Ten Simple Ways AI Tools Can Save Time for Solicitors

Are you using AI tools in your legal practice? If not, what’s holding you back?

We have all heard of the phrase, “Time is the enemy” and for solicitors, this is certainly true. Juggling client demands, running from the office to court, keeping on top of compliance (including CPD points and GDPR requirements) and of course, everything else that comes with running a legal practice. It’s no wonder that being a solicitor ranks highly on the list of most stressful professions. So, if there are tools out there to make the working day easier, solicitors need to get on board, or risk being left behind.   

Enter stage left – AI tools!

In recent years, AI tools have moved from novelty to necessity across the legal profession offering practical ways to reclaim hours that would otherwise be swallowed by repetitive and time-consuming administrative work. The question is no longer whether solicitors should explore this technology, but where to begin. According to Clio’s Legal Trends 2026 for UK and Ireland, 89% of solicitors are using AI tools in some capacity.

However, according to other research, there is a stark gender gap when it comes to adopting AI tools. While women make up the majority of solicitors in Ireland, women are less likely to use AI tools than men across a number of professions. This was something that Catherine Tobin discussed in our recent Women in Law Forum 2026, citing a lack of confidence and not having the same opportunities to learn about the technology as potential reasons behind this gender gap.

Whether you’re male or female, there’s never been a better time embrace AI tools with both hands.  

Below, we set out ten simple ways AI tools can lighten the load for solicitors and law firms, without compromising on compliance, professionalism and quality of service to clients.

Our Top Ten Ways to AI tools Can Transform the way solicitors work

 

1. Streamlining legal research

Gone are the days of trawling through endless databases for a single precedent. Modern research platforms allow solicitors to pose questions in plain English and receive structured answers, complete with citations. The groundwork still demands a careful eye, but you have a basic starting point that can be tweaked and built out.  

2. Speeding up document review

Whether it’s e-discovery in litigation or due diligence for a transaction, AI can sift through vast volumes of documents in a fraction of the time a manual review would take. It flags what matters, allowing solicitors to focus their attention where it counts.

3. Producing first drafts of contracts and pleadings

With juggling so many tasks all at once, it’s inevitable that a solicitor will have a moment of ‘writers block’ at some point, stuck staring at a blank page. Just from a mental point of view, this is often the biggest obstacle to getting started with a task.

AI tools can generate a workable first draft of a contract, letter, or pleading, giving solicitors a foundation to refine rather than build from scratch.

4. Summarising lengthy documents

Board minutes, regulatory guidance, and dense case bundles can be condensed into a short, digestible brief. This proves invaluable when time is tight and a client needs the headline points rather than the full 150 pages.

5. Improving client communication

Oftentimes, solicitors must relay the same information to clients or fellow solicitor colleagues. And it can be tedious having to type out either the same or similar information time and time again. Routine correspondence, such as status updates or engagement letters, can be drafted faster with AI assistance, freeing solicitors to spend their energy on the bespoke advice only they can provide.

• Draft client alerts on regulatory changes
• Prepare initial versions of engagement letters
• Generate templates for recurring queries

6. Supporting multilingual practice

Even for people whose mother-tongue is English, the legal language can be difficult to grasp. Throw in a language barrier and it becomes a lot more difficult to communicate important information and procedures.

Particularly for law firms working with international clients or dealing with cases that require communicating with a solicitor representative in a foreign country, AI translation tools can help bridge language gaps quickly. Using such tools can ensure there are no crossed wires and that nothing is lost in translation between initial contact and formal instruction.

However, it’s certainly advisable to have a fluent colleague on hand to check anything of legal weight before it’s sent, but the first pass saves considerable time.

7. Automating routine administrative tasks

Time tracking, invoicing, and scheduling are unavoidable parts of running a practice, yet they needn’t consume hours each week. AI-enabled practice management tools can handle much of this quietly in the background.

8. Assisting with predictive analytics

While no two legal cases are the same, there are often many similarities that form a common thread. By analysing patterns across previous cases, AI tools can help solicitors gauge the likely trajectory of a case. This is truly valuable when discussing strategies with clients in the early stages, leading to greater confidence in the plan of action. 

9. Enhancing website and client intake

Potential clients will often be searching for answers to their queries in the evenings and weekends. An AI assistant on a firm’s website can answer basic enquiries and arrange consultations outside office hours, capturing interest that might otherwise be lost overnight.

Clear boundaries are essential here: the AI assistant should never stray into giving bespoke legal advice.

10. Freeing up time for strategic, client-facing work

Perhaps the most valuable benefit of all. As routine tasks are absorbed by AI tools, solicitors gain more room to focus on the more important and rewarding parts of being a solicitor. Excellent legal advice is defined by having a good strategy, building relationships with clients, and making the best judgement calls. All of these things can be achieved when solicitors are allowed the time to do so.

Getting Started with AI Tools in Your Practice

Adopting AI tools needn’t mean an overnight transformation. As our own Catherine Tobin stated in our recent SGN Women in Law Forum, it’s best to start playing around with AI tools in a more relaxed setting, not when you’re under pressure to get a task finished.

Then it’s a case of gradually introducing AI tools in stages:

• Identify the bottleneck. Look at where time is genuinely being lost, whether that’s research, document review, or admin.
• Trial before you commit. Test a tool on a handful of tasks before rolling it out to the team
• Keep a human in the loop. Every AI-generated draft, summary, or analysis still needs a solicitor’s review before it reaches a client.
• Mind your duty of competence. Understanding how a tool works, and where it might fall short, remains part of practising responsibly.

Essentially, whatever AI tool you use should be saving you precious time, not taking up more of it. So don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing board and try something different that will be more efficient.

A Word of Caution when using AI tools

While AI tools are a genuine asset to busy solicitors, they are never a substitute for the expert eye of a trained solicitor who has spent years learning and gaining experience.

Hallucinated case citations, biased outputs, and confidentiality risks are well-documented pitfalls, and no solicitor wants to be the next cautionary tale. Adhering to GDPR regulations is a non-negotiable for solicitors, particularly when it comes to using AI tools. A point that is driven home by the fact that Ireland is one of two countries in Europe to have issued over €1 billion in GDPR fines since 2018.

The real success stories are coming from law firms who are treating AI technology as a diligent assistant, rather than an authority in its own right. And they have enforced clear internal policies on what can and cannot be delegated to a machine.

Ready to embrace AI tools but don’t know where to start? Solicitors Growth Network are here to help

AI tools are reshaping the working day for solicitors across Ireland and at Solicitors Growth Network, we see first-hand how our members are navigating this shift together, sharing what’s working, what isn’t, and how to adopt these tools responsibly. A problem shared is a problem halved.

So, with that in mind, we are hosting two AI Workshops on Monday 28^th September (Beginners) and Tuesday 29^thSeptember (Intermediate) at the Ashling Hotel. Each day covering a different level, these will be hand-on practical sessions that give you the opportunity to play around with AI tools whilst having expert trainers on site ready to support you. To learn more about our AI Workshops and book your place, check out our event page here.

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