A 25-lawyer firm specializing in commercial litigation and employment law was losing competitive edge on research speed. Research memo turnaround was 2 business days. Intake response times averaged 4+ hours.
The deployment
- Marcus (Research): Searches case law across Westlaw and LexisNexis, Shepardizes citations, produces structured memos with confidence ratings.
- David (Document Review): Tags privileged content, identifies relevant exhibits, flags contract clause deviations, organizes by matter and issue.
- Elena (Client Intake): Qualifies prospects 24/7, runs conflict checks in Clio in 30 seconds, generates engagement letters, schedules consultations.
Results (90 days)
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research turnaround | 2 business days | 3 hours (draft) | -85% |
| Discovery review speed | ~200 pages/day | 1,400+ pages/night | +600% |
| After-hours intake response | Next business day | < 5 minutes | Immediate |
| New client conversion | 22% | 31% | +41% |
The cultural shift
Associates were relieved to stop spending days on database searches. Their role shifted from data gatherer to analytical reviewer — more intellectually stimulating and aligned with their legal training.
The 41% improvement in client conversion from Elena's fast after-hours response translated to significant revenue growth.
Security safeguards
Privileged documents flagged by David were never used as training data. Research memos included confidence scores and explicit flags for conflicting case law.