6: Drafting the Future: Mariah Street on Using AI in Law and Legacy Planning

Episode 6 of Kinwise Conversations · Hit play or read the transcript below

• Read the Transcript

  Lydia Kumar: Welcome to Kinwise Conversations, where we explore what it means to integrate AI into our work and lives with care, clarity, and creativity. Each episode, we talk with everyday leaders navigating these powerful tools, balancing innovation with intention and technology with humanity. I'm your host, Lydia Kumar.

  Today, we're delving into a field where human connection, emotional intelligence, and meticulous detail are paramount: estate and legacy planning. I'm honored to be joined by Mariah Street, an attorney whose personal experiences ignited a passion for helping others navigate these often difficult but crucial conversations. Mariah is dedicated to making estate planning accessible and understandable, emphasizing that everyone, regardless of age or wealth, deserves to have their wishes known. We'll explore her journey, how she balances the profound human element of her work with the practical applications of AI, and the ethical considerations she navigates in a highly regulated industry.

  Hi, Mariah. I am so excited to be talking with you today about your legacy planning business and all that you have done. I have perused your website and learned a little bit about you on my own, but before we dive into our conversation, I want to give you a chance to share your story and set the stage so that people understand who you are coming into this conversation.

  Mariah Street: Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Hello everybody. My name is Mariah Street. I am an attorney and I own a law firm called Legacy Street Law, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. We serve clients all across the state and we primarily do estates work. This includes estate planning—when you think of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, that kind of thing—and also estate administration. When somebody passes away, you have to wrap up their legal and financial life, so I help families with that process, getting assets out of the name of the person who passed to the heirs or the beneficiaries.

  I started my firm mainly because of personal experience. I lost my mom at a very young age; she was 46 years old, and I was in college at the time. I think she, like a lot of people, thought she had time to think about what happens if something happens to her. That's a very common thing. I see it in my practice where people will continue to put these things off, even though they know it's something they need to do. It's wild. In my case, my mom really put off estate planning. She ended up passing away very young. She was not sick; it was just one day she was here and the next she wasn't. Because she didn't have a plan, my family didn't know what her wishes were. My brother and I didn't see anything from her estate at all because when you don't have a plan, state law determines what happens. The way the chips fell, we didn't see any money or anything from the estate.

  Of course, my dad took care of us, but there wasn't specific money set aside for us. From being an attorney doing this work, I know that a lot of people want to make sure money is set aside for their kids specifically, even if there is a surviving spouse. I started this because I really wanted to educate people about these topics. It's not just for old, rich white people, to be honest. Literally, everybody needs this type of work. I think there's very much a stereotype that you have to have all this money or be in a certain circumstance in life, but that's just not the case. So, yeah, that's a little bit about me and what I do.

  Lydia Kumar: That's so powerful. Legacy planning is so human and personal. It's about life and death and having to reckon with some of those deep truths, and it's hard. I know that in your legacy planning, you're helping people think with the end in mind and what they really want to have happen. It was so powerful to hear your story and how you ended up here. It also makes me think about how your job must be hard sometimes, helping people have those conversations.

  Mariah Street: Of course. Yes, very much so. I was just talking to somebody about this, a graduating law student who was interested in this field, and I was telling them it requires a lot of emotional intelligence. I don't think just anybody can be successful in this work because, as you said, it requires a lot of conversation. You're talking to people about very sensitive topics and about when they pass away, which a lot of people already don't want to talk about. So that's hard.

  But I think because of the experiences I've had—I've also had other family members who died pretty young; I had an aunt that died at 35, and I'm about to be 35 this year—I really want to impress upon people that if you're over the age of 18, there are documents you should have in place. It's about making sure that you're the writer of your legacy. This is all about what happens if something were to happen to you and all the things you've worked so hard to build during your life. You want to make sure it goes to the people you want, in the way that you want.

  Lydia Kumar: This podcast is all about generative AI, using AI, and how people balance the human side of their work. We've talked a little bit about the emotional intelligence you need for estate planning, and then there's generative AI, which is a robot and not a person. So, to start, how did you begin using AI as a technology, and do you have any thoughts about balancing this intelligent robot with the human need that your work is so grounded in?

