Attorneys · AI tools guide · 2026

10 AI tools for law firms — what each one does, how you'd use it, and what it costs

A plain-English guide to ten real AI (artificial intelligence) tools attorneys are using now, grouped by the work they support: practice management, legal research and drafting, contract review, document automation, and client intake and answering. For each one: what it does, how you'd use it in a normal week, the published price where the vendor publishes it, who it's for, and the ethics and confidentiality cautions that come with it.

Compare all 10 → How to choose

The short version

  • For research and drafting, decide between the database tools and a standalone assistant. CoCounsel (Westlaw) and Lexis+ with Protege (LexisNexis) tie AI to authoritative content with citation checking, both quote-based. Paxton AI is a standalone assistant with a published price of $499 per user a month.
  • For matters, billing, and intake in one place, use a practice management platform. Clio (EasyStart from $49 per user a month) and MyCase (Basic from $50 per user a month, billed annually) both build AI into the back office. Higher tiers and the deeper AI features cost more.
  • For contracts and repeatable documents, there are focused tools. Spellbook drafts and redlines inside Microsoft Word (quote-based). Gavel turns intake questionnaires into finished documents from $83 a month.
  • For the front door, AI intake and answering catch the work you miss. Smith.ai answers and qualifies leads 24/7 with a human backstop, billed per call. Lawmatics runs intake, CRM, and marketing (quote-based). Harvey is the enterprise option built for large firms.
  • Whatever you pick, you stay responsible for the output. Verify every citation and clause, protect client confidentiality, and check your state bar's AI guidance. Pick one tool, run it 30 days, then add the next.
Don't want to set it up yourself? The Agentic AI Index lists local AI consultants who can pick the right tools and get them running for your firm. It's free to use, and we take no cut from the consultants we list.
Find a local AI consultant →
At a glance

All 10 tools side by side

Starting prices are the vendor's published entry tier where they publish one. Several research-grade and enterprise tools quote by phone — those say "by quote."

A few of the tools below are affiliate links, so if you sign up through one we may earn a small commission. It costs you nothing extra and never changes your price, and we only list tools we'd recommend either way. Full disclosure.

ToolCategoryBest forStarting priceSetup time
Clio Practice management + AI Solo to mid-size firms $49/user/mo (EasyStart) A few days
MyCase Practice management + AI Solo to small/mid firms $50/user/mo (annual) A few days
Lawmatics Client intake + CRM + AI Firms fixing intake & marketing By quote Onboarding (days)
CoCounsel AI legal research + drafting Westlaw / Practical Law users By quote Sales + onboarding
Lexis+ with Protege AI legal research LexisNexis users By quote Sales + onboarding
Paxton AI AI research + drafting Solo & small firms on a budget $499/user/mo Minutes to an hour
Spellbook AI contract drafting Transactional / contract lawyers By quote An hour + demo
Gavel Document automation (+ AI) High-volume document practices $83/mo (Lite) Hours to days (build)
Smith.ai AI receptionist + intake Firms missing intake calls Per-call plans (confirm) A few days
Harvey Enterprise legal AI Large firms & legal departments By quote Weeks (enterprise)

Pricing and setup times as of 2026-06-23. Always confirm current pricing with the vendor — plans and promos change.

The deep dives

The 10 tools, one at a time

Grouped roughly by the work they support. What it does, the standout features, how you'd use it in a real week, the price, who it's for, and one honest caveat each.

01

Clio

Practice management + AI

What it is. Clio is a cloud-based legal practice management platform: case and contact management, calendaring, time tracking, billing, trust accounting, payments, and document storage in one system, with an AI assistant built in. It is one of the most widely used platforms among solo and small firms.

