The AI-powered law firm: Cutting through option overload

The recent explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) advancements means most law firms are well aware of its potential to improve efficiency, productivity and decision-making — and there’s no shortage of AI solutions designed to achieve these goals.

But, for many firms, that’s the problem. An abundance of options is causing choice paralysis for some, while others are implementing particular products simply because their peers have. It’s a natural reaction; the more AI solutions emerge, the harder it is to decipher which ones actually make sense for your law firm.

Clients are seeking the best value from their legal providers, and AI promises greater efficiency. However, that efficiency becomes a mirage if firms aren’t discerning in their selection by considering their unique needs and workflow

More than 60% of law firms believe AI will positively impact the legal industry, according to a recent survey from Cognizant, but not all are thinking strategically about how they invest in it. Those that do will surge ahead of competitors. With a wide range of solutions available, here’s how to start the process of finding the right fit.

Define the problem

Successfully implementing AI at your law firm is not about pursuing what’s shiny and new just because it exists. Rather, take a step back and seriously consider this question: What specific challenges do I need solved for my firm?

To identify where AI will provide the most ROI, gather input from across the firm. Identify the pain points that hinder operations, whether they involve inefficiencies in document management, time-consuming legal research, billing inaccuracies or communication breakdowns between departments. Engage your team to understand their daily challenges and gather insights on repetitive tasks that consume valuable time.

In addition, analyze your firm’s workflow to detect bottlenecks and areas where human error frequently occurs. This comprehensive evaluation will help you prioritize which issues to address first and ensure that the AI solutions you consider align with your firm’s strategic objectives and operational needs. By defining the problem before seeking the solution, you can avoid the pitfalls of implementing technology for its own sake and instead focus on driving meaningful improvements that enhance overall productivity and client satisfaction.

Seek proof of concept

The wholesale adoption of new technology is daunting and expensive, particularly when you are not sure you have found the right solution. This is where firms should feel empowered to ask vendors for a proof-of-concept pilot before committing to a wider deployment. While this might involve some cost, it’s better to know the product can solve your firm’s problem before doubling down on it.

If your firm prefers to develop its own AI technology, there are many frameworks that can help you create in-house solutions without significant investment. These facilitate experimentation with AI technology to demonstrate potential impact before full-scale development. This way, lawyers can test-drive the software beforehand. If the program doesn’t work or deliver on its intended benefits, the vendor can simply uninstall and remove it. Helm360’s Alliance Partner Program empowers firms to customize their own solutions, giving them access to a curated team of industry experts and developers.

A successful proof of concept can work wonders at the executive level, prompting managing partners to take an AI initiative more seriously and approve further investment.

Decide what success looks like

Once you’ve settled on an AI solution, establish your key performance indicators. What’s your definition of success and how will you measure it? Your firm will need to collect detailed performance data over time to really understand whether the product is achieving its goals or not.

You can measure the impact of your firm’s AI initiative by considering the following:

Happiness: Attorneys are generally happy with a tool if they’re often recommending it, and finding it easy to use. Pay attention to the number of support tickets filed and satisfaction survey scores. Higher satisfaction scores and fewer support tickets suggest you have a winning product on your hands.
Engagement: Are lawyers regularly using their AI tools and assistants in their work? If so, that’s a good sign! Check log records for the number of users, average daily time spent in the program and the features used to see how engaged attorneys are with the AI software.
Adoption: This metric considers whether the AI app is becoming a go-to tool within the firm as intended. Higher adoption rates indicate success and long-term utility. This is especially true if the number of lawyers using the product has increased since its introduction.
Retention: AI tools should be a consistent part of how lawyers work and bill, not used sporadically. Providers such as Helm360 monitor churn rates and track usage data to see how often lawyers use the programs. They can also suggest ways to improve these metrics through training, lunch-and-learns, and increased support.
Task Success: The goal of AI implementation is to help attorneys complete tasks efficiently, effectively and with fewer mistakes. This makes task success a crucial HEART indicator. Practice group leaders should check if project completion times and error rates show that the AI software is improving and streamlining the firm’s work.

When evaluating progress, keep all stakeholders in the loop to ensure transparency and alignment. Many new product launches might produce an initial spike in usage, but that can drop off if your firm doesn’t focus on maintaining engagement.

Take your solution to the next level

Once you’ve found an AI tool that addresses the problem you set out to solve, consider how it might also help streamline other processes if expanded to other areas of your firm’s operations. By approaching your AI use with the mindset of continuous improvement and innovation, your law firm will maintain its competitive edge.

Successfully integrating AI into your law practice isn’t about pursuing the latest trends. Instead, it requires strategic thinking: what problem are you hoping to solve? The answer should guide your AI journey from start to finish.