  Mariah Street: Yes, that's a really good question. When AI first came on the scene, I was all about it because I'm the type of person who is always looking for a more efficient way to do things—not reinventing the wheel. When it first came out, I was just dipping my foot in, mainly using it for drafting emails to clients or referral sources. I would use it to quickly get a draft out, though of course, I review everything.

  As it evolved and grew, I started to see its capabilities from a legal aspect. I sometimes have to do a lot of legal research for different topics, so I will use it as a starting point to research issues I'm having with client matters and see what the law says. To your point about how to balance it, I think as an attorney, we would be out of a job if people could literally just go into ChatGPT and say, “Write me a will,” or “Help me to settle this estate.” I have noticed with some of the things I have put into it, especially from a legal perspective, that it quotes the law incorrectly a good amount of the time. That tells me we are still going to have to do our legal research, read case law, and do the analysis. As you said, what AI can't replace are the analytical and critical thinking skills of an attorney. That's why people hire us. If a robot could do that, we would literally be out of a job.

  Lydia Kumar: Right. Your ability to evaluate that output is key. It can give you a bunch of things, but in any industry, there are a lot of unspoken rules you have to understand. You have to be able to evaluate all this information and say, “This is what the law says, this is how people interpret the law, and this is what people need.” I think your ability to do that is really important and valuable.

  You mentioned that email writing has been really useful for you. Could you share a couple of opportunities or tips you see for AI in either the legal world or just in owning your own business? Where do you see AI being most useful for you right now, and do you have any stories about how it has accelerated your work and allowed you to use your time in different ways?

  Mariah Street: Oh yes, definitely. I see it most useful for me from an administrative perspective. So, writing emails out to people or even just having templates, because a lot of times I send out a lot of the same emails.

  Lydia Kumar: Right, right.

  Mariah Street: So, having that fleshed out has been helpful. Also from a business perspective, like with my SOPs, my standard operating procedures. It has been helpful in doing that. Also with marketing, giving some marketing ideas. It has really helped me out there in terms of getting the word out about my business, coming up with ideas, even campaigns. Of course, I flesh it out based on what I know and what I have been seeing in the industry and just from experience of what works and what doesn't, which is key. But it provides a starting point in administrative tasks, marketing, SOPs, scripts, outlines for consultations, that type of stuff. So that's where I see it most helpful for me.

  Lydia Kumar: Did you have an aha moment where you asked ChatGPT, or whatever AI tool you like to use, to do something and you thought, “Wow, that did way better than I thought it would”?

  Mariah Street: I think that was definitely me with the marketing. I recently started dabbling in it with that. I was like, “Okay, help me come up with this.” I gave it a whole prompt. I mean, I wrote a whole paragraph about what I wanted and how hard I did or didn't want to work on this because not only am I a business owner, I have to do the actual legal work. So I'm not trying to add a ton of work to my plate.

  But yeah, it spit out this whole thing, like stuff to do every month and all of this. I was like, “Oh, wow. Okay.” I took it and reworked some stuff I didn't want to do, but it really came out with a good, bare-bones, foundational plan. And I was like, “Okay, I can get with this.” I’m actually working it out now. I started that close to the top of the year, and it's been very helpful, especially in areas outside of the legal work I have to do. I have to do everything else as a business owner as well, and so it helps me with the “everything else” so that I can stay in my zone of genius, as they say.

  Lydia Kumar: Oh, I love that, “zone of genius.” I think that's one of the things I find so compelling about generative AI technology. It can't do everything that people can do, but it allows you to make wise trade-offs about what makes sense. Your zone of genius is the legal work you're doing, and I'm sure the relationships that you build with your clients. It is just—I need to do some legacy planning, Mariah, maybe I'm going to hit you up later—but it's that feeling of having to reckon with your mortality. Those are hard things to reckon with. So I'm sure that takes emotional energy out of you to have those conversations and to walk alongside people, as well as the technical expertise that you have with law. So being able to take off some of this administrative burden frees up your capacity to do those emotional and technical aspects of your work.