Standout features
  • Manage AI. Clio's built-in legal AI, which it describes as the next evolution of Clio Duo (not a separate plan). It extracts deadlines from court documents into calendar events, drafts client updates and invoices, and helps organize matter files.
  • Matter, contact, and document management. Calendaring and unlimited document storage across plans.
  • Billing and trust accounting. Invoicing, online payments (eCheck/ACH and cards), and compliant trust accounting.
  • Clio Grow. Client intake and CRM (customer relationship management) for tracking leads from first contact to signed client; included in the top plan.
  • Integrations. 250-plus connected apps, e-signature, and a secure client portal.
A real week with it. New matters open in Clio with the client's contacts, documents, and deadlines in one place. Manage AI reads an incoming court order and drops the deadlines onto your calendar, so nothing slips. You track time as you work, run invoices at month-end, and take payment online into the right operating or trust account. Intake leads flow through Clio Grow, and the whole firm works off one record instead of scattered files and spreadsheets.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)EasyStart starts at $49/user/mo (the only price Clio publishes). Essentials, Advanced, and Expand are quote-based ("Get Pricing"). Manage AI is a quote-based add-on available on Essentials and up. 7-day free trial, no card.
Best forSolo, small, and mid-size firms that want one system for matters, billing, and AI.
Honest take. Clio publishes only its entry EasyStart price; the tiers most firms actually buy, and the Manage AI add-on, are quote-only, so you can't size your real cost without a sales conversation. Ask for the all-in number with AI included before you commit.
Visit Clio → from $49/user/mo
02

MyCase

Practice management + AI

What it is. MyCase is an all-in-one legal practice management platform: case management, time and billing, trust accounting, client intake, communication, and an AI suite it brands "8am IQ." It's a common pick for solo and small firms that want transparent, published pricing.

Standout features
  • 8am IQ Writing & Document Assistant. AI writing help plus a document assistant that reads, summarizes, and extracts key clauses, parties, and deadlines from contracts and pleadings (Pro plan and up).
  • 8am IQ Case Assistant. AI case analysis that surfaces facts and timelines across your case files with citations (Advanced plan).
  • 8am IQ Discovery Assistant. AI OCR (optical character recognition, turning scanned images into searchable text) for discovery, 5,000 pages per user a month (Advanced plan).
  • Billing and trust accounting. Time entry, invoicing, LawPay online payments, and three-way trust reconciliation.
  • Legal CRM and intake. Client intake forms, two-way texting, e-signature, and 70-plus integrations.
A real week with it. A lead comes in through an intake form and lands in your pipeline. You open the matter, and the 8am IQ Document Assistant summarizes a long contract and pulls out the parties and deadlines. As the case moves, the Case Assistant builds a timeline from the file. You bill your time, send invoices, and take payment through LawPay, all in the same place. MyCase notes the AI uses an OpenAI model through its API, that your data is not used to train OpenAI's models, and that it's encrypted in transit and at rest.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)Per user, billed annually (monthly in parentheses): Basic $50/mo ($60), Pro $100/mo ($120), Advanced $130/mo ($150). The deeper AI (Case + Discovery) is on Advanced. MyCase Accounting add-on $39/user/mo. 10-day free trial, no card.
Best forSolo and small-to-mid firms that want one platform with clear, published pricing.
Honest take. The most useful AI (Case Assistant and Discovery OCR) sits on the top Advanced tier at $130/user/mo, and the discovery OCR is metered at 5,000 pages per user a month, then $30 per extra 5,000. MyCase itself notes the AI "may sometimes be misleading or inaccurate," so review every output.
Visit MyCase → from $50/user/mo (annual)
03

Lawmatics

Client intake + CRM + AI

What it is. Lawmatics is a legal client intake, CRM (customer relationship management), and marketing-automation platform. It manages a prospect from first contact through signed client and then ongoing marketing, and it usually runs alongside a separate case management system.

