By now, businesses from practically every industry have likely contemplated the potential benefits (and drawbacks) of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that have become increasingly available to the public. The legal profession has considered many of the possible implications of integrating generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, into this landscape. According to a recent Forbes article, “65% of law firms agree that effective use of generative AI will separate the successful and unsuccessful law firms in the next five years.” While automated tools have been around for several years (and even decades, in many cases), the sophistication of these new generative AI technologies offer “entirely new opportunities to automate legal tasks in ways that were previously impossible.” However, as exciting as these new tools may be for attorneys in solo practice or smaller law firms looking to streamline the repetitive aspects of their practices, it’s essential to understand some of the limitations and potential risks associated with handing over the bulk of your law firm’s operations to AI technologies.
As your small- to mid-sized law firm considers adopting some generative AI tools and integrating them into your existing digital marketing strategy, the client intake process, or other aspects of your legal services, it’s worth taking a look at some of the best and most effective AI tools that are available. At LegalRev, our dedicated team of content marketing strategists specialize in helping law firms identify their specific goals so that we can achieve them together. Let’s take a look at some of the areas where AI tools can assist law firms in automating repetitive tasks so that the attorneys can focus more on the clients they want to serve.
Identifying Common Challenges For Small Law Firms
As a smaller law firm, you probably do not have an in-house marketing team or the personnel available to handle important tasks like building brand awareness, overseeing the client intake process, reviewing contracts, or following up with clients and asking them to write reviews to boost your online visibility and authority within your community. Instead, you may find yourself spread thin trying to build your brand, update your website, welcome new clients, send invoices to your clients, or handle other tasks that take your attention away from the clients you are wanting to serve. Below are just a few of the unique challenges that attorneys in solo practice and small law firms often face, many of which can be addressed through the intentional integration of AI-powered tools.
Handling Too Many Tasks at Once
As we’ve mentioned before, lawyers who run small practices must wear multiple hats at the same time. On any given day, you may be the office manager, IT specialist, and human resources officer—not to mention an attorney working with clients. All of these “extra” duties means more time away from your clients, and it’s common to feel frustrated by the repetitive nature of many of these unrelated (but critical) tasks demanding your attention. AI tools are great at handling many of these repetitive tasks, such as encouraging new clients to schedule new appointments via an automated intake form or sending a personalized email to a client that communicates how much you value their feedback and asks them to write you a review to help improve the client experience.
Being Short on Time to Communicate With Clients
Another challenge for small law firms is feeling as if you do not have enough time to connect meaningfully with clients, as your attention may be drawn to more mundane tasks. With AI tools, you can set up automated (yet fully customizable) email or text templates that engage your clients and ask for their input and feedback. Many attorneys have found that AI tools like ChatGPT have helped them in situations where an unsatisfied client is demanding a response, as they can draft a response and ask ChatGPT to soften the tone and tailor the language to meet the specific needs and expectations of the client. Sometimes, having an AI-powered assistant is the best way to add that final touch to client communications.
Feeling Bogged Down By Time-Consuming Legal Tasks
The legal field inherently involves dense and lengthy documents. If you’ve ever felt drained at the prospect of reviewing gigantic contracts, you are far from alone. With the arrival of AI-powered tools, previously time-consuming tasks, such as reviewing contracts for specific phrases or drafting a legal document, now take mere minutes to complete. While it’s essential to always review the content that these tools present to you to ensure that they are accurate and contain real citations, these tools are a wonderful way to save time and spend it communicating directly with your clients.
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AI Tools to Consider Integrating Into Your Small Law Firm
Now that we’ve identified some of the areas where AI tools can assist you most effectively, let’s take a look at how you can adopt these tools into your existing practice. When it comes to improving the client intake process, you can explore tools that offer AI-powered lead generation, appointment scheduling, information gathering, and client communication. Document review technologies that are tailored to the legal profession are quickly emerging and improving, so it’s worth discussing your options with a knowledgeable legal marketing professional for more specific guidance.
You can also use generative AI tools to help you review and analyse your law firm performance metrics, identifying key trends and areas for improvement. Live chat for law firms is also a great way to improve the client experience when someone clicks through to your website, as the law firm live chat feature engages with site visitors and encourages them to share their concerns and quickly locate the information they are looking for. As you can see, there is a wide variety of opportunities for reviewing your content marketing for law firms approach and implementing tools that are designed to help you achieve your goals.
Now’s the time to revisit your law firm’s digital marketing strategy to identify ways to give it the boost it needs. Give LegalRev a call today at (800) 893-2590 to discuss your marketing goals with a knowledgeable and friendly digital marketing for law firms strategist.
