What a Firm Can Use AI for Before It Goes Near a Client Matter

Start away from client matters. In this sector that is not caution for its own sake, it is the sequence that lets you learn the tools before the stakes are privileged. Three to begin with. ## 1. Proposals and credentials Every firm rebuilds the same methodology section, the same team biographies, the same sector experience list, over and over, usually at short notice and usually by somebody senior. Put the source material in one place and generate the first draft. The partner edits rather than assembles. Measure the hours the firm spent on proposals last quarter, then measure again. This has no client confidentiality exposure at all, which is why it is the right place to start. ## 2. First pass review on your own documents Before going near a client matter, run the technique on your own material. Your standard engagement letters. Your supplier contracts. Your internal policies. Ask the tool to flag where a document deviates from your standard position. Then check its work thoroughly. You are testing the technique and learning where it fails, using material where being wrong costs you nothing. Firms that skip this step and go straight to client work discover the failure modes in the worst possible setting. ## 3. Capture what leaves when people leave Most firms lose knowledge every time somebody resigns. The precedent they kept in a personal folder, the way they handled an unusual issue, the client preference nobody wrote down. Start recording internal knowledge sessions and structuring them properly. It is unglamorous and it is the thing partners regret not doing. ## The rule to write down first Which tools are approved, and what client material may go into them. One page. Every fee earner reads it and confirms they have. The exposure here is sharper than in most sectors. Privilege, confidentiality obligations and professional conduct rules all sit on the material in your building. BROAI, capable people using their own tools because nobody gave them an approved option, is a professional risk here rather than an IT annoyance. Add one more line while you are writing it. Every output is verified by a person before it goes anywhere. No exceptions, and particularly not for citations and authorities. This is the Scan and Score phase of SWITCH, the framework I use with clients. Pick one of the three. Give it an owner and a number. Thirty days, then decide. And put the pricing question on the next partner agenda, because that one does not resolve itself. If you want this worked through with your own practice, obligations and billing model rather than as a generic session, the [speaking and training page](/speaking) sets out the formats, or reach me at me@martins.com.ng or through the [work with me page](/work-with-me).