Standout features
  • QualifyAI. AI lead scoring and routing that evaluates and prioritizes incoming leads automatically; sold as a credit-based add-on.
  • Lead and client intake. Customizable intake forms, e-signature, appointment booking, document automation, and file requests.
  • Legal CRM. Pipeline management, custom fields, conflict checking, two-way SMS/MMS, and a client portal.
  • Marketing automation. Email drip campaigns, dynamic workflows, audience segmentation, and an email builder (Premium adds up to 50,000 sends a month).
  • Reporting and ROI tracking. Custom reports and dashboards, source reporting, and UTM tracking to see where signed clients come from.
A real week with it. A prospect fills out your intake form. QualifyAI scores the lead and routes the strong ones to you fast, while drip emails keep warmer leads engaged. You send an engagement agreement for e-signature, the matter converts, and the data syncs to your case management system. Meanwhile the marketing automation nurtures past clients and referral sources, and the reporting shows which channels actually produce signed work.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)By quote. Lawmatics lists three plans (Essential, Premium, Enterprise) with no published prices; every button is "Get a demo" or "Contact Sales." Three-user minimum on Essential and Premium. QualifyAI is a quote-only add-on. The site runs promos (first month free; a gift card for taking a demo).
Best forSolo to mid-size firms that want to fix lead response, intake, and marketing.
Honest take. No pricing is published at all, and there's a three-user minimum, so it isn't an obviously low-cost option for a true solo. It's intake, CRM, and marketing, not full case management, so most firms pay for it on top of another system.
Visit Lawmatics → pricing by quote
04

CoCounsel

AI legal research + drafting

What it is. CoCounsel is Thomson Reuters' professional-grade legal AI assistant (formerly Casetext). It brings research, drafting, and document analysis into one place, grounded in Westlaw and Practical Law content, with citation checking built in.

Standout features
  • Deep Research. Multi-step, agentic AI (AI that plans and runs a sequence of tasks, with you approving the approach) that runs thorough research across Westlaw content.
  • Litigation Document Analyzer. AI that identifies the key parts of a complaint and flags mischaracterizations of law or hallucinated (made-up) cases.
  • Drafting with KeyCite and Cite List. Draft or modify clauses, add citation links, and run KeyCite flags (Westlaw's signal for whether a case is still good law) inside the document.
  • Document analysis and review. Summarize, review, and compare documents; prepare for a deposition; build timelines; run tabular analysis across thousands of documents.
  • Contract Playbooks. Apply your firm's standard positions to review and redline agreements.
A real week with it. You hand CoCounsel a research question and it runs Deep Research across Westlaw, returning an answer with citations you can verify. You drop a complaint in and the Litigation Document Analyzer flags weak spots and any citation that doesn't check out. When drafting, you add and validate citations without leaving the document. Across a large production, tabular analysis pulls the facts you need into a grid instead of hours of manual review.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)By quote. Thomson Reuters lists four plans (CoCounsel Essentials; Westlaw Advantage or Practical Law bundles with Essentials; CoCounsel Legal) but publishes no prices; each routes to a sales contact. A free demo is offered, and a free trial for CoCounsel Essentials. Pricing is generally tied to a Westlaw subscription.
Best forFirms that use, or want, Westlaw and Practical Law and want AI tightly integrated with authoritative content.
Honest take. There's no public pricing, and the most capable features tie to the higher Westlaw-linked tiers, so the real cost for a small firm can climb well above a standalone AI tool, and you can't size it without a sales call. The upside is content depth and citation checking you can stand behind.
Visit CoCounsel → pricing by quote
05

Lexis+ with Protégé (formerly Lexis+ AI)

AI legal research

What it is. Lexis+ with Protégé is LexisNexis's legal research platform with an embedded AI assistant. (LexisNexis renamed Lexis+ AI to Lexis+ with Protégé in February 2026; Protégé is the assistant.) It pairs generative AI with authoritative LexisNexis content and Shepard's citation validation.

