{"id":164298,"date":"2026-10-05T01:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T09:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/05\/before-your-law-firm-buys-another-ai-tool-ask-why\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T01:04:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T09:04:00","slug":"before-your-law-firm-buys-another-ai-tool-ask-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/10\/05\/before-your-law-firm-buys-another-ai-tool-ask-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Before Your Law Firm Buys Another AI Tool, Ask Why"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before asking which AI tool your firm should adopt next, ask a more fundamental question: What problem are we trying to solve? Michael Maschke, Sharon Nelson and John Simek on figuring out AI’s real competitive advantage.
\nThe post Before Your Law Firm Buys Another AI Tool, Ask Why appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers.<\/p>\n

Buying technology is relatively easy. Understanding what you want that technology to accomplish and changing your processes accordingly is much harder. For law firms, that distinction may determine whether legal AI software adoption is genuinely transformative or simply another monthly software subscription.<\/p>\n

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Which AI Tool Should Your Firm Actually Use?<\/h2>\n

Artificial intelligence has moved remarkably quickly from novelty to expectation within the legal profession. Law firms experiment with AI tools for legal research, document review, drafting, summarization, transcription, practice management, and an expanding list of administrative tasks.<\/p>\n

As a result, one question we hear increasingly often is: Which AI tool should our firm use? It sounds like the right question, but it often isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Start With the Problem, Not the AI Software<\/h2>\n

Law firms have a long history of solving tech problems by buying more tech. Sometimes that works. Often, firms buy sophisticated software only to discover a year later that relatively few people use it. AI makes that temptation even stronger because seemingly every legal technology product now includes some form of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Before evaluating another AI platform, your firm should first identify the problem you aim to solve. Are attorneys spending too much time summarizing lengthy documents? Is intake inefficient? Does administrative work take up too much attorney time? Is the firm trying to improve legal research, document production or knowledge management?<\/p>\n

Once you clearly define the problem, evaluating technology becomes much easier. Starting with the product and then searching for ways to use it reverses that process.<\/p>\n

Decide Where Humans Still Matter<\/h2>\n

Another question firms should consider as AI becomes more capable is: What work should remain human? AI can summarize depositions, produce first drafts, analyze large volumes of information, and help identify patterns in documents. These capabilities can save attorneys enormous amounts of time, but efficiency shouldn\u2019t replace judgment.<\/p>\n

Attorneys still need to verify AI-generated work, understand the underlying facts and law, protect client confidentiality, and decide whether the output makes sense in the context of the representation. You want to establish clear boundaries that define where AI assistance ends and human review begins.<\/p>\n

Those boundaries should also be reflected in the firm\u2019s AI policy<\/a> and in employee training. Attorneys and staff need to know which tools are approved, what information they may enter, and when AI-generated material requires review.<\/p>\n

Ask What Happens to the Time You Save<\/h2>\n

Perhaps the most interesting question raised by greater AI efficiency isn\u2019t technological. If AI allows an attorney to complete a task in two hours instead of eight, what happens to the other six hours?<\/p>\n

For firms operating under the billable-hour model, that question has obvious economic implications. But it also presents an opportunity. Time saved on routine work can be redirected toward activities clients value more: strategic advice, risk analysis, communication, understanding the client\u2019s business, and anticipating problems before they become legal matters.<\/p>\n

That may ultimately be where AI creates the greatest competitive advantage for law firms. It can free attorneys from routine work, letting them spend more time providing the judgment and counsel that technology cannot easily replace.<\/p>\n

AI Readiness Is a Management Issue <\/h2>\n