  Mariah Street: Exactly. I agree completely. As any entrepreneur or business owner knows, it takes so much to get something off the ground. Anything that can help alleviate some of that—obviously you're still going to be working, that's a given—but just tools and resources to make things easier really does help. AI has definitely helped me with establishing systems in my business, or reformatting them, so that I can run things more efficiently. That way, I still have the capacity to serve my clients, make connections with potential referral sources, or maintain those relationships, because my business is definitely all about relationships. I think that's where I shine in particular. I definitely got into this field and this particular industry because of my ability to connect with people.

  So I like to stay doing that and then leave everything else—anything that I can do to alleviate the burdens of some of the more mundane, business-related things, that's been helpful for me.

  Lydia Kumar: That resonates so much because relationships take time, intention, and presence. You can't be doing five things at the same time when you're having these conversations, so your ability to just have an assistant, something that can help you move forward, is really cool.

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  I'm wondering if you have any—I know it's doing a lot of your administrative work rather than your legal work—but do you have any ethical or confidentiality questions you've wrestled with as you've been experimenting with this technology?

  Mariah Street: A hundred percent. That's actually been a super big topic within the legal industry in general right now because of the invention of AI. These conversations are probably going to be had until the end of time, as long as it's in existence. But for sure, I have confidentiality and ethics concerns, or at least keep them in the back of my mind. The legal industry is heavily regulated, so we are bound by the rules and ethics rules of the bar. Any little thing that we do is under scrutiny, and if we jeopardize any type of confidentiality obligations that we have, we can lose our license. It's that serious.

  So personally, whenever I'm using it, I of course never put names or anything like that. I speak very generally when I'm typing out prompts. Outside of the business aspects, but just in terms of client work, I keep it very general when I'm inputting information. We all know that AI will take what you put and can share it or use it in its training. I don't want to get caught up in that because I'm not trying to lose my license. We are an industry that is very big on confidentiality; attorney-client privilege is a thing. That's one of the main areas where a lot of attorneys get into trouble.

  So I'm definitely very careful. It's still an ongoing conversation. I try to take some CLEs [Continuing Legal Education] around it just so I can stay up to date on what's happening. I'm sure the bar will come out with some new rules based on the technology, but we will see.

  Lydia Kumar: Right now, are there public rules for how you are allowed to interact with ChatGPT or other generative AI? I'm curious what AI technology you're even using. Are there any rules or guidelines published right now? Or is everyone just making their best judgment calls based on what you know?

  Mariah Street: Yeah, I think everybody for sure is making their best judgment calls. Not to my knowledge, I don't think anything's been published—so don't quote me on that. The legal industry is always behind the times. I mean, we're just now getting up to date with being able to file court proceeding documents electronically, literally just now. So it might take a little while. But I think this might happen sooner rather than later for AI and everything else with technology, just because of how important confidentiality and the surrounding ethics are.

  I had a professor who is now very big into a lot of the tech and AI stuff, so I'd be interested to hear her opinion on this because she's very much a guru in this field, and she's also a lawyer. It will be very interesting to see where this goes.

  Mariah's discussion about the ethical tightrope of using AI in a highly regulated field highlights a challenge many leaders are facing. Without clear guidance, teams are left making high-stakes judgment calls alone. If you're ready to explore how Kinwise helps you build that clarity, discover the Kinwise pilot program.

  Lydia Kumar: The technology is changing so quickly and there isn't a lot of guidance. We know that some tools use your inputs as training data and some don't, or you can turn it off. But then you also have to decide on a personal or industry level, how much do we trust what this tool is saying about what they use or do not use when it comes to data? And I think in the law space, it feels like it would be a very large risk to trust some of that at this point when, like you said, you could lose your license. It's a high-stakes game.

  Mariah Street: It is a high-stakes game for sure. As you were talking, I just did a Google search because I was curious. It seems like the ABA, the American Bar Association, did put out some initial guidance mid-last year. Okay, I have to go into this and see. It just says, “Lawyers and law firms using GAI [Generative AI] must fully consider their applicable ethical obligations, which includes duties to provide competent legal representation, to protect client information, to communicate with clients, and to charge reasonable fees consistent with time spent using GAI.” Okay. Very interesting. So it’s like, “Remember your ethical duties that you're bound to.”

  Lydia Kumar: It's crazy. It's just changing so fast.

