AI consulting for law firms, built to the ethics opinions.
I set AI up for small and mid-size firms, 10 to 200 people: intake, client updates, drafts from your own templates, the inbox. The plan you buy, the policy your people sign and the verify-every-citation rule come first. Every price is on this page.
I'm not a lawyer and I don't sell a legal research platform. I'm the person who gets the general assistant your firm already pays for working safely, and trains the people who use it.
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Justin McKelvey
AI consultant · 15 years building products · Austin, TX
Quick Answer
Justin McKelvey is an AI consultant in Austin, Texas who helps law firms roll AI out to teams of 10 to 200, at published prices: a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (two weeks, a written roadmap), then a done-for-you rollout of Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Microsoft 365 Copilot (from $4,500, about two weeks, training and 30 days of support included). The first 30-minute call is free. The first workflows are unbilled ones, because ethics opinions say a firm can't bill hourly for time AI saved.
Author: Justin McKelvey · Prices as of October 2026
Who can help a law firm roll out AI?
Someone who starts with your confidentiality duty and your billing model, not with a demo. That's the work I do. I work with owners and managing partners of $1M to $50M firms and businesses, and I set AI up for teams of 10 to 200. A typical engagement is two steps: a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (two weeks, a written roadmap of which workflows go first, which plan fits and the data-handling rules your people follow), then a done-for-you rollout on the tool your people already use (from $4,500, about two weeks, training and 30 days of support included). If the rollout starts within 90 days, the $2,500 is credited in full. Start with a free 30-minute call.
Right now
Right now I'm helping a national trade association roll out AI to about 50 staff.
Bigger firms (several practice groups, multiple offices, 50+ people, or AI across the whole team) get a written custom scope after the Assessment, priced to the work. The published prices are where most firms start, not a ceiling.
What AI consulting costs a law firm
Fixed fees, published: $2,500 for a written AI plan, from $4,500 for a done-for-you rollout, or $397 for a self-paced course. No hourly billing, which is fitting.
Strategy call
$0
30 min
A straight answer on what's worth doing first. No pitch.
AI Readiness Assessment
$2,500 flat
2 weeks
A 15 to 25 page written roadmap with governance and data-handling guidance, and a 1-hour walkthrough. Credited in full against an install within 90 days.
AI Team Rollout
from $4,500
~2 weeks
Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Copilot installed for your people, with training and 30 days of support. $1,500 deposit, applied to the invoice.
The Shop
$397
self-paced
8-lesson Claude course. Teams: +$97 per teammate, 2 to 25 people. 30-day money-back.
| Service | Price | Timeline | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy call | $0 | 30 min | A straight answer on what's worth doing first. No pitch. |
| AI Readiness Assessment | $2,500 flat | 2 weeks | A 15 to 25 page written roadmap with governance and data-handling guidance, and a 1-hour walkthrough. Credited in full against an install within 90 days. |
| AI Team Rollout | from $4,500 | ~2 weeks | Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Copilot installed for your people, with training and 30 days of support. $1,500 deposit, applied to the invoice. |
| The Shop | $397 | self-paced | 8-lesson Claude course. Teams: +$97 per teammate, 2 to 25 people. 30-day money-back. |
Prices as of October 2026. Seats for the AI tool are paid to Anthropic, OpenAI, or Microsoft, separately. Every rung, side by side with the rest of my services, is on AI consulting services.
What the ethics opinions ask of a firm, as a rollout checklist
The State Bar of Texas Professional Ethics Committee answered the question in Opinion 705 (February 2025). I build every law-firm rollout so each item below has an owner and a written answer before anyone gets a seat. This is a summary of a published opinion, not legal advice; your state may differ, and your firm decides.
