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Services

AI that fits how your firm practices.

You start with one small engagement, not a sprawling transformation program, so you see the value before committing to more. It's on your terms, while we guide you through every step, and into the next.

Where firms quietly stall

The tool was the easy part.

Your people are using AI, and many of them love it. Individually, it helps them get a lot more done. The harder question is whether the firm is any better for it, in its work product, its margins, what clients actually experience. For most firms it isn't, because the value stays individual and ad hoc rather than built into how the firm practices.

95%
of corporate AI pilots, across industries, show no measurable return on investment.
54%
of law firms provide no AI training at all, so most use stays informal and unstructured.
190 hrs
per lawyer, per year, the time AI is expected to save, captured only by the firms that get it right.
3.9×
more likely to see a return on their AI investment, at law firms with a deliberate strategy.
See the data behind these numbers →

This is what getting AI right looks like.

AI isn't something you drop in overnight. Getting it right means a few deliberate steps, in the right order, and here's how it's done, by the book.

1

The Roadmap

What we do▾

A focused diagnostic, about two weeks from kickoff to a delivered roadmap: where your firm sits on the integration curve, your existing AI footprint, the partner-economics constraints, and a realistic path forward. Money-back at the entry point if it isn't actionable.

What you walk away with▾

A defensible AI strategy, where you stand against peer firms, your shadow-AI exposure quantified, and a prioritized path the partners already agree on.

1.5

Practice Codification

What we do▾

We document how your firm actually practices, starting with the Practice Playbook and a Shadow AI Audit of what's already running ungoverned. It's the foundation the build is shaped to, and the start of a firm-IP library that grows across the engagement.

What you walk away with▾

Your practice as firm IP, out of the partners' heads, training laterals faster, and backing fee negotiations with proof of method. Useful even if you never implement AI.

2

Implementation oversight

What we do▾

We help you select the right integrator, structure the statement of work to your codification, manage milestones, and run quality checks, standing between the integrator and your team, holding them to account in a way a law firm isn't equipped for.

What you walk away with▾

A practice that runs differently, faster, at lower cost, with consistent quality and partner adoption you can measure on real matters, in a system the firm owns.

3

AI counsel of record

What we do▾

An ongoing advisory retainer for after the build, governance reviews, keeping your systems current as models advance, regulatory monitoring, and bringing you the next move.

What you walk away with▾

Counsel that keeps you ahead as the landscape shifts, without having to track it yourself, capability checkpoints, adoption that doesn't atrophy, and quarterly peer benchmarks.

The day after

A partner opens a new matter and the first draft is already there, built the way your firm builds, in your firm's voice, the citations already checked.

What this looks like across the firm →
A senior lawyer at her desk reviewing a complete first draft already prepared

Discovery

A conversation, not a pitch

The Roadmap

About two weeks from kickoff to a delivered roadmap

Practice Codification

A few weeks, scaled to your firm

Implementation oversight

About five to six months, kickoff to stabilization

AI counsel of record

An annual retainer, with periodic reviews

How we engage

What to expect.

Every engagement opens with a discovery call, a short, no-pitch conversation about your firm. If we're a fit, we begin with a focused assessment, then move one stage at a time.

The early stages run mostly remotely, so we work with firms across the US without friction. We're on-site for the moments that need it, the build's key milestones and the periodic reviews.

Questions we get asked.

Does this turn our firm into a technology company?

No, and we'd push back on that framing. Treat AI the way you treat the internet: a utility that runs quietly in the background so you can deliver your core work more efficiently. You stay a law firm practicing law, while the technology makes the practice sharper. We're not asking you to build a tech function or become something you're not. We're giving your lawyers the leverage to be exceptional at what they already do.

If one model is the best for what we need today, why stay model-agnostic?

Two reasons. We don't know where AI is going, which model will be best tomorrow, or how the providers will change their limits, pricing, and terms. And we don't know where your firm is going, what you'll need a year from now. Either way, the real work is in your firm, not the model: we codify how it practices, and whatever tool you use sits on top of that foundation. So you can change models without redoing the work, and we keep you current on where things are heading.

Do you build the AI yourselves?

No. We're advisers, not a software vendor or an integrator. We don't resell tools or take commissions. We document how your firm practices, help you choose the right integrator, and oversee the build as your advocate, so the result reflects your practice and your economics.

Who will we actually be working with?

Codified Counsel is founder-led by design. The senior partner you first speak with is the one who scopes the work and runs it, start to finish, never handed down to a junior team. Capacity is deliberately limited to keep it that way.

We've already bought an AI tool, is it too late?

Not at all, many of our engagements begin with a firm that already has AI running, often ungoverned, and our job is to make it work the way it should. The Roadmap takes stock of what you already have, and the Shadow AI Audit surfaces what's quietly in use before it turns into a risk. Codifying your practice still comes first, and the tools you already have get reconfigured to fit how your firm works.

Do we have to commit to the full engagement up front?

No. The full path reflects the best practices for getting AI integrated and working in a law firm, but you decide how far to take it. Plenty of firms start with the Roadmap, act on it, and begin putting AI to work from there, going further only as the value warrants. Every step is your call, no auto-renewals, no escalation clauses, no lock-in.

After the engagement, are we dependent on you to keep going?

No, independence is the goal. We codify how your firm practices, train your team for as long as it takes, and use proven methods to make sure they've genuinely adopted what's built before we step away. From there, they can build and adjust automations themselves, without paying for outside development every time something changes. The foundation is yours to keep. We're here when you want us for the larger moves, but you're never locked in.

Will a new AI workflow work from day one?

No, and you should be wary of anyone who promises it will. A new workflow is like a talented new hire: it needs onboarding, documented procedures, and hands-on training before it performs at its best. Judging a freshly built system against a human process your firm has refined over years is the wrong comparison. The firms that see real results invest the same rigor in their AI that they'd give a new employee, which is the work we structure with you. We make the full case here →

Not sure which tier is right?

Tell us where your firm is. A discovery call clarifies the path.

Schedule a discovery call →