AI AGENTS FOR LAW FIRMS

Work your cases, not your back office.

Machine-like builds and runs custom AI agents for law firms, handling recurring work across intake, document follow-up, and matter administration. Each agent works within an agreed scope, with approval rules set by the firm.

The inquiry needs a response. The client still owes you documents. The matter record needs updating again. Hand us one recurring job, and we build the agent, connect the required tools, and keep the work moving. Your team gets the completed work, the items waiting for review, and a record of what happened.

One workload: $249/month. No setup or integration fees. Start with 14 days of live work, free.

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Describe the job first. We scope and test it before launch. Your trial starts when the agent goes live. No credit card required.

Admin mapLaw firm · one agreed workload per jobIllustrative

Intake
1. Organize the inquiry
2. Identify missing fields
3. Prepare the next response
4. Route for review
Conflict clearance and acceptance
Document follow-up
1. Compare against the checklist
2. Prepare requests
3. Update collection status
Whether a document is sufficient
Matter administration
1. Organize correspondence
2. Extract agreed fields
3. Prepare record updates
4. Flag uncertain matches
Ambiguous matches and record changes
Client updates
1. Gather approved matter information
2. Draft from templates
3. Cite the source
4. Queue for approval
What the client should be told
Operations reporting
1. Assemble agreed indicators
2. Surface stalled items
3. Assign the review queue
Priorities and staffing

18Steps run by agents

5Decisions kept with your firm

Your team should finish the matter, not spend the day moving it along.

AI agents for law firms are software systems that use information and connected tools to carry out a defined sequence of tasks. Machine-like applies that capability to recurring administrative work, with people reviewing the actions that require judgment.

Admin hides in the steps between.

A new inquiry arrives by email. Someone copies the details into your system, requests missing information, checks the calendar, and follows up. Each step is small. Keeping track of every step across every inquiry becomes a job of its own.

Let the agent run the sequence.

An agent can run that sequence on a trigger or schedule. The useful result is a prepared intake record, a document checklist brought up to date, or a client update ready to approve. Less work waiting for someone to remember the next step.

One inquiryManual steps across a working dayIllustrative

Start with the job your team keeps having to chase.

Machine-like scopes each law-firm agent around a recurring job, the systems involved, and a checkable result. The examples below are starting points for a custom build; the final scope depends on the firm’s access, policies, and review requirements.

Get new inquiries ready for a real conversation.

An intake agent organizes incoming inquiries, identifies missing intake fields, and prepares the next response using the firm’s approved questions. The intake workflow routes prospective clients to the right person for review.

You get

A structured intake summary, the original inquiry, missing information, and a proposed next step in one place.

Your firm decides

Conflict clearance, whether to accept the matter, and any legal advice. Outbound replies and consultation bookings start behind approval gates.

Intake deskNew inquiry to review-ready summaryIllustrative

Stop rebuilding the missing-document list.

A document follow-up agent compares received files against a firm-approved checklist. The agent prepares requests for outstanding items and updates the collection status as documents arrive.

You get

A current collection checklist, draft follow-ups, and an exception list for unreadable files, unclear matches, or unanswered requests.

Your firm decides

Whether a document satisfies the legal requirement. A file marked received is not a finding that the evidence is sufficient.

Document collectionFirm-approved checklistIllustrative

Turn incoming correspondence into organized matter records.

A matter-administration agent organizes correspondence, extracts agreed fields, and prepares summaries or record updates. The workflow uses the firm’s naming rules and flags uncertain matter matches for review.

You get

Proposed filing locations, draft matter notes, and a list of records that need a person to resolve them.

Your firm decides

Ambiguous matches, substantive interpretations, and permission to change records. Court deadlines require separate verification.

Matter recordsIncoming correspondenceIllustrative

Keep clients informed without starting every update from scratch.

A client-update agent prepares routine messages from approved matter information and communication templates. Missing or conflicting information becomes a review item instead of an invented update.

You get

A draft that shows the source of the status update, the intended recipient, and anything still needing confirmation.

Your firm decides

Legal advice, sensitive developments, and what the client should be told. Client-facing messages wait for approval unless the firm expressly authorizes a defined category.

Client updateDraft with sourcesIllustrative

See the administrative backlog before another week disappears.

An operations-reporting agent assembles agreed indicators from intake, task, and matter records. The report can surface unanswered inquiries, incomplete document requests, and administrative tasks without recent activity.

You get

A review queue with the relevant records and assigned owners, using the criteria your firm defines.

Your firm decides

Priorities, staffing, and action on the underlying matters. The report supports management; it does not replace the docket or attorney review.

Backlog reportWeekly sweepIllustrative

Know what came in, what got done, and what needs you.

