Use case · Law firms
Document search in law firms
In a law firm the file is the product. Pleadings, judgments and correspondence spanning twenty years sit in an archive only the person who built it knows - and the question is rarely where something is, but what was decided in comparable cases.
Usually the process accepted fastest
What is different here
What it actually turns on in law firms.
You search by the facts, not by the file reference
“Have we had a case with this constellation before?” is the real question. A full-text search does not answer it, because the same constellation is named differently in every pleading.
Matter boundaries are absolute
Whoever does not work on a matter must not see the file. A search that answers across matters would be a professional-conduct problem - permissions have to be adopted exactly, not approximately.
Deadlines hang on documents
An incoming item can trigger a deadline. Anything that disappears into the filing before someone has seen it is therefore not merely unfindable but a liability risk.
Systems we connect here
- RA-MICRO
- DATEV Anwalt
- AnNoText
- beA
- Document management
If yours is not listed, that is not an exclusion. Where no interface exists, we build one - that is the most demanding part and it is our trade.
The rule that only applies here
In a law firm the permission boundary is part of professional conduct. A search that does not reproduce it exactly is not impractical, it is impermissible.
The process
Where a person is needed - and where they no longer are.
- ClaudeLab from here
Step 01Person
Question
Intake
Step 02ClaudeLab
Search
Gathering
Step 03ClaudeLab
Answer
Output
The difference
The same process, once as it is today and once with us.
Step 01 · today
Step 01 · with us
Step 02 · today
Step 02 · with us
Step 03 · today
Step 03 · with us
What we build
- Component 01
- Existing filing is opened up - without you having to tidy it first.
- Component 02
- Answers come with a source: which document, which passage, which revision.
- Component 03
- Permissions stay as they are - what someone may not open today, they will not see here either.
Degree of autonomy
Pure enquiry runs independently, because it changes nothing. Anything that creates or sends a document is a different process.
Where it does not fit
If the records contradict each other, the search makes that visible - it cannot resolve it. Sometimes that is the actual finding.
Frequently asked
Is this worth it in law firms?
In a law firm the permission boundary is part of professional conduct. A search that does not reproduce it exactly is not impractical, it is impermissible. Whether it pays for you depends on your volume - the audit establishes that.
We use a different system from the ones listed. Does it still work?
Yes. The ones listed are those we most often meet in law firms - a list, not a precondition. Where no interface exists, we build one.
What do we have to provide?
Read access to the archives that are to be searched - network drive, mail archive, DMS. A permissions rule: who may see which records. The system adopts it, it does not work around it. A dozen typical everyday questions as touchstones. Nothing more is needed to start.
How will we know it works?
On 50 prepared questions, at least 85 % come back with an answer and a correct source. Every answer names the document it came from - no source, no answer. Nobody sees records through the search that they could not open directly.
How long does implementation take?
3 to 5 weeks, depending on the state of the filing.
Does the AI decide on its own?
Pure enquiry runs independently, because it changes nothing. Anything that creates or sends a document is a different process.
When is this not worth it?
If the records contradict each other, the search makes that visible - it cannot resolve it. Sometimes that is the actual finding.
The same process, in general
This page shows the fit in law firms. The process itself is sector-independent - what matters is whether it repeats.
Document search in generalTell us where your time goes.
In the audit we record the process, work out what is worth automating, and you get a plan with fixed prices - credited against the build if you go ahead.