| What Opinion 705 says | What it becomes in the rollout |
|---|---|
| A lawyer using generative AI needs "a reasonable and current understanding of the technology" (Rule 1.01, technological competence). | Training for every person who gets a seat, on your workflows, including how the tool gets things wrong. |
| Reasonable precautions: understand how it works, review the terms of service, learn its data-security protections, and train lawyers and staff (Rule 1.05, confidentiality). | A business plan with no training on your content by default, the terms read and filed, admin controls on, and a written never-paste list. |
| If confidential information goes in, consider telling clients and possibly getting consent; it notes the ABA (Formal Op. 512) and Florida (Op. 24-1) suggest informed consent. | An engagement-letter line for your lawyers to approve, and a list of workflows that never touch client confidences at all. |
| Verify every output; lawyers are responsible for the work "regardless of who (or what)" drafted it. Some courts require disclosure, e.g. N.D. Tex. LR 7.2(f). | The firm rule: AI drafts, a lawyer opens every cited authority before filing, and a court-rule check is part of the filing checklist. |
| On hourly matters, bill the time actually spent, including checking the output, never the time the tool saved; pass through per-use costs only as actually incurred and if the client agrees. | First workflows are unbilled ones (intake, updates, scheduling, the inbox), where the saved hours belong to the firm. |
The job-by-job version for the practice itself is AI for law firms, and the solo-attorney version is AI for lawyers.
Why the first workflows are the unbilled ones
Every other industry I work in measures AI by hours saved. A firm that bills by the hour has to ask a different question: whose hours? On an hourly matter, the opinion is plain that time the tool saved is the client's, not the firm's. So if the first thing you automate is first-draft research memos on billable files, the efficiency mostly shows up as a smaller invoice.
The unbilled work is different. Intake calls turned into a summary for the conflict check, client status updates from your templates, document requests, scheduling, the shared inbox: nobody bills for those hours today, so every hour the assistant gives back is an hour the firm keeps. That's where I start, and it's also where there's the least client confidence in the prompt. Flat-fee and contingency matters change the math, and the Assessment works through whichever mix your firm runs.
Which tool? The one your firm already lives in
I set up Claude, ChatGPT Business, and Microsoft 365 Copilot, and I pick by where your team already works. A firm that runs on Outlook, Teams, and SharePoint usually means Copilot. People already living in ChatGPT means ChatGPT Business. If you want Claude, it's Claude. Same price and timeline for all three.
On data terms, the plan decides. Anthropic's pricing page, read October 10, 2026, lists Claude Team ($20 per seat per month billed annually, $25 monthly, 2 to 150 seats) with no model training on your content by default, and its individual plans with training as an opt-out you have to set yourself. ChatGPT Business also does not train on business data by default. Personal accounts are where firms get hurt.
How it runs, and how long it takes
About four weeks of calendar time from plan to trained people: two for the Assessment, about two for the rollout.
-
1
A free 30-minute call
Where your unbilled hours go, which tools your people already have open, and what your billing mix looks like. You leave with a straight answer on the next step.
-
2
The Assessment: weeks 1 and 2
A workflow audit, every realistic AI opportunity ranked by impact and effort, tool recommendations for the stack you already pay for, governance and data-handling guidance, and a 30-60-90 day plan. A 15 to 25 page roadmap on day 14, with a 1-hour walkthrough.
-
3
The rollout: about 2 weeks
The permission check on whose login each connection runs under, the firm context the AI works from, up to 5 tools or sources connected, and one workflow pack. Roughly 3 hours of your time. The rule on every workflow: the AI drafts, a person approves.
-
4
Training and handoff
A training session on the workflows I built, a plain-language handoff doc, then 30 days of support. If something I set up isn't working, I fix it. No extra invoice.
Assessment slots are capped at 2 to 3 a month, so a 2 to 6 week lead time is typical. Already know the workflow and the tool? Skip step 2.
A free first step
Not ready to talk? The free AI readiness checklist is 30 yes-or-no questions you can answer without an email. Leave one and it saves your score with a recommendation.
Score your AI readiness first.
The AI Readiness Checklist: 30 yes/no questions across data, workflows, team, governance, and execution. You can answer them without an email. Leave one and your score and recommendation are saved.
Or answer the questions first, no email needed. One-click unsubscribe from anything I send.
“Justin doesn't just write code; he thinks like a CEO. He understands the business impact of every technical decision, which is rare in this industry.”
AI consulting for law firms: common questions
- Who can help a law firm roll out AI?
