Law firms are spending a lot of time talking about AI right now, but AI is only one part of a much bigger conversation about how firms operate, serve clients, manage their people and adapt to changing expectations.
I recently interviewed Misty Leon, founder of Practical Counsel Advisors, for my Business of Building series. Misty has spent nearly 25 years in the legal industry, including time at global law firms, as a law firm partner and in-house at Texas Instruments. That combination gives her an interesting perspective because she has experienced law firm operations as both the lawyer delivering the work and the client evaluating outside counsel.
Our conversation covered AI governance, technology adoption, change management, client expectations and some of the operational issues that can make practicing law harder than it needs to be.
It also raised some important questions that law firm leaders can ask about their own firms.
1. What Problem Are We Actually Trying to Solve?
It’s easy to get excited about a new technology or process, particularly with everything happening around AI. But Misty made an important point in our conversation: firms can create additional problems when they introduce new tools before fully understanding what they’re trying to improve.
Start with the work itself. Where is time being lost? Which processes create frustration? Where is work being duplicated? What are lawyers or staff repeatedly doing manually? What are clients asking for that the firm has difficulty delivering efficiently?
Once you understand the problem, it becomes much easier to evaluate whether technology can help and what kind of solution makes sense.
2. How Are People at Our Firm Already Using AI?
AI adoption may be happening inside a firm long before leadership formally decides how the firm wants to use it.
Lawyers and staff have access to a growing number of AI tools, and some may already be experimenting with them as they look for ways to work more efficiently. That makes AI governance an immediate operational issue as well as a technology issue.
Firms need a clear understanding of how these tools are being used, where information is going, what client confidentiality requires and what guidance people need to use AI responsibly.
A written policy is one piece of that. Training, communication and ongoing conversations about how the technology is actually being used are just as important.
3. Are We Listening to the People Who Actually Do the Work?
The people closest to a process often know exactly where it becomes inefficient.
Junior lawyers, assistants, paralegals and other professionals may spend hours every week working around systems or processes that leadership rarely encounters directly. Their perspective can be incredibly useful when a firm is evaluating new technology or looking for ways to improve how work gets done.
Ask them where they lose time, which steps create extra work, what they’re doing manually and what would make the process easier.
You may learn more from those conversations than you would from another technology demonstration.
4. What Are Our Clients Expecting From Us?
Misty’s in-house experience gives her a perspective that many law firm leaders haven’t had: she has been the client making decisions about outside counsel.
Corporate legal departments are facing their own pressure to manage costs, use technology more effectively and demonstrate value to the business. Those expectations naturally affect what they want from outside counsel.
Clients are also becoming more interested in how their law firms use AI, how technology affects the delivery of legal services and how greater efficiency may affect fees.
Law firms can benefit from having these conversations directly with clients. Ask what they value, what they would like to see improved and how their own legal departments are changing. Those conversations can tell you a great deal about where client expectations are heading.
5. Are Our Processes Ready for New Technology?
Technology can make a good process faster. It can also make a messy process move faster.
Before adding another tool, take a closer look at the process around it. Who is responsible for each step? Where does information come from? Where does it go next? Which steps are repetitive? Where are people creating their own workarounds?
That review can reveal opportunities to improve the process before technology is introduced.
It can also help a firm make better purchasing decisions because the people evaluating the technology have a much clearer understanding of what they need it to accomplish.
6. Are We Giving People Enough Support to Change How They Work?
Buying technology is one decision. Getting people to use it effectively is another.
Lawyers are busy, and established habits can be difficult to change when client work is demanding their attention. A new system or policy needs more than an announcement and a training session.
People need to understand why the change is happening, how it affects their work and what they’re expected to do differently. They also need opportunities to ask questions as they begin using a new tool or process in real situations.
This is where change management becomes an important part of technology adoption. The success of a new initiative often depends as much on people as it does on the technology itself.
7. How Much Time Are We Losing to Workarounds?
Small inefficiencies can become expensive when they happen repeatedly across a firm.
A lawyer spending 15 extra minutes on a task may not seem significant. Multiply that by several matters, several people and an entire year and the cost becomes much easier to see.
The impact also goes beyond time. Inefficient processes can affect capacity, profitability, client service and the experience of the people doing the work.
Look for the tasks everyone has learned to tolerate because “that’s how we’ve always done it.” Those are often good places to start looking for operational improvements.
8. Who Is Responsible for Thinking About How the Firm Works?
Client work will always demand attention, which can make operational projects easy to push further down the list.
But the way a firm operates affects almost everything else: how efficiently lawyers work, how quickly matters move, how technology is adopted, how clients experience the firm and how much capacity people have for additional work.
Someone needs the time and responsibility to look across those issues and connect them.
For some firms, that may be an internal operations or innovation leader. Others may bring in outside expertise for particular projects. What matters is creating space for someone to look at how the firm works today and where changes could make a meaningful difference.
Law Firm AI and Operations: Frequently Asked Questions
Why does AI governance matter for law firms?
Lawyers are working with confidential information and have professional obligations around competence, confidentiality and supervision. As AI tools become easier to access, firms need clear guidance about which tools can be used, what information can be entered into them and how AI-generated work is reviewed. Governance also needs to evolve as the technology and the ways people use it change.
Where can a law firm start with AI?
Start by identifying a few specific areas where lawyers or staff spend significant time on repetitive or inefficient work. Understanding the workflow first can help the firm evaluate where AI may be useful and what safeguards, training and processes need to accompany it.
Why is change management important when law firms adopt technology?
People need time, context, training and support as they change established ways of working. Involving the people who use a process every day can also help firms identify practical issues earlier and improve adoption.
How are client expectations around AI changing?
Corporate legal departments are exploring AI and other technologies themselves, which means many are becoming more knowledgeable about what these tools can do. They may ask outside counsel how AI is being used, how client information is protected and whether greater efficiency affects the way legal services are delivered and priced.
How can law firms identify operational inefficiencies?
Talk to the people doing the work. Ask lawyers, assistants, paralegals and other professionals where they lose time, which tasks they repeat, where they create manual workarounds and which processes consistently cause frustration. Those conversations can help identify areas where relatively small changes could have a larger impact.
Can smaller law firms improve operations without making huge technology investments?
Many operational improvements begin with understanding and improving existing processes. A firm may already have technology that can handle more than it currently uses, or a workflow may be improved by clarifying responsibilities and eliminating unnecessary steps. Starting with the problem helps firms make more thoughtful decisions about where additional investment makes sense.
Better Operations Can Support Better Client Service
What I liked about my conversation with Misty is that she approaches operations from the perspective of someone who has actually practiced law, managed a law firm and sat on the client side evaluating outside counsel.
Law firm operations can sometimes feel separate from client service and business development, but they’re closely connected. The way a firm works affects how quickly lawyers can respond, how much time they have available, how consistently work is delivered and what the overall experience feels like for the client.
AI is making these conversations more urgent, but it’s also giving firms a reason to take a broader look at how they work. Asking better questions about processes, technology, people and client expectations can help firms identify where they want to focus first.
Read my full Business of Building interview with Misty for more about her career, why she founded Practical Counsel Advisors and her perspective on AI, operations and the changes happening across the legal industry.
Connect with Misty on LinkedIn and reach out to her to learn more about Practical Counsel Advisors.