our attorneys oversee the AI output because no technology can replace the judgment and industry/subject matter expertise of our lawyers, which remain at the heart of our practice. In my view, AI is an important tool that—along with other tools—is used by Sills Cummis lawyers to provide excellent service for our clients.

What were the biggest sticking points (such as development, adoption, or implementation) for utilizing AI, and how did you overcome those obstacles?

Our biggest sticking points were confidentiality and quality control. On confidentiality, we use only secure, closed-universe platforms, currently Harvey, CoCounsel and Lexis+ Protégé, and our engagement letters now explain that we use AI in a closed universe. The tools overlap in some areas, but if an attorney tells us a particular tool helps them give excellent service to a client, we are comfortable with that overlap.

Quality control was nonnegotiable. A supervising attorney reviews AI-assisted work product, and we stay current on evolving disclosure and certification requirements in the jurisdictions where we practice. Attorneys at every level train, experiment and tell us what works, and when a workflow succeeds in one practice group, we share it with others. We also pass along feedback to our AI providers so they can continue to upgrade our platforms. We share what we have learned with clients, too. We counsel clients never to put privileged or confidential information into open AI tools, and we have demonstrated our tools live for in-house legal teams.

What outcomes did you achieve—e.g., efficiency gains, improved quality/consistency, risk reduction, or better client service—and how do you know?

AI is now part of everyday practice across the firm. Work that once took hours, such as first-pass document review, deposition summaries, contract comparisons and initial research memos, can now be completed more efficiently. That frees our attorneys to focus on strategy, judgment and client counseling – the work clients value most. We measure success through attorney feedback on time saved and work quality, steadily growing use across practice groups, and, most importantly, what clients tell us. Clients have thanked us for our candor and for sharing what we know, rather than treating AI capability as a proprietary advantage.

See Award Methodology. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.