Feature
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming legal work for the better. AI can make what was once painstaking, slow and expensive law labor easy, fast and more accurate. If you’re wondering how AI can help your firm do less with more, improve efficiency and get smarter insights on your data, these case studies demonstrate the transformative power of AI in law:
1. LegalMotion
With pressure on law firms to differentiate services and lower costs, the founders of LegalMation wanted a tool that could take on some of the most time-consuming, tedious and thankless work attorneys do — drafting early phase responses to complaints, according to a case study.
“We asked ourselves, what is the most tedious task faced by a young lawyer?” says Thomas Suh, co-founder and COO, LegalMations. “It’s basically the first phase, when you receive a complaint and have to draft a first bundle of work, which can take six to 10 hours.”
LegalMotion turned to IBM’s Watson to build a tool. The firm’s team fed thousands of lawsuits, complaints and responses to IBM’s Watsonx AI, so it would understand the work. Then they refined those results with a team of subject matter experts. Six months later, those experts were able to work with a few select clients to test a proof-of-concept tool. Nine months later — with significant testing under their belts — LegaMation released that tool to the public.
What once took an overworked new lawyer a full day to accomplish, was done by this AI tool in minutes. And the system allowed attorneys to drag and drop documentation to get a quick response — and reduce their workload by around 80%.
Not only did this save overhead costs for lawyers, but also allowed new talent to skip a painful “pay-your-dues” phase of the practice and go more quickly to doing interesting strategy and other higher-tier work.
Results
- An estimated 80% reductions in labor cost
- A 60%-80% savings of time
- Six hours of attorney work reduced to a few minutes
2. Integreon
Integreon specializes in reengineering and streamlining legal and compliance departments to do more with less. A ride-sharing company turned to them for help moving the metadata from a database of over 3,000 contracts to a new contract life cycle management system (CLM), according to a case study.
This is always tedious work. But in this case, the challenge was exacerbated, because the client needed it done fast. For a human team, this would be a nearly impossible task.
Integreon turned to Kira’s AI tools to absorb, review and extract the exact information they needed from the existing database.
“With Kira, the first-level review is already done with an accuracy level ranging from 70% to 85%,” says Subhasish Mohapatra, manager, Integreon. “We could then focus our time on completing comprehensive quality controls, resulting in a higher quality work product with exceptional time savings.”
The results were not only accurate, but they were also prepped and ready to upload into the new CLM platform. For much of the work, Integreon was able to use Kira’s database of built-in clauses and data points to automatically pull the information they needed. The toolset also acted as a project management solution for the project, keeping the team of 10 lawyers tasked with the work on track and focused.
This AI-human team was able to deliver results within the client’s short timeframe.
Results
- Reduced contract review time by 40%
- Improved accuracy of first review by 70%-85%
- Reviewed 3,000 contracts in six weeks
See more: 10 Top AI Certifications for Attorneys
3. Allensworth
The Allensworth law firm in Austin specializes in the complex and highly litigious world of construction. The legal battles here often require a complex discovery phase where lawyers are combing through emails, contracts, text messages and video calls searching for evidence. By the time a case gets to the trial phase, there could be millions of unique data points and multiple duplicates of all of them.
Because their clients demand speed and accuracy and are already bearing the high cost of a lawsuit, the firm turned to Everlaw for help searching and removing the duplicates from all that data, according to a case study.
Everlaw’s AI tools removed duplicates, summarized data points and answered open-ended questions with specific citations. Not only did these AI tools help Allensworth complete work in minutes that once took lawyers hours, days or weeks but it made it possible for a lawyer — on the spot, possibly in a courtroom — to find exactly the piece of evidence they need in seconds.
The lawyers turned to it often.
“It doesn't take a whole lot of effort, even for lawyers who have never had a single experience with ediscovery software,” says Tyler O’Halloran, partner, Allensworth. “It doesn't take long for them to get the hang of it, and then rely on it.”