  Mariah Street: Yeah.

  Lydia Kumar: Huge organizations like the American Bar Association are going to move more slowly than individuals who are more nimble. So I think there's just a lot of aspects in how quickly we get guidance, because it's complicated.

  Mariah Street: I agree. It'll take some time to really get a footing because I think people are even now still trying to understand AI and how it works. It's changing every day and moving very fast. With an industry that moves very slow, we'll see how they're going to work this out and have some more tailored guidance in terms of our obligations. As lawyers, we know our obligations for the things I just read, but yeah.

  Lydia Kumar: You know what you're allowed to do and not allowed to do as a lawyer, but generative AI is a whole technology that's being thrown into the mix that didn't exist three years ago. Even two years ago, it wasn't as good as it is today. It's the combination of it being novel and also constantly having new releases and new types of technology.

  Mariah Street: Exactly.

  Lydia Kumar: Speaking of all the AI tools, what are your favorites? What's your go-to right now?

  Mariah Street: Oh man. Okay. So definitely ChatGPT. I mean, of course, that's like the OG, right? Love that. That's mainly what I use to come up with things like the marketing stuff I was talking about.

  Lydia Kumar: I think ChatGPT is great at marketing.

  Mariah Street: It was great. I mean, like I said, I was very shocked, so very pleasantly surprised with a lot of that. Also, some of the tools that I use in my business have AI built-in. Like Zoom, which we're using now. Zoom has its own AI things where it can synthesize what you're saying and send you something afterwards with key points of what was talked about and action items for each person. That's been very helpful, especially for someone like me who has a lot of meetings. Sometimes clients act like they don't know what homework they need to do, and so it'll send out an email to everybody that was in attendance like, “Here is what you have to do before blah, blah,” and the dates if we talked about dates. Stuff like that is very, very much helpful for me. I'm hoping to see how it evolves and how else I can utilize it to make things more efficient for me in running my business. So yeah, I would say those two tools for sure are my main things that I use.

  Lydia Kumar: Cool. Do you have a piece of advice for other, particularly service-based, entrepreneurs who are curious about AI but they're not sure where to start?

  Mariah Street: Ooh, they're curious, but they don't know how to start. I would say just try it out. Especially with something like ChatGPT, something very low-stakes. Just try it for a simple task. Like I said, I started out using it just with crafting emails. That's something very easy. I'm pretty sure every service provider is sending emails in some form or fashion. So have it draft a template for you if you send out the same emails like me, and see how it goes. Tweak it as you go along, of course, as your business changes. But yeah, I would say just start, really. It's not super complicated once you get in there. Just play around and see.

  Lydia Kumar: I agree. Using AI and figuring out how to make it write a good email for you is the easy part. The more complicated part feels like the ethical considerations, or how you decide what to put into it or not, or how you want your organization to use the tool. That feels like the tricky part, but the easy part is just starting. So yes, just start.

  Mariah Street: Correct. Exactly. With all the other stuff, the more complicated things, if anybody is in an industry that does have some type of guidance, then maybe read up on those and see where you might want to be careful. I think that's with any tool you're using; you want to be sure you know what you're getting into.

  Lydia Kumar: So, yeah. Absolutely. Okay. I have two last questions for you. First, where do you see tech reshaping estate planning and generational wealth conversations in the next few years?

  Mariah Street: That's a good question. I'm not sure. I'll kind of talk out what I'm thinking. I know for sure it's not going to beat out attorneys in drafting documents. I just don't think that's going to be a thing because that requires a lot of critical thinking, a lot of strategy, and every estate and legacy plan is different for each person. Even people in similar situations can have very different plans.

  I might could see it evolving and making things more efficient in terms of maybe document storage and allowing people access to the documents they want, if that makes sense. There are solutions out there right now where if you get your estate planning documents done, you have an e-copy you can upload to the cloud. You can put your documents in there for later, which is better than keeping paper copies, where things can happen, like a fire. We're getting more into e-storage, so there are solutions like that that might use AI in some way to make it easier and more efficient to give access to the people you want to have access, but maybe only when you want them to. Because some people don't want to share their documents with folks while they're living. So, yeah, I could maybe see something there.

