The challenge
A shared inbox works beautifully for three people and fails quietly at six. Nothing dramatic breaks. It simply becomes impossible to answer where a matter stands without the person who has been running it.
That is the ceiling most boutiques hit: not demand, not fees, but the fact that the practice cannot be read by anyone who was not in the thread.
The system
- 01
One record per matter, opened the same way every time
Client and matter are created together with type, practice area and the fee-earners assigned, so no matter starts life as a folder someone named.
Case Management → - 02
Documents with a history, not a filename
Filings, drafts and exhibits sit in one vault with versions and access scoped to the right people.
Document Vault → - 03
Work is assigned, not remembered
Tasks and fee-earner assignment hang off the matter, so what is outstanding is visible without asking.
Billing & Tasks → - 04
Ask the file, not the colleague
LegalGPT answers from the matter's own documents and notes — a summary of where things stand, drafted for a fee-earner to review and send.
LegalGPT →
What changes
- A matter can be picked up by whoever is available
- Holiday stops being a risk to a client's deadline
- A new hire is productive on day two, not month two
- The practice's value is in the record, not in one person