Standout features
  • Protégé AI assistant. Conversational research, drafting, redlining, and summarization, plus agentic AI that manages multi-step workflows.
  • Shepard's citation validation. Confirm a case's status and treatment (whether it's still good law) inside research and drafting.
  • Legal vs. General AI toggle. "Legal AI" is grounded in LexisNexis sources; "General AI" gives access to broader large language models for general tasks inside the secure environment.
  • Secure document Vault. Up to 50 vaults of your own documents that Protégé uses to build timelines, find citations, analyze counterarguments, and draft.
  • DMS integrations. Connects to document management systems like iManage, SharePoint, and NetDocuments to draft from your firm's own knowledge.
A real week with it. You ask Protégé a research question and get an answer grounded in LexisNexis sources, with Shepard's confirming the cases are still good law. You upload your matter documents to a secure Vault, and the AI builds a timeline and surfaces the counterarguments you'll face. When you draft, you pull from your firm's own knowledge through the DMS connection, and switch to general AI for the non-legal writing tasks, all in one secure workspace.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)By quote. LexisNexis states pricing varies by organization size, capabilities, and content access, and offers customized pricing through sales. No plan names or dollar figures are published. A 2-day free trial is offered.
Best forFirms that want LexisNexis content depth plus Shepard's, with both legal-grounded and general AI in one place.
Honest take. Pricing is entirely quote-based with no published plans, and the free trial is very short (2 days), which is little time to properly test a research-grade tool before you commit. Budget for a sales conversation, and confirm what content access your quote actually includes.
Visit Lexis+ with Protégé → pricing by quote
06

Paxton AI

AI research + drafting

What it is. Paxton AI is an all-in-one legal AI assistant for drafting, document analysis, and contextual legal research across US federal regulations, state laws, and case law in all 50 states. It stands out for publishing a clear per-seat price without requiring a Westlaw or LexisNexis subscription.

Standout features
  • AI legal drafting. Drafts documents, clauses, emails, and contracts.
  • Contextual legal research. Searches a knowledge base of US federal regulations, state laws, and case law across all 50 states.
  • AI document analysis. Summaries, legal insights, and recommendations from your uploaded files.
  • Medical chronologies and billing summaries. Auto-generated medical timelines and billing summaries, useful for personal-injury work.
  • Compliance posture. The platform lists SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA (security and privacy standards).
A real week with it. You start a research question and Paxton searches federal and state law, returning answers with sources you verify. You upload a stack of records and it produces a medical chronology for a personal-injury matter in minutes instead of an afternoon. You draft a demand letter or a clause, review and tighten it, and move on. Because the price is a flat per-seat figure, you know the cost up front, and you don't need a separate research-database subscription to use it.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)Individual $499/user/mo, or $2,999/user/year billed annually (marketed as ~50% off monthly). Enterprise is custom, volume-based. 7-day free trial, no card.
Best forSolo and small-firm attorneys who want a published per-seat price, and PI/litigation practices that use the medical-chronology tools.
Honest take. Paxton is a standalone AI layer, not a replacement for Westlaw or LexisNexis editorial depth, and it states plainly it isn't a law firm or a substitute for an attorney, with no attorney-client privilege over your interactions. Verify every output, and confirm citations in a primary source.
Visit Paxton AI → from $499/user/mo
07

Spellbook

AI contract drafting + review

What it is. Spellbook is an AI contract drafting, review, and redlining assistant that works as an add-in inside Microsoft Word. It's built for transactional and commercial lawyers who live in their documents and want drafting and review without switching tools.

Standout features
  • Review. AI that redlines contracts and flags risks directly in Word.
  • Draft. AI drafting of clauses and full documents from scratch or from your saved precedent libraries.
  • Ask. Answers complex contract questions with citations to the document.
  • Market / Benchmarks. Compares your contract terms against thousands of similar agreements to show what's "market."
  • Associate. An AI agent that runs multi-document, multi-step drafting and review with lawyer oversight, powered by frontier large language models.
A real week with it. A counterparty sends a draft agreement. In Word, Spellbook's Review redlines it and flags the risky terms, and Benchmarks tells you whether a clause is in line with market. You draft missing provisions from your own precedent library, ask Spellbook a question about an indemnity clause and get an answer with citations, then run the Associate to handle a multi-document review. You still read and approve everything before it goes back across the table.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)By quote. Spellbook prices by the number of team members on the license; you book a demo for a number. No dollar figures are published. 7-day free trial; free access for academic institutions.
Best forSolo, small, and mid-size firms and in-house teams doing transactional contract work in Microsoft Word.
Honest take. Pricing is quote-only and seat-based, so you can't compare cost up front without a sales conversation. It's focused on contracts, not litigation or research, so it's a specialist tool, strongest where contract volume is high.
Visit Spellbook → pricing by quote
08