Machine-like keeps a record of agent actions and separates completed work from work awaiting approval. A useful handoff includes the source information, the proposed change, and the reason for escalation.

Review the work, not the transcript.

The agent has done the preparation. Your reviewer can inspect the work without reconstructing the inquiry from a chat transcript.

See how approvals and action records work →

Handoff recordIntake · No. 0418Illustrative

Illustrative intake handoff, using a fictional inquiry:

Received: A consultation request with a name and email address, but no opposing-party details.
Prepared: An intake summary and a draft request for the missing information.
Flagged: Insufficient information to route the inquiry through the firm’s conflict-review process.
Held: The outgoing message and consultation booking.
Next: The designated reviewer checks the draft and authorizes the response.

Waiting for the designated reviewer

Your firm owns the legal decisions. We own keeping the agent running.

Machine-like’s Managed Agent Operations service includes the build, testing, monitoring, and technical maintenance of each agreed workload. The law firm supplies the process, authorizes access, and assigns the reviewers for sensitive work.

When the routine breaks, we repair it.

When a connection expires, a field changes, or a new kind of input breaks the routine, we investigate and repair the workflow. If a tool needs your authorization again, we bring that specific request to you. Your team should not have to become the agent’s technical support desk.

Service pathWhen something breaksIllustrative

See each week of work in one report.

Each week, you can see what ran, what finished, what waited for approval, what failed, and what changed. Updates to rules, fields, or templates within the same job and tools are included. A different job is scoped separately.

See what’s included in ongoing operations →

Weekly operations reportIntake workload · Week 45Illustrative

Ran64

Finished52

Waited11

Failed1

Changed2

Mon 09:02FinishedIntake summary preparedrun 1182
Tue 11:40WaitedReply held for reviewer approvalrun 1207
Wed 03:12FailedCalendar connection expiredrun 1219
Wed 09:30FixedReauthorized by the firm, run resumedrun 1219
Thu 14:05ChangedIntake question template updatedrule v7

ScopeRules, fields, templates in the same job: includedA different job: scoped separately

Keep the systems your team already works in.

Machine-like scopes integrations around the firm’s current email, calendar, document storage, and practice-management systems. Compatibility is confirmed for the specific actions and permissions the workload needs.

Tell us whether you use Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or another system. We check the available access before promising the workflow. A product name alone does not establish that every read, write, or document action is supported.

Access checkPer action, before the workflow is promisedIllustrative

Practice management

Email and calendar

Read new inquiry emails
Check calendar availability
Create the intake record
Attach the original inquiry
Send the reply

Checking access for each action

Buy the help that matches the work.

Machine-like is a fit for law firms seeking a provider to build and operate recurring administrative workflows. Legal research platforms, built-in practice-software features, and self-managed automation address different buying needs.

The decision is what the firm needs completed and who will be responsible for operating the workflow.

Choosing a law-firm AI approach by job and operating responsibility
Approach	Choose for	Confirm before buying
01Legal research and drafting platforms	Authority-backed research, analysis, and legal work product	Source coverage, verification requirements, workflow capabilities, and licensing
02Built-in practice-software features	A job already supported inside the existing practice system	Exact feature scope, configuration effort, and cross-system limits
03Self-managed automation	Custom workflows with an internal builder and operator	Responsibility for testing, monitoring, access, and repairs
04Machine-like managed agents	Recurring administrative jobs with build and operation included	Agreed deliverable, tool access, approval boundaries, and workload scope

Start with what already works.

Start with the existing tool if its built-in feature completes the job. Choose Machine-like when the firm wants a recurring workflow built around its process and someone accountable for keeping that workflow running.

Decision pathOne recurring jobIllustrative

Best fit

Law firms with recurring intake or administrative work and a clear definition of completion.
Law firms with accessible source records and permission to connect the required systems.
Law firms with a named reviewer for exceptions and sensitive actions.

Outside this service’s scope

Unsupervised legal advice, conflict clearance, or decisions to accept representation.
Autonomous court filings, trust-account transactions, or reliance on unverified legal deadlines.

Make the agent earn its place in your firm.

Machine-like provides a 14-day free trial that starts when the agent goes live. The trial gives the firm a way to evaluate actual output, review effort, and exceptions before paying for ongoing service.

Judge it by the work that leaves.

Pick one job your team can judge. Compare the manual work before the trial with the time spent reviewing and correcting the agent’s output. Check whether the records are usable, the follow-ups are appropriate, and the exceptions reach the right person.

The question is how much work has actually left your team’s plate after review, not how many drafts the agent generated.

Trial clockNot running during scoping and testingIllustrative

Define: Machine-like and the firm agree on the trigger, required inputs, completed output, and approval boundaries.
Test: Machine-like builds and tests the workflow, including incomplete inputs and situations that require a handoff.
Evaluate: The firm reviews live work during the trial and decides whether to continue.