  Lydia Kumar: Yeah. I could imagine you upload all of these documents into almost like a personalized LLM, your own chatbot, and then you're like, “Okay, what does my mom want in terms of songs?” So you don't have to sort through all that legal jargon while you're under stress and you can just say, “Okay, what did you want?” and it just tells you.

  Mariah Street: And having to share a password or something like that. Yeah.

  Lydia Kumar: It's just fun to imagine, right? Like, where could this go? That leads to my last question: what's the idea or question you can't stop thinking about lately? Mine is always, what does this look like in five years? Where are we going? When I asked you that question, you know, who knows what it's gonna look like, but it is kind of fun to think about. You're the expert in the industry, you have some expertise in this technology, what could be useful? But flipping back to you, what are you thinking about? What's your question or idea that you're contemplating when it comes to generative AI?

  Mariah Street: I think my main thing is how we can do this while simultaneously taking into consideration the ethical concerns. That is what I'm very curious to see: how far can this be taken while keeping that in mind? I think that's my main thing that I'm trying to imagine with it.

  Lydia Kumar: That makes so much sense for your context. You're in a highly regulated industry where confidentiality is of the utmost importance, and then you have this technology where confidentiality feels questionable. You could probably think of a bazillion use cases if confidentiality wasn't an issue, but how do you do that if you're trying to be so general and careful with how you use it? I think it's a natural and necessary limitation, at least right now. But it's a great question and one that I'm sure lots of other people are grappling with too.

  Mariah Street: I definitely think so. There are two sides for me. This is probably why I'm an attorney, but I'm very much a rule follower, so that's why I'm giving pause about the ethical stuff. But also the business person in me and the systematic person in me—I love a good system—can really see the potential with this growing and evolving and being very beneficial for not just attorneys, but for anyone. So I have those two things going on in my head. I definitely really love it and what it can do to help service providers or anybody, but then also taking into account and addressing those ethical concerns as these products continue to evolve. And just to see what can really happen, what the possibilities could be with AI.

  Lydia Kumar: Beautiful. Well, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your story. It's really amazing to think about working with so much purpose and helping people through one of the most important and uncomfortable types of planning that people need to do.

  Mariah Street: Yes, for sure. Yes. Thank you so much for having me. This was a really good discussion and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what will happen in the future.

  Lydia Kumar: That was such an important conversation with Mariah Street. Her careful approach to balancing the profound human element of legacy planning with the practical efficiency of AI, all while navigating the high ethical stakes of the legal field, is a vital reminder for all of us about what it means to use these tools with intention.

  Continuing our exploration of AI in these crucial, human-first domains, join me next time on Kinwise Conversations, where I'll be speaking with educator and curriculum leader, Tanzania Brown. We'll be diving into how she uses AI as a tool to strengthen metacognition and critical thinking for students and how she navigates the complex challenges of bias, privacy, and equity in the classroom. You won't want to miss it.

  These conversations with leaders like Mariah and Tanzania highlight a critical need for every organization: How do you move from simply reacting to AI to building a proactive, human-centered strategy? If you're a leader ready to build that clarity for your own team, check out Kinwise's AI Executive Leader Pilot Program. To learn more, visit kinwise.org/pilot.

  And as always, you can find the full transcript and resources, including prompts inspired by this episode, on our website. The best way to support the show is to subscribe and share it with a friend. And if you know someone who would be a great fit for the podcast, send them my way. Until next time, stay curious, stay grounded, and stay Kinwise.

• Connect with Mariah Street and Legacy Estate Planning

  I hope you enjoyed hearing Mariah Street's valuable insights on integrating AI with the human-centric work of estate planning. If you're inspired by her approach and ready to plan for your own legacy, here's how you can connect with Mariah and her firm:

  • Legacy Street Law Official Website: Discover their services, philosophy, and learn how they help families protect their futures with accessible and compassionate estate planning. Visit the Website

  • Connect on LinkedIn: Follow Mariah's professional journey and insights on legacy planning, business, and the legal field. Connect on LinkedIn

  • Follow on Instagram: Get valuable tips, educational content, and insights on estate planning and building a lasting legacy. Follow on Instagram

• Prompts Inspired by Mariah

  1. The "Just Start" Email Template

  Mariah started her AI journey with simple, low-stakes tasks like drafting emails. Use this prompt to create a reusable template for a common communication task in your business, saving you time every week.