Gavel

Document automation (+ AI)

What it is. Gavel (formerly Documate) is a no-code legal document automation and intake platform. It turns intake questionnaires into finished Word and PDF documents, and lets firms package and even sell legal services online. Its separate AI product, Gavel Exec, handles contract review and drafting.

Standout features
  • Word and PDF automation. Build rules so documents auto-populate from intake answers, with no coding.
  • Client-facing intake workflows. Reusable questionnaires that collect data and generate full document sets.
  • Legal commerce. Collect payments via Stripe and sell legal services online, with a custom domain and white-labeling.
  • Integrations. Clio Manage, DocuSign, Zapier, and an API on higher tiers.
  • Gavel Exec (AI). A separate AI contract review, drafting, and redline product, priced on its own.
A real week with it. For your high-volume work, an estate plan or an entity formation, you build the questionnaire once. A client fills it out, and Gavel assembles the finished documents from your template in minutes instead of an hour of manual drafting. You take payment through Stripe, and for repeatable services you can even sell the package on your own branded page. The core engine is rules-based automation; the AI drafting lives in Gavel Exec.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)Gavel Workflows, monthly billing: Lite $83/mo, Standard $210/mo ($165 annual), Pro $290/mo, Scale from $417/mo billed annually (then Contact Sales). 7-day free trial, no card; annual plans get 2 months free. Gavel Exec (AI) is priced separately.
Best forSolo and mid-size firms in high-volume, repeatable-document areas (estate planning, family, real estate, probate, formation).
Honest take. Document automation isn't magic; you invest setup time building templates and workflows (Gavel even sells a paid "Hire an Automator" service to do it for you). Independent reviews have flagged past mid-contract pricing and feature changes, so confirm terms before signing an annual plan.
Visit Gavel → from $83/mo
09

Smith.ai

AI receptionist + intake

What it is. Smith.ai is a 24/7 virtual receptionist and lead-intake service that combines AI call handling with on-demand live, North-America-based human agents. Law firms use it to answer calls, qualify new leads, and book appointments without hiring a full-time receptionist.

Standout features
  • AI plus human handoff. The AI answers first; complex calls escalate to a live agent on demand (live-agent handoff is $3 per call; escalating a technical issue is free).
  • Lead qualification and intake. Screens callers on your custom criteria and asks up to 10 intake questions.
  • AI scheduling. Books appointments live on the call through your connected calendar.
  • CRM integrations. Sends call details to Clio, MyCase, Filevine, and others (plus 7,000-plus apps via Zapier).
  • Recording, transcription, and summaries. Searchable transcripts with PII masking, plus AI summaries pushed to email, Slack, or Teams.
A real week with it. Calls you can't take, after hours, in court, or in a meeting, get answered instead of going to voicemail. The AI greets the caller, asks your intake questions, and books a consult live on the call. A potential client with a complex situation is handed to a live agent so they never hit a dead end. Each call's details and a summary land in your practice management system, so a new matter is half-built before you ever pick up the phone.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)Month-to-month, no long-term contract, billed per call (not per minute). Live-agent handoff $3/call; a custom AI build is included on managed plans or a $2,000 add-on on monthly plans; 30-day money-back guarantee for new clients. The specific per-tier call plans are published on Smith.ai's site but render dynamically and third-party numbers conflict, so confirm the current tiers directly before you sign.
Best forSmall firms that miss intake calls during hearings, after hours, or at the front desk and want 24/7 answering with a human backstop.
Honest take. Per-call billing plus $3 live-agent handoffs and the $2,000 custom-build add-on mean the real monthly cost scales with call volume and complexity; a busy intake month can run well past the headline plan price. Get a written estimate based on your real call volume.
Visit Smith.ai → per-call plans
10