- I can, for the firm side of it. I'm Justin McKelvey, an AI consultant in Austin, Texas, and I work remotely with owners and managing partners of firms and businesses of $1M to $50M, setting AI up for teams of 10 to 200. The usual order is a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (2 weeks, a written roadmap of which workflows go first, which tool fits, and governance and data-handling guidance), then a done-for-you rollout of Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Microsoft 365 Copilot (from $4,500, about 2 weeks, training included). The $2,500 is credited in full if the rollout starts within 90 days. I'm not a lawyer, and the ethics calls stay with the firm. The first step is a free 30-minute call at justinmckelvey.com/book/strategy-call.
- How much does AI consulting cost a law firm?
- With me, every price is fixed and published: the 30-minute call is free, the AI Readiness Assessment is $2,500 flat, and a rollout starts at $4,500 (range $4,500 to $7,500), with a $1,500 deposit applied in full to the install invoice. The Shop, a self-paced Claude course, is $397 plus $97 per teammate. AI seats are paid to Anthropic, OpenAI, or Microsoft separately, about $20 to $25 per person per month on the business plans.
- Is it ethical for a law firm to use AI?
- The ethics opinions say yes, with conditions. The State Bar of Texas Professional Ethics Committee's Opinion 705 (February 2025) says a lawyer who uses generative AI needs a reasonable and current understanding of it, must protect client confidential information, must verify every output, and may not bill hourly for time the tool saved. It cites ABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) and Florida Bar Opinion 24-1, which go further and suggest informed client consent before these tools are used. Check your own state's opinion; your firm makes that call, not your consultant.
- Can a law firm bill for time saved by AI?
- Not on an hourly matter. Texas Opinion 705 says a lawyer can likely charge for the actual time spent using the tool, including refining and checking its output, but may not charge hourly fees for the time the tool saved, and per-use AI costs can be passed through only as actually incurred and if the client agrees. That is why the first workflows I set up in a firm are usually the unbilled ones: intake, client updates, scheduling, the inbox. The hours saved there come straight back to the firm.
- Which AI plan should a law firm use for client data?
- A business plan, never a personal one. As of October 2026, Anthropic's pricing page lists Claude Team ($20 per seat per month billed annually, $25 monthly, 2 to 150 seats) with no model training on your content by default, while its individual plans list training as an opt-out you have to set yourself. ChatGPT Business also does not train on business data by default. Texas Opinion 705's precautions still apply on top: read the terms of service, learn the data-security protections, and train the people who will use it.
- What should a law firm automate with AI first?
- A non-privileged, unbilled workflow: intake summaries, client status updates from your templates, scheduling and document-request emails, the shared inbox. High text volume, low stakes, no legal analysis, and no billing question. The firm builds its verify-everything habit on safe material first. Research and drafting assistance comes later, with a written rule that every citation is opened by a person before anything is filed.
- Do you set up Harvey or other legal AI platforms?
- No. I set up the general assistants (Claude, ChatGPT Business, and Microsoft 365 Copilot) for the firm's operations, client communication and drafting from your own templates. Legal research platforms are bought from their vendors. The Assessment will tell you whether your firm needs one yet, and most small firms find the general assistant covers the first year.
- Is there a free AI assessment for law firms?
- Yes. The free AI readiness checklist at justinmckelvey.com/ai-readiness-checklist is 30 yes-or-no questions you can answer without an email; leave one and it saves your score with a recommendation. The free 30-minute strategy call is the other free first step. The paid AI Readiness Assessment ($2,500) is the written plan.
Sources
- State Bar of Texas Professional Ethics Committee, Opinion 705 (February 2025), legalethicstexas.com (read October 10, 2026)
- Anthropic, Claude pricing, claude.com/pricing (read October 10, 2026)
- OpenAI, ChatGPT Business plan and data terms (read September 12, 2026)
Read more before you decide
AI for Law Firms
What to install first, and where privilege and the signature stay human.
AI for Lawyers
The solo and small-firm version: four jobs and one rule.
ChatGPT for Lawyers
Which plans train on your inputs, and the 30-minute setup.
Claude for Lawyers
Claude Team for a firm: data terms, seats, and what to load first.
Start with a plan, or start with a call.
The Assessment is $2,500 and credited toward a rollout within 90 days. The call is free and takes 30 minutes. I reply to everything within one business day.