  The Prompt:

  "Act as a business communications assistant. I am a [Your Profession or Title] and I need to write a clear, professional, and empathetic email template.

  The purpose of this email is to [e.g., follow up with a potential client after an initial meeting, onboard a new client, answer a frequently asked question, thank a referral partner].

  My tone should be [e.g., professional yet warm, encouraging, efficient and clear, formal].

  Please draft a reusable email template that I can adapt. Include placeholders like [Client Name], [Project Detail], and [Next Step] where appropriate."

  2. The "Zone of Genius" Audit

  Mariah uses AI to handle administrative tasks so she can focus on her "zone of genius"—the legal work and client relationships only she can provide. Use this prompt to identify which parts of your workload you can offload to AI.

  The Prompt:

  "I am a [Your Profession or Title] looking to improve my efficiency. My 'zone of genius' includes these core activities:

  1. [Core Skill #1, e.g., Strategic Client Consultation]

  2. [Core Skill #2, e.g., Creative Design Work]

  3. [Core Skill #3, e.g., Building Referral Partnerships]

  Here is a list of my other weekly administrative and operational tasks: [List 5-10 tasks, e.g., writing social media captions, scheduling appointments, drafting meeting agendas, researching industry trends, creating initial project proposals].

  Based on my 'zone of genius' and my list of tasks, please act as an efficiency consultant. Analyze my tasks and categorize them into two lists:

  1. Tasks to Automate/Delegate to AI: Tasks that are repetitive, data-based, or can be handled effectively with AI assistance.

  2. Tasks to Keep: Tasks that require my unique human expertise, critical thinking, and personal touch."

  3. The Foundational Marketing Plan

  Mariah had an "aha" moment when she asked AI to create a marketing plan. This prompt helps you brainstorm a simple, actionable content plan for your business, focusing on educating and building trust with your audience.

  The Prompt:

  "Act as a marketing strategist for a service-based business owner. My business is [Your Business Name] and I specialize in [Your Service, e.g., legacy planning, financial coaching, graphic design]. My ideal client is [Describe Your Ideal Client].

  I want to create a foundational content marketing plan for the next month. My goal is to [e.g., educate potential clients, build trust, generate leads].

  Please generate a 4-week marketing plan that includes:

  • Weekly Themes: A different educational theme for each week related to my services.

  • Content Ideas: 2-3 specific content ideas for each week (e.g., blog post titles, social media posts, short video scripts).

  • A Call to Action: A suggestion for what I should ask my audience to do (e.g., book a consultation, download a free resource)."

  4. The Ethical Guardrails Brainstorm

  As a lawyer, Mariah is deeply aware of the ethical considerations of using AI, especially regarding confidentiality. This prompt helps you think proactively about using AI responsibly in your own field.

  The Prompt:

  "I am a [Your Profession or Title] and my industry is [Your Industry]. Confidentiality and professional ethics are very important in my work. The key ethical concerns in my field include [List 2-3 concerns, e.g., client data privacy, avoiding conflicts of interest, ensuring accuracy of information].

  I am starting to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help with tasks such as [e.g., drafting communications, summarizing research, brainstorming ideas].

  Act as an ethics advisor and help me create a simple set of 'Ethical Guardrails' for using AI. Please provide a list of 3-5 practical rules or best practices I should follow to ensure I am using this technology responsibly, keeping my specific industry concerns in mind."

  5. The Professional Legacy Statement

  Mariah's work is all about helping people define their legacy. This reflective prompt uses AI as a thought partner to help you articulate your own professional mission and the legacy you want to build.

  The Prompt:

  "Act as a reflective career coach. I want to draft a 'Professional Legacy Statement.' Help me brainstorm by asking me three insightful questions about:

  1. The impact I want to have on my clients or in my industry.

  2. The unique values and principles that guide my work.

  3. What I want to be known for at the peak of my career.

  After I answer your questions, synthesize my responses into a powerful, one-paragraph professional legacy statement that I can use for my bio, website, or personal reflection."