Harvey

Enterprise legal AI

What it is. Harvey is an enterprise-grade legal AI platform built for large law firms and corporate legal departments. It handles research, due diligence, contract analysis, and complex end-to-end legal work. It's the heavyweight on this list, powerful, but built for scale rather than solos.

Standout features
  • Assistant. Ask questions, analyze documents, and draft with domain-specific legal AI.
  • Vault. Securely store, organize, and bulk-analyze large sets of legal documents.
  • Knowledge. Research complex legal, regulatory, and tax questions across domains.
  • Agents. Purpose-built AI agents that execute complex legal work end-to-end.
  • Enterprise security. SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001/27701/42001, GDPR, CCPA, single sign-on, audit logs, and IP allow-listing.
A real week with it. A deal team loads thousands of documents into Vault and runs bulk analysis for due diligence that would take associates days by hand. Lawyers use Assistant to draft and analyze across matters, and Knowledge to answer cross-border regulatory questions. Agents chain multi-step work together under attorney supervision. The whole thing runs inside enterprise security controls built for a firm's risk and compliance requirements.
Pricing (as of 2026-06-23, confirm with vendor)By quote. Harvey publishes no rate card; the site routes to "Request a Demo" / "Contact Sales," and there's no public free trial. It cites 60-plus AmLaw 100 firms as customers.
Best forLarge firms and sizeable in-house and corporate legal teams.
Honest take. Pricing is opaque and enterprise-only, with no public number, no self-serve sign-up, and no free trial. For most solo and small firms it's out of reach on budget and minimum-commitment grounds; this is the platform you grow into, not start with.
Visit Harvey → pricing by quote
How to choose

Which one should you start with?

You don't need all ten. Pick the one that fixes your biggest, most expensive problem, run it for 30 days on real work, verify every output, and add the next only if the first earned its keep.

Research and drafting eat your hours

If you bill hours you'd rather spend elsewhere on research and first drafts, start with an AI assistant. Paxton AI ($499/user/mo) gives a published price with no Westlaw or Lexis subscription. CoCounsel and Lexis+ with Protégé tie AI to authoritative databases with citation checking, both by quote. Whatever you use, verify every citation.

Your back office is scattered

If matters, billing, and deadlines live in too many places, get one platform. Clio (EasyStart from $49/user/mo) and MyCase (from $50/user/mo annual) both build AI into the back office. MyCase publishes its full price list; Clio publishes only its entry tier.

You draft the same documents over and over

If you produce the same kinds of documents repeatedly, automate them. Gavel (from $83/mo) turns an intake questionnaire into finished documents. For contracts specifically, Spellbook drafts and redlines inside Microsoft Word (by quote).

You're losing leads at the front door

If new-client calls go to voicemail while you're in court, fix intake. Smith.ai answers and qualifies leads 24/7 with a human backstop, billed per call. Lawmatics runs intake, CRM, and marketing (by quote). Harvey is the enterprise option for large firms.

A simple 30-day plan

  1. Pick the task that costs you the most.

    Be honest about where the time and money go: research hours, first-draft time, missed intake calls, or repetitive document assembly. Solve one, not everything.

  2. Match it to one tool.

    Research and drafting to an AI assistant. Matters and billing to a practice platform. Contracts to Spellbook. Repeatable documents to Gavel. Intake and answering to Smith.ai or Lawmatics.

  3. Check confidentiality and ethics first.

    Confirm the vendor's security terms, whether your data trains its model, and your state bar's AI guidance before you put any client information into a tool.

  4. Run a 30-day pilot, and verify every output.

    Use a free trial or demo on real matters. Treat AI output as a first draft: check every citation, clause, and fact before it reaches a client or a court.