Start with one job at $249 a month.

Machine-like charges $249 per workload per month for one or two workloads. The monthly service includes the custom build, hosting, monitoring, and fixes, with no setup or integration fees.

A workload is an agreed recurring job, such as preparing inbound inquiries for review. Its boundaries are set during scoping, so you know which inputs, systems, and outputs are included. Three to five workloads are $199 each per month; six or more receive a custom quote.

Start free trial See full pricing

Describe one job. We’ll confirm the scope before building. No credit card, no upfront payment, and you can cancel anytime.

Rate cardMonthly, per recurring workload

Workloads

Per workload$249/ month

Monthly total$249/ month

Included in every workloadCustom buildHostingMonitoringFixes

$0Setup fees

$0Integration fees

14 daysLive work, free

NoneCredit card

Questions to settle before handing off the work.

Choosing AI agents for a law firm requires clarity about scope, supervision, data access, and operating cost. These answers explain Machine-like’s managed-service model and the decisions to resolve before launch.

What are AI agents for law firms?

AI agents for law firms are software systems that carry out defined, multi-step tasks using information and connected tools. A workflow might organize an inquiry, prepare a response, and queue the next action for approval. Machine-like builds and operates agents for recurring administrative jobs.

How is an AI agent different from a chatbot or ordinary automation?

An AI agent can interpret inputs and choose permitted steps within a workflow; a basic chatbot answers prompts, while fixed automation follows predefined rules. The categories increasingly overlap. For a law firm, the useful test is whether the system completes the agreed job, handles exceptions, and records its actions.

What should a small law firm automate first?

A small law firm’s first agent should handle frequent work with clear inputs, a checkable output, and manageable review requirements. Intake preparation or document collection can be suitable starting points. Choose the bottleneck visible in your firm’s records, then measure the work saved after review and corrections.

Can AI agents do legal research, draft contracts, or review documents?

Legal AI platforms can support research, drafting, and document analysis under lawyer supervision. Machine-like’s offer on this page focuses on administrative workflows, including document organization and preparation. Substantive research and drafting require separate evaluation of legal sources, verification, and professional review.

Will an agent work with Clio, MyCase, or PracticePanther?

Machine-like confirms practice-software compatibility during scoping. Support depends on the firm’s software plan, available integrations, permissions, and the actions required. Share the specific job and systems; we verify the necessary access before committing to the workflow.

Will the agent send messages or make decisions without approval?

Machine-like agents start in draft mode, with client-facing and high-risk actions restricted by approval rules. The firm can explicitly authorize defined categories of routine actions after testing. Legal advice, conflict clearance, representation decisions, and other professional judgments stay with the firm.

How do you handle confidential client information?

Machine-like does not use customer data to train models. Before connecting matter information, the firm should review the proposed data access, processing providers, retention arrangements, and reviewer permissions. Those details must fit the firm’s obligations; an approval gate alone does not establish confidentiality or preserve privilege.

Can a law firm use AI agents consistently with professional obligations?

A law firm’s use of AI must account for applicable professional duties and the specific workflow. ABA Formal Opinion 512 addresses competence, confidentiality, communication, supervision, and fees, among other duties. The firm determines the review, disclosures, and permissions required under the rules that apply to its practice.

Who fixes the agent when something breaks?

Machine-like handles technical monitoring, investigation, and fixes within the agreed workload. The firm remains responsible for legal review and authorizing access to its systems. Unknown inputs are held for resolution, and operational reports distinguish completed work from failures and items waiting for approval.

How much does an AI agent for a law firm cost?

Machine-like charges $249 per workload per month for one or two workloads, $199 each for three to five, and custom pricing for six or more. The service includes the build and ongoing operation, with no setup or integration fees. Each recurring job is scoped before work begins.

How long does setup take, and when does the free trial start?

Machine-like confirms the implementation timeline after reviewing the job, system access, and testing requirements. The 14-day free trial starts when the agent goes live, rather than when scoping begins. The firm can evaluate completed work before deciding whether to pay for ongoing service.

How do we know whether the agent is worth keeping?

A law firm can evaluate an agent by comparing completed work, accuracy, review time, corrections, and unresolved exceptions against the previous process. Hours returned create capacity; additional revenue depends on how the firm uses that capacity. The trial should demonstrate a useful net reduction in work for the team.

Which recurring job would you take off your team’s plate first?

Machine-like starts with one defined workload and a free trial on live work. The first step is to describe the job, the tools involved, and what a good result looks like.

The intake summary. The missing-document follow-up. The weekly backlog report. Give us the job your team keeps returning to, and we’ll work through the scope with you.

Start free trial

14 days of live work. No setup fee. No credit card required.