Startup Idea: AI-Powered Legal Intake Automation Software

Startup idea to develop an AI-powered software that streamlines the intake process of a law firm, with features such as pre-screening client's case, automatic routing of cases to the right attorney, and capability of forwarding case information to other specialized law firms if required. The software would also provide user-friendly statistical reports related to client demographics and case types.

I am an associate attorney in a small to mid sized civil litigation firm. We have approximately 40 attorneys in our office and we represent clients in California, Nevada, Oregon, and New Mexico.

Overhead costs are always a persistent concern for us, though we try to use any available excess funds to hire new paralegals to help with our mounting casework.

At the earliest stages of interaction with our clients, our paralegals typically talk to our potential new clients about their legal issues and interview them to get facts about their case.

Once our paralegals have determined that they have received enough information to present the client's matter to the attention of one of our associate attorneys, the paralegal will then forward a memo with the client's information and facts of their case to the appropriate internal department.

The step between a paralegal's communication of the client's information to an attorney, and the attorney's receipt of such information are plagued with problems.

Although our firm utilizes case management software to keep track of all of our cases and clients, the case management software does not address the inefficiencies arising from communicating the wrong case types to the wrong attorneys.

For example, a paralegal might forward the information for a client with a criminal defense issue to one of our associate attorney's who only practices plaintiff construction litigation.

If a client's matter is time sensitive, the paralegal's mistake can be costly as the client's information is bounced around from one attorney to the next until it finally lands on the desk of the appropriate individual.

However, by that point, an important deadline may have already passed.

The ideal solution would be one in which a client completes a standardized intake form with a few questions about his or her case, fills out a few form fields, and then hits "submit" without needing to worry about an incompetent paralegal submitting his information to the wrong department.

Moreover, the ideal solution might even cut out the need for a paralegal by utilizing software which can pre-screen a client's case summary and look for key words to determine whether or not legal assistance can or cannot be provided.

In the event that legal assistance could not be provided, the client's information would be automatically forwarded to other law firms who practice and specialize in the client's area of law.

This would save the client the headaches from having to complete yet another questionnaire at another law firm inquiring into the nature of his or her case.

The proposed software would come complete with features that would allow even the most technically inexperienced attorneys to print out statistical information about the cases they take on and the type of clients that they help, such as demographic information, the areas of law assisted with, etc.