  5. Measure, then expand or swap.

    Look at the metric you wanted to move: hours saved, faster intake, more billable focus. If it moved, keep it and add the next tool. If not, swap the tool, not the plan.

Rough budget to start: a small firm can begin for roughly $50 to $500 a month on one tool, depending on whether you start with practice management, document automation, or a standalone research assistant; the database-backed research tools and enterprise platforms cost more and are quote-based. The trick isn't spending more, it's picking the right one. If you'd rather not wire it up yourself, a local AI consultant from our free directory can pick the tools and set them up for you.

Before you adopt any tool: ethics, confidentiality, and verification

The Agentic AI Index is an independent directory. We list tools for discovery and do not vet, certify, or guarantee any vendor's security or compliance. You remain responsible for meeting your professional obligations. Treat the points below as general information, not legal advice, and confirm the specifics with each vendor and your own state bar.

  • Verify every AI output. Generative AI can produce wrong answers and invented "hallucinated" case citations. Courts have sanctioned lawyers for filing briefs with fake AI-generated citations (the 2023 Mata v. Avianca matter is the well-known example). Check every citation and fact in a primary source before it reaches a client or a court.
  • Protect client confidentiality. Read each vendor's data terms, confirm whether your inputs are used to train its model, and don't put privileged information into a tool you haven't vetted. Look for stated security standards (SOC 2, ISO 27001, encryption) and a data-protection agreement.
  • Know your ethics duties. Many states have adopted a duty of technology competence, and the American Bar Association issued Formal Opinion 512 (2024) on using generative AI. Competence, supervision, candor to the court, and reasonable fees all apply to AI-assisted work.
  • Mind unauthorized practice and reliance limits. These tools assist a licensed attorney; they are not a substitute for legal judgment, and several state plainly that no attorney-client relationship or privilege attaches to your use of them.
  • Check your own jurisdiction. State bar rules and ethics opinions on AI vary and continue to change. Confirm your state's current position before adopting a tool firm-wide.
Common questions

Attorneys ask us these

What is the best AI tool for a small law firm just getting started?

Start with the task that costs you the most. If you spend evenings on research and first drafts, an AI assistant like Paxton AI ($499 per user a month, or $2,999 a year, with a 7-day free trial) gives you a published per-seat price without a Westlaw or LexisNexis subscription. If your back office is the mess, a practice management platform with built-in AI like MyCase (from $50 per user a month billed annually) or Clio (EasyStart from $49 per user a month) keeps matters, billing, and AI in one place. Pick one, run it 30 days, and verify the output. Pricing as of 2026-06-23; confirm with each vendor.

Are AI legal tools safe to use with confidential client information?

It depends on the vendor and how you configure it. The legal-specific tools on this page describe enterprise security: Paxton AI lists SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA; MyCase says client data is not used to train OpenAI's models and is encrypted in transit and at rest; Harvey lists SOC 2 Type II and ISO certifications. That said, you are responsible under your duty of confidentiality. Read each vendor's data terms, confirm whether your inputs train its model, and follow your state bar's guidance before putting privileged information into any tool. The Agentic AI Index lists tools for discovery and does not vet or certify any vendor.

Can AI legal research tools be trusted, given reports of fake case citations?

Use them, but verify everything. Courts have sanctioned lawyers for filing briefs with citations to cases that a general-purpose chatbot invented (the 2023 Mata v. Avianca matter is the well-known example). The legal-grounded tools are built to reduce this: CoCounsel runs on Westlaw content with KeyCite, and Lexis+ with Protege validates citations with Shepard's, both of which flag whether a case is still good law. Even so, treat every AI output as a draft and confirm each citation in a primary source before it goes to a client or a court. This is general information, not legal advice.

How much do AI tools for lawyers actually cost?

