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The Tech Savvy LawyerAuthor: Michael D.J. Eisenberg
The Tech Savvy Lawyer interviews Judges, Lawyers, and other professionals discussing utilizing technology in the practice of law. It may springboard an idea and help you in your own pursuit of the business we call "practicing law". Please join us for interesting conversations enjoyable at any tech skill level! Language: en Genres: News, Tech News, Technology Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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🎙️TSL.P Podcast #144: AI as a Teammate - The 3 Law Firm Workflows to Redesign First for Real ROI with Matthew Symes of Levership 🤖⚖️
Episode 144
Tuesday, 29 September, 2026
My next guest is Matthew Symes of Levership. Matt helps leaders build systems, structure, and rhythm so their organizations stop bottlenecking on them. 🚀 He sees AI as a thinking partner and a teammate, not just technology. In this episode, Matt explains why AI efforts buried in IT tend to fail. He shows why the firms getting results treat AI as a workforce question. He walks through the three workflows a mid-size firm should redesign first. He also shares the two metrics that tell a managing partner the "pulse" of the firm. 📈 Matt closes with the skills lawyers need to stay valuable as the billable hour fades. Whether you run a firm or simply want to work smarter, you will leave with steps you can use this week. 💡 Join Matthew Symes and me as we discuss the following three questions and more! If you were advising a mid-size law firm that wants to move beyond AI hype, what are the top three workflows lawyers should redesign first to see real return on investment from AI and automation, and why those three? Levership is described as a strategic operating system that installs systems, structure, and rhythm so organizations stop bottlenecking on their leaders. For a managing partner listening today, what are the top three levers they should pull in their firm's operating system to better integrate legal tech and AI into day-to-day practice without burning out their lawyers? Looking ahead over the next three to five years, what are the top three capabilities that individual lawyers must develop beyond traditional legal skills to collaborate effectively with AI systems and to protect their competitive edge? In our conversation, we cover the following [00:00] Welcome, and Matt's current tech setup: a Rode mic, a small backup mic, and three monitors as "command central" 🎙️🖥️ [00:00] Why Matt works mostly in G Suite and why he sees AI as a teammate, not tech [01:00] Why AI projects buried in IT fail, and why the successful ones sit in HR [01:00] "Sentient and non-sentient teams" and "different horses for different courses" [01:00] Matt's computers: Dell desktops in two locations and a Dell laptop 💻 [02:00] Windows vs. Apple: corporate compatibility and the cost of the Apple ecosystem 🍎 [02:00] Matt's iPhone, WHOOP, and Garmin for marathon running ⌚ [03:00] Using tech to track leading and lagging indicators, from health to the sales funnel [03:00] Question 1: The top three workflows to redesign first for AI ROI [04:00] Workflow 1: Scheduling, "the sneaky one," and why quality problems are usually time problems ⏰ [05:00] Why poor scheduling pushes the weight onto the lead lawyer [05:00] Workflow 2: Deconstructing and rebuilding how a legal file gets done 📂 [06:00] AI-assisted document creation, Harvey, Claude, and the pricing "arbitrage" opportunity [06:00] Assistive AI vs. agentic AI in legal workflows 🤖 [06:00] Workflow 3: Triage and the right mix of work for each legal pod [07:00] The triage lawyer and optimizing gross margin per week [07:00] Moving from chaotic firefighting to a smooth operating machine 🔥➡️⚙️ [08:00] Follow-up: Are we moving from the billable hour to flat fees? 💵 [08:00] Value capture and why experience makes work faster [09:00] The arbitrage moment and the coming market reset [10:00] Question 2: Three levers a managing partner should pull [10:00] Tolstoy, happy families, and why every firm's workflows are dysfunctional in their own way [11:00] Lever 1: Watch aggregate gross margin dollars each week with bespoke, AI-coded dashboards 📊 [12:00] Lever 2: Own the firm's workforce plan as AI changes who does the work 👥 [12:00] Lever 3: Use AI to bridge the gap between intent and impact [13:00] Using an AI note-taker and transcripts to review sentiment, mood, and talk time 📝 [13:00] Using AI as an executive coach for senior leaders [14:00] Follow-up: The top dashboard metrics: gross margin per week vs. plan and utilization vs. plan [14:00] Why hitting your numbers can still burn out three paralegals [15:00] Second-level metrics: client mix vs. plan and competency health [15:00] Technical, business, and leadership or behavioral competencies [16:00] Customer complaints and satisfaction as the counterbalance ✅ [16:00] About Levership: a 12-month cohort strategic execution program 🗓️ [16:00] Strategy as a process of "being less wrong faster" [17:00] Deciding what kind of firm you are actually building [17:00] "Most organizations die of indigestion, not starvation" 🍽️ [18:00] The gym-partner analogy and building a business that is not a prison [18:00] Question 3: Three capabilities lawyers need in the next three to five years [19:00] Why the "soft skills" of relationships, sales, and real trust become the value 🤝 [19:00] Lawyers as "conductors of value" who frame and verify AI output 🎼 [20:00] Trust, relationship, and accountability as the core skill set [20:00] Where to find Matt: levership.com, LinkedIn, and info@levership.com Resources Connect with Matthew Symes Levership website: https://levership.com Email: info@levership.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-symes-8328a765/ Mentioned in the episode Levership 12-month cohort strategic execution program: https://levership.com Hardware mentioned in the conversation Rode microphone: https://rode.com/en-us/microphones Dell computers: www.Dell.com Apple iPhone: https://www.apple.com/iphone/?afid=p240%7Cgo~cmp-14648718653~adg-126654828629~ad-828674245810_aud-2340492069598%3Akwd-2258410302~dev-c~ext-~prd-~mca-~nt-search&cid=wwa-us-kwgo-iphone-noncore_iphonefamily-iphonefamily-iphonefamily_hero_avail_102326-iPhone-iPhone WHOOP fitness wearable: https://www.whoop.com/us/en/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=24423704050&gbraid=0AAAABFGD8u5DViCSaYa9IWNlBEQW8VeyS Garmin running watch: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/sports-fitness/running-smartwatches/ Software & Cloud Services mentioned in the conversation G Suite (now Google Workspace): https://workspace.google.com/ Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us Harvey: https://www.harvey.ai/ Claude: www.Claude.Ai
