For law firms

AI consulting for law firms.

Fulkerson Advisors helps law firms put AI into the work that runs on attorney hours, within the rules their clients set. We have read what 1,054 clients require, we have read what the 97 largest firms show a visitor, and we have put an intake agent into production at a US firm.

Written for the managing partner, the chief operating officer, or the general counsel who owns the decision. It says what we know from our own research, what we have built, and the three ways we work.

What do your clients now require?

2% of the 1,054 outside-counsel guidelines written since ChatGPT that we found on the open web mention AI, which comes to 20 documents. Of those 20, 12 require the firm to disclose when it used AI, 9 keep the client's information out of public tools, 8 want a lawyer to check the output, 9 change what they pay for the tool or the time, and one bans it outright.

A firm working under any of the other 1,034 has no instruction from the client and sets its own rules on the client's matters. The study names every organization and quotes each clause in the document's own words, and the 20 are where a client that adds an AI section will start.

What do the largest firms show a visitor?

We read the websites of 97 of the world's largest law firms in September 2026 looking for a chat window, an AI assistant, or a text line. None had one. 46 have a form and 30 show a phone number. A prospective client who arrives at night fills in a form and waits.

The study shows what each of the 97 offers instead, firm by firm. Among the 97, a firm that ran intake with an agent on its website would be the first.

What have we built for a law firm?

An AI agent that runs the first client interview and drafts the pre-litigation documents at a major US law firm. It is integrated with the firm's case management platform and built to follow the firm's own interview protocols. The drafts clear the firm's document-quality and compliance review, and attorney hours go to the matters that need them.

The case file has the challenge, what we built, and the outcome.

Where does AI earn its place in a firm?

In the work that is structured, repeated, and run on associate or paralegal hours today, with a lawyer's review before anything leaves the firm.

Intake
The first conversation with a prospective client, the facts of the matter, and the information the conflict check and the engagement letter need.
Drafting from a protocol
First drafts of the documents a practice produces the same way every time, with the lawyer's review written into the process.
Reading what the client sent
Discovery sets, contracts, and correspondence, sorted and summarized so the lawyer starts at the relevant page.
Rules that match the guidelines
A firm-wide rule set that matches what its clients require, tool by tool, so a partner can answer a client's AI question in a sentence.
Billing
Time entries and invoices that can show where AI was used, because 12 of the 20 client guidelines that mention AI require disclosure and 9 change what they pay.

How do we work with a firm?

The Diagnosis is three weeks and ends in a written verdict on which practices and which tasks are worth building for, against the rules your clients have set. The Build is twelve weeks and puts one system, an intake agent or a drafting tool, into production with a named owner at the firm and a lawyer's review built in. The Standing Partner is a fractional Chief AI Officer, two to four days a month, who runs the firm's AI portfolio, answers to the executive committee, and can speak to a client about the firm's AI rules.

Each is led by a founding partner and priced as a fixed fee agreed before we start. What AI consulting costs across the market, from published rate cards, is on its own page.

What rules do we work under?

Client information stays out of public tools. We build on the firm's own tenancy or on a contracted model that does not train on the data.
A lawyer reviews anything that leaves the firm, and the system records who reviewed what.
The firm's AI policy is written so that a partner can hand it to a client who asks.
We measure the work that clears review and the time to a first draft, alongside the hours.

Questions

Do clients allow law firms to use AI?

Most say nothing. Of the 1,054 outside-counsel guidelines written since ChatGPT that we found on the open web, 20 mention AI. Of those, one bans it outright and the rest set conditions, most often disclosure, keeping client information out of public tools, and a lawyer's review.

Do law firms have to disclose AI use to clients?

Only where the client's guidelines say so. 12 of the 20 guidelines that mention AI require the firm to disclose when it used it, and 3 require the client's consent before it is used. The study quotes each clause.

Can you work inside our clients' guidelines?

That is the starting point. The Diagnosis reads the guidelines your clients have sent you and sets the rules the systems will follow before anything is built.

What does AI consulting for a law firm cost?

A fixed fee per engagement, agreed in writing before we start and quoted after a thirty-minute call. Published market rates by the hour, the day, the project, and the month are on our cost page.

Which firms do you work with?

Firms where the managing partner, the chief operating officer, or the general counsel can make the decision, from a single office to several hundred lawyers.

Thirty minutes, one matter.

You describe the practice or the task. We tell you whether it is worth building for, under the rules your clients have set, and which of the three engagements fits.

Book a thirty-minute call Read the guidelines study