It ranges widely. Practice management platforms with AI start around $49 to $50 per user a month (Clio EasyStart, MyCase Basic, billed annually). A standalone AI assistant like Paxton AI is $499 per user a month. Document automation (Gavel) starts at $83 a month. The research-grade and enterprise tools (CoCounsel, Lexis+ with Protege, Spellbook, Harvey, and Lawmatics) are quote-based, so you have to request pricing, and the research tools are often priced alongside a Westlaw or LexisNexis content subscription. AI receptionist services like Smith.ai bill per call. Pricing as of 2026-06-23; confirm with each vendor.

What is the difference between CoCounsel or Lexis and an affordable tool like Paxton AI?

CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters) and Lexis+ with Protege (LexisNexis) tie their AI to large, authoritative legal databases, Westlaw and LexisNexis respectively, with citation validation through KeyCite and Shepard's. They are powerful but quote-based and usually bundled with a content subscription, so the real cost climbs. Paxton AI is a standalone AI assistant with a published per-seat price ($499 per user a month) that searches federal and 50-state law without requiring a Westlaw or Lexis subscription. The trade-off: Paxton is not a substitute for those publishers' editorial depth. Match the tool to your practice and budget.

Do I need Westlaw or LexisNexis to use AI for legal research?

No. CoCounsel and Lexis+ with Protege are built on the Westlaw and LexisNexis libraries and are generally priced with those subscriptions, which is part of their value if you already pay for one. But standalone tools like Paxton AI run their own research across US federal regulations and 50-state case and statutory law without a separate publisher subscription, at a published per-seat price. Whichever you use, confirm citations in a primary source before relying on them.

What are my ethical obligations when using AI as a lawyer?

At a high level: competence, confidentiality, supervision, candor, and reasonable fees. Many states have adopted a duty of technology competence, and the American Bar Association issued Formal Opinion 512 in 2024 on using generative AI. In practice that means understanding the tool's limits, protecting client information, reviewing every AI output yourself, being candid with courts and clients, and billing fairly for AI-assisted work. This is general information, not legal advice; check your own state bar's rules and ethics opinions before adopting any tool.

Can these AI tools work together, or do I have to pick one?

Many connect. Intake and receptionist tools like Smith.ai and Lawmatics push new matters into practice management systems such as Clio and MyCase, and Gavel integrates with Clio for document automation. A common setup is one practice management platform for matters and billing, one research or drafting assistant for the legal work, and one intake or answering tool for the front door. Start with one, get it working, then add the next. Confirm current integrations with each vendor.
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Sources

Every price and feature on this page was checked against the vendor's own current website on 2026-06-23. Prices and plans change, so confirm with the vendor before you buy. Security and compliance claims vendors state about themselves are their own representations, not independently verified. Ethics references are general information, not legal advice.

  • Clio — pricing and legal AI software pages, clio.com/pricing (only EasyStart price published; higher tiers and Manage AI quote-based). Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • MyCase — pricing and 8am IQ AI pages, mycase.com/pricing. Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • Lawmatics — pricing and intake pages, lawmatics.com/pricing (pricing quote-based). Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • CoCounsel (Thomson Reuters) — CoCounsel Legal plans and product pages, thomsonreuters.com (pricing quote-based). Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • Lexis+ with Protégé (LexisNexis) — product page, lexisnexis.com (pricing quote-based; renamed from Lexis+ AI in Feb 2026). Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • Paxton AI — pricing page, paxton.ai/pricing. Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • Spellbook — pricing and product pages, spellbook.legal/pricing (pricing quote-based). Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • Gavel — pricing page, gavel.io/pricing. Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • Smith.ai — AI receptionist and receptionist pricing pages, smith.ai/pricing (billed per call). Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • Harvey — product page, harvey.ai (pricing quote-based). Reviewed 2026-06-23.
  • American Bar Association — Formal Opinion 512 (2024), on generative artificial intelligence tools (general ethics reference).
Last reviewed: 2026-06-23. Pricing and features verified against each vendor's site on this date. Confirm current pricing with the vendor before purchasing.
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