The Allensworth team saw the tools as a “cheat sheet” for practicing law. If someone said something in a deposition that was wrong or off, they could open a device, ask a question and have an accurate, detailed answer in seconds.
“You can answer a question on the fly about a two-terabyte project file that no one else in the room can, because they're all sitting there with binders and pre-prepared notes. It's incredibly valuable,” O’Halloran says.
Results
- Reduced legal overhead costs by summarizing key documents
- Eliminated expensive review of duplicate documents
- Answer open-ended questions with citations to save significant legal research time
4. PNC Bank
The legal department at PNC Bank hoped that AI could help it keep up with and streamline the slow, manual and tedious process of evaluating vendor billing guideline compliance. Ensuring that billing rules are effectively enforced can save an organization millions of dollars. The team wanted to spend less time on this painful process, and they needed to improve compliance, according to a case study.
The bank turned to Wolters Kluwer and its LegalVIEW BillAnalyser. This tool uses a combination of artificial intelligence and human legal expertise to take what was previously a manual, attorney-led process into something easier, less expensive and more efficient.
Webinar
Sep
25
CMS Briefing: A Live Look at What’s Next in AI-Driven Platforms
Learn how leading organizations are using AI‑driven tools to publish faster, personalize smarter and stay secure.
Register
Webinar
On demand
Ready or Not: How Data-First Organizations Are Unlocking Agentforce Potential
Learn how to cut through the noise, activate Agentforce and build a Salesforce AI strategy that actually delivers.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
AI in Customer Service: Faster Resolutions, Happier Customers
Don’t let rising demand burn out your team. See how to build a smarter, more resilient support org.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
From Hype to High-Impact CX Strategies That Actually Scale
Turn buzzworthy AI and outsourcing trends into measurable CX wins with fresh 2025 data.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Insights to Action Rethinking the Contact Center for Real Business Impact
Join our exclusive webinar to hear CX executives share their innovative strategies for transforming service delivery.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Accelerating Healthcare Ops with AI
Sign up to see how your peers are putting AI to work — and making it stick.
Watch Now
The results were better than any of the PNC legal team expected. And those results were also nearly immediate. Not only did the lawyers spend less time on the chore, but within a month of implementation, compliance went up significantly. And that compliance rapidly improved over time.
Getting clarity on the billing process came with some unforeseen benefits too.
“Beyond cost savings, the streamlined processes contribute to strategic initiatives, positioning the legal department as a key driver of organizational success,” the case says.
It gave the legal team insights it didn’t previously have on its data. It also improved the team’s collaboration with external vendors.
Results
- Reduced costs by as much as 10%
- Improved billing guideline compliance by up to 20%
- Exceeded cost-saving goals in the first year
5. The Right Law Group
When you are a small legal firm, like The Right Law Group, you have to wear many hats. But only one of those hats — the one you wear while doing the actual legal work — can bill for the time spent. That’s why Alexis Austin, the firm’s CEO and managing partner, turned to AI to do the necessary, time-consuming work of greeting, chatting with, scheduling and supporting potential new clients, according to a case study.
She installed Smith.ai’s Live Chat solution on the firm’s website. This AI-enabled chatbot allowed her to have live agents on duty 24 hours a day, helping handle inbound sales, lead capture and fielding support questions.
“We say we’re open 24 hours and, functionally, we are,” Austin says.
With the AI handling incoming leads and questions, she was able to improve her front-office services while freeing up her time to focus on high-level strategic and legal work.
Smith.ai offered a programmable database of questions and answers to automate the process of answering common questions, scheduling appointments and taking payments. It could also do English-Spanish translation in real-time.
“A solo lawyer thrives by embracing technology,” Austin says.
Results
- Automated 90% of the client acquisition process
- Responded to client inquiries immediately
- Allowed the firm to be open 24 hours a day
See more: AI Copyright Infringement Quandary: Generative AI on Trial
