This is a letter to managing partners, owners, and principals.
Not to the “innovation committee”.
Not to the one associate who likes tech.
To the people carrying the firm on their back.
If you’re still treating AI like a future project, a nice-to-have, or something you’ll “look at this year”… I’ve got to ask:
What are you waiting for?
And more importantly: can you afford to waste another six months?
Because the firms that implemented this early are already moving faster, producing more, and spending less time on the grind work that nobody went to law school for.
And the firms that don’t? They’re about to compete with firms that have an extra “digital team member” built into their workflow.
The blunt truth: AI is already saving lawyers real time
Thomson Reuters’ research (Future of Professionals) has been consistently pointing in the same direction: legal professionals expect meaningful time savings from AI, measured in hours per week, not “maybe it helps a bit.” Their reporting has cited projected savings like about 5 hours per week (around 240 hours per year) in the near term, and larger savings over the next few years.
And Goldman Sachs’ analysis has been widely cited for the idea that a large chunk of legal tasks are automatable (often referenced around 44%). Whether you agree with the exact number or not, the direction is obvious: routine legal work is prime territory for AI assistance.
Here’s what that means in plain English:
If your firm is still doing everything manually, you are competing against firms who are quietly buying back time every week and reinvesting it into:
- more matters
- better turnaround
- better client service
- more business development
That’s not hype. That’s compounding.
“But we’re a small firm. We don’t have the budget.”
Small firms actually have the biggest advantage here.
Why?
Because you’re not trying to turn a cruise ship. You’re trying to turn a speedboat.
You don’t need a million-rand transformation project to get value from day one. You need:
- one core system of truth (CRM / matter management)
- one automation layer
- AI embedded into the parts of the workflow where people waste time
Even a simple change like “AI-assisted drafting + structured templates + automatic filing + automatic client updates” is a massive time win.
Day-one AI wins for law firms (practical, not theoretical)
Let’s talk about what you can implement immediately, without turning your firm upside down.
1) Intake that doesn’t waste your best people
AI can:
- read inbound emails and web form submissions
- classify matter type (family, commercial, collections, conveyancing, labour, etc.)
- extract key info into structured fields
- flag missing info automatically
- create the matter/lead record and assign it to the right person
Your team stops playing “human router”.
2) First drafts that don’t start from nothing
AI can generate first-draft versions of:
- emails to clients
- demand letters
- summary letters
- standard notices
- checklists
- internal matter briefs
You still apply legal judgment.
But you stop starting from a blank page.
3) Research that gets you to the point faster
AI doesn’t replace legal research. It accelerates it:
- summarise cases, memos, opinions
- pull out the issues, arguments, risks
- compare documents and identify differences
- prepare a “what matters” brief for review
It’s an assistant that reads fast and doesn’t complain.
4) Stakeholder updates that happen automatically
This is the part owners love.
When a stage changes, the system should update the client.
Not “maybe”. Not “when someone remembers”. Automatically.
Example:
- Status changes to “Draft ready for review” → client gets an update
- Client replies → reply is logged on the matter timeline
- If it contains urgency/complaint/approval → it’s flagged and routed
That’s not magic. That’s workflow.
5) Real-time dashboards, not “reports”
Owners shouldn’t request reports.
Owners should open a dashboard and instantly see:
- matters by stage
- turnaround time
- stuck files
- overdue tasks
- workload per staff member
- billing pipeline (where applicable)
- SLA breaches
- “this KPI might be wrong” flags (missing time entries, missing stage updates, inconsistent data)
This is what modern management looks like: truth in real time.
The “no copy-paste” system (the part firms underestimate)
A lot of firms already have tools. Great.
But their tools don’t talk properly. So staff end up doing this circus act:
- copy from email
- paste into matter system
- copy into a document
- paste into another template
- retype the same info again
- update three places because nothing is connected
That’s not work. That’s duplication.
What we build (and what we mean by “AI integrated”) is holistic:
- one update feeds the whole system
- the CRM/matter record updates
- the tasks update
- the documents populate
- the client communication triggers
- the dashboard reflects it immediately
No duplication. No drifting data. No “where’s the latest version?”
“If you did this five years ago… where would you be now?”
This question matters.
Because AI isn’t just a tool. It’s a multiplier.
If you saved even 3–5 hours per professional per week, for years, what would that have done to:
- your revenue
- your capacity
- your turnaround times
- your client satisfaction
- your stress levels
Now ask the harder question:
Can you afford to waste another six months?
Because the firms implementing now are building momentum. The gap isn’t going to stay small.
The real promise: you shouldn’t need to know any of this
As an owner/partner, you should not need to understand the moving parts.
If we do our job right:
- AI does its job
- the team does their job
- the dashboards tell the truth
- exceptions get flagged
- you get clarity without chasing
You lead. You decide. You grow.
Bonus: Voice-first capture (yes, Siri)
We can also deploy Apple Siri Shortcuts that feed directly into the system so you can:
- log a note
- create a task
- capture a lead/matter detail
- assign a follow-up
- update a status
…without opening three apps, without typing, and without “I’ll do it later.”
And because it’s integrated properly, it’s not just a voice note sitting in a void. It becomes structured data in your workflow.
If you’re ready to stop wasting time, start here
If you want a system where:
- matters move cleanly
- clients stay updated automatically
- data isn’t duplicated
- dashboards show real-time truth
- AI accelerates the boring work
Then this is what we do.
🔗 Company: Company Connect
🔗 Website: https://companyconnect.tech/
🔗 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lloyd-lew-companyconnect-workflow-automation-mondaycom-makecom-integration
🔗 Book a conversation: https://calendar.app.google/ZFoSNjP2UwwyTEny9
And if you’re thinking: “We’ll look at this later”…
Respectfully:
that’s exactly what everyone says right before they fall behind.
