For law firms and solo lawyers
AI for Law Firms: Intake, Matters and Discovery Summaries
AI for law firms does the most good on the paperwork around the legal work. It can write intake summaries, prepare conflict-check lists, draft client status updates, and digest a deposition or a document production into something you can scan. Legal judgment, advice and every citation stay with a lawyer who has checked them against the source.
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Checked against the ABA's guidance on November 4, 2026.
What it does
What can AI do for a small law firm or solo practice?
It turns the raw material of a matter into first drafts you can review. The jobs that eat a small firm's week:
Intake
- You ask
- “Summarise this intake call and the form they filled out”
- You get back
- Parties, dates, the client's goal, missing facts, likely practice area
Conflict-check prep
- You ask
- “List every person and company named in this new matter”
- You get back
- A clean name list, with spelling variants, to run against your client and matter records
Matter updates
- You ask
- “Send each active client a status note on their matter”
- You get back
- Short, plain-language updates per matter, held for your approval
Discovery and depositions
- You ask
- “Summarise this 300-page transcript by topic, with page cites”
- You get back
- A topic digest with page and line references for you to spot-check
Research first drafts
- You ask
- “Outline the issues in this lease dispute”
- You get back
- An issue list and a memo skeleton, marked as unverified until you check the authorities
For contract and document handling that any business needs, see document handling.
Day one
What does that look like in a real week?
Three requests in a row after a new client calls:
- Here's the intake call recording and their email. Summarise the facts and what's missing.
- Pull every name in it for a conflict check, and draft the engagement letter on our standard template.
- Then set a reminder to follow up in three days if they haven't signed.
You review one summary, run the name list through your own conflicts system, and approve one letter. The follow-up goes out only if it's still needed. The same pattern covers new-client intake from first call to signed letter. See client intake.
What should a lawyer not hand to AI?
The ABA's first formal opinion on generative AI, Formal Opinion 512 (July 29, 2024), says the existing duties apply. Those are competence, confidentiality, communicating with clients, and charging reasonable fees (ABA). In practice:
- Unchecked citations. Treat every case, statute or quote from AI as a lead. Read it in Westlaw, Lexis or the official reporter before it goes near a filing.
- Advice. AI can lay out the issues. Deciding what the client should do is your job.
- Confidential material in a shared tool. Use a workspace that is yours alone. Know where the files live, and get informed consent where your jurisdiction expects it.
- Billing. Bill for the time you actually spent. Don't bill hours the AI saved you.
How does Bento fit with Clio, MyCase and your research tools?
Bento works alongside your practice-management and research tools. It doesn't replace them. It reads what you give it: intake forms, emails, transcripts, PDFs of a production, an export of your matter list. It writes the summaries, lists, letters and updates above, with page cites in every summary so checking is quick.
It works in Gmail, Slack, Notion and thousands of other apps. Every message can wait for your approval before it goes anywhere.
Each Bento workspace is its own private cloud computer with its own storage, so a firm's files aren't pooled with anyone else's. It's one subscription for every kind of AI: drafting, long-document reading, research, even the graphics for a client seminar.
Plans start at $20 a month with the whole firm included at no extra cost per person, and there's a 7-day free trial. See every plan.
It is not a legal research database, a conflicts system or a court-filing tool. Keep those.
FAQ
Questions law firms ask first.
Is using AI a breach of attorney–client confidentiality?
Not automatically. ABA Formal Opinion 512 asks lawyers to understand how a tool handles client information before using it, and some uses call for informed consent. Use a private workspace and check your state bar's guidance.
How do I avoid fake citations?
Never file anything the AI cited without opening the source yourself. Ask for page or pin cites so checking is fast, and treat a missing cite as a red flag.
Does it replace Clio or Westlaw?
No. Clio-type systems hold your matters and billing, and research databases hold the authorities. Bento drafts and summarises from what they export.
Is it worth it for a solo lawyer?
Usually that's where the time savings show most, because there's no staff to hand intake summaries and status emails to. Start with one job, like matter updates, and add more once it's reliable.
It’s all in the box already.
One subscription for every kind of AI. Plans start at $20 a month.
7-day free trial · no card required