AI for your industry
AI for law firms and solicitors: bill more of the day you already work
A lawyer works a full eight hour day and bills about three hours of it. The other five go on intake, chasing, drafting from blank, updates and time that never got recorded. That is where AI earns its place in a practice.
Part of AI for your industry. Clever Merchants does not give legal advice.
How much of a lawyer's day is actually billed?
About 38 percent, according to Clio's 2025 Legal Trends Report, which means roughly three billable hours in an eight hour day and five hours unbilled.
The figure comes from Clio's 2025 Legal Trends Report, which measures utilisation as the share of an eight hour day put towards billable work and puts the average at 38 percent, with the report noting that five hours of the day go unbilled. The rest of the funnel narrows again at realisation and collection, but utilisation is the stage a firm can change fastest.
The unbilled five hours are not idle. They are the intake call, the chase for a missing document, the letter started from a blank page, the update that says the same thing as last week's, and the six-minute units nobody wrote down. Each of those is a repeatable, recognisable task, which is exactly what AI workflows are good at.
Which AI workflows save the most time for a law firm?
Intake and enquiry triage, client document collection, first-pass drafting with human review, time capture prompts and client updates save the most non-billable time.
The table lists the workflows we look at first, the unbilled hours each targets, and what it usually connects to. Every workflow sits on top of the practice management and document systems you already run, and every output that reaches a client or a file is reviewed by a person first.
| Workflow | Unbilled hours it targets | What it connects to |
|---|---|---|
| Intake and enquiry triage | Phone and web enquiries taken by hand, conflict-check details gathered one call at a time | Phone, website forms, email, practice management (Clio, LEAP, Actionstep) |
| Client document collection | Chasing ID, proof of funds, signed forms and supporting documents | Secure client portal, email, document management |
| First-pass drafting | Standard letters, engagement letters and routine correspondence started from blank | Your own precedents, document management, email |
| Time capture | Six-minute units forgotten by the end of the day | Email, calendar, practice management time recording |
| Client updates | The same progress update written to many clients in slightly different words | Practice management, email, SMS |
| Fee note chasing | Outstanding fee notes followed up by hand | Practice management billing, accounting software, email |
Tool names are examples of systems these workflows commonly connect to, not endorsements. We work with whatever the firm already runs.
Is client confidentiality protected if we use AI?
Only if the tool tier and workflow design allow it. Consumer chatbots are unsuitable; business tiers with no training on your data are the minimum.
The tier matters. On consumer AI accounts, inputs may be used to improve the model. On the business tiers we configure, the provider commits contractually not to train on your data, retention is under your control, and access is limited to named users. For a law firm this is not optional, and it is the first thing we set up.
The workflow design matters as much. An intake triage step needs the matter type and the parties' names for a conflict check, not the client's full story. A document collector needs to know a document arrived, not read it. A time capture prompt needs your calendar and sent items, not the file. We keep each workflow's access as narrow as the job allows and document it.
We do not give legal advice and this is not advice on your professional obligations. Where your regulator or professional body publishes guidance on the use of AI, we build to that guidance and give you the documentation to show it.
Can AI draft documents for a solicitor?
It can produce a first pass of routine correspondence from your own precedents, which a solicitor then reviews and edits. Nothing leaves the firm unreviewed.
The useful version of AI drafting is narrow. Engagement letters, standard client care letters, routine progress letters and first drafts of correspondence that follow a pattern your firm already has. The workflow starts from your precedents and the facts on the file, and produces a draft in your house style for a person to check. It is a faster blank page, not a substitute for judgement.
We do not set up AI to draft pleadings, advices or anything that would be filed or relied on without a qualified person reviewing every line. The point is to give back the hour spent starting, not to remove the hour spent thinking.
How does AI improve time capture?
It reads your calendar, sent emails and documents worked on, drafts the time entries, and asks you to confirm them before they post.
The gap between hours worked and hours billed is partly work that was never billable and partly billable work that was never recorded. The second part is the easier fix. At the end of the day, the workflow presents a list of what it saw you do, which matter it belongs to, and a suggested entry. You approve, edit or delete. The units that used to vanish because nobody wrote them down at 4.50 on a Friday get captured.
Client updates work on the same principle. The workflow drafts the progress update from the file's recent activity in your firm's tone, and the fee earner sends it or changes it. The client gets a better update, sooner, and the fee earner gets the time back.
What does it cost?
There is no single figure, because the price follows the workflows and systems involved. The review that scopes it is free and takes three minutes.
Why there is no single figure. Intake triage on one phone line is a different job from intake, document collection, drafting and time capture across a practice management system and six fee earners. We quote each engagement on what it connects and what it has to do, with the estimated hours recovered beside the price.
What you get free first. The AI Readiness Review report for professional services names the two or three workflows with the most hours behind them for your firm, and Ger talks it through with you personally within 24 hours. No card, no obligation.
Who it is for. Firms of roughly 5 to 50 staff where fee earners are losing measurable hours to admin. A sole practitioner usually gets what they need from the review report and the AI consulting for small business page.
How the review handles a law firm
The AI Readiness Review has a professional services track that covers legal, accounting, financial and HR firms. The six questions ask how enquiries come in, how documents are collected, where drafting starts, how time is recorded and who does the admin. The report names the two or three workflows above with the most hours behind them for that practice.
I read every report before I ring. There is no law firm client story on this page because I will not invent one. The number at the top of the page is Clio's, and the workflows are the ones we would work through together on the call.
Common questions
Does AI replace the solicitor?
No. It removes the admin around the legal work: intake, chasing, first drafts, time recording and updates. Every draft is reviewed by a qualified person before it leaves the firm, and the advice remains yours.
Which AI tools are safe for a law firm to use?
Business-tier accounts that do not train on your data, with contractual confidentiality and retention terms, are the minimum we set up. We document what each workflow can see so you can satisfy yourself and your professional body.
Will our clients know they are dealing with AI?
Where a client interacts with an automated step, such as an intake form or a document request, it is presented as your firm process, and a person is always available. We recommend telling clients plainly where automation is used.
Does this work for a small practice with two or three solicitors?
Yes, and often best there, because the fee earners are also doing the admin. The first workflow is chosen for the unbilled hours it gives back to them.
How do we find out which workflow to start with?
Take the free AI Readiness Review: six questions, about three minutes, and an instant report for professional services firms naming the two or three highest-impact workflows. Ger follows up personally within 24 hours.
See which workflow gives your fee earners the most hours back
Six questions, about three minutes, and an instant report for professional services firms. Free, no card, no obligation.
Take the free AI Readiness ReviewBack to AI for your industry.