Every question we ask, published before you pay.

AThe firm

1. 1How many people work in the firm, and roughly in what roles?
2. 2What kinds of work does the firm take on, and roughly what share does each represent?
3. 3Roughly how many new files do you open in a year?
4. 4How do you charge for the most common kinds of work? Flat fee, hourly, per unit, or a mix — and roughly what range.
5. 5What software runs the firm? Whatever holds the work, the documents, the billing and the incoming requests — anything the team touches daily.
6. 6Is there anything the team keeps outside that software — a spreadsheet, a shared inbox, a whiteboard, paper?

BOne workflow

1. 7Which workflow are we looking at?
2. 8What starts it? A document arriving, a phone call, a notice, a deadline?
3. 9Walk us through it, start to finish. Who does what, in what order, and what has to be true before the next person can pick it up.
4. 10For each step, roughly how long does the work itself take?
5. 11And roughly how long does the work sit before someone gets to it?
6. 12Where does the work most often stall, and what is it usually waiting for?
7. 13What arrives incomplete, in the wrong format, or in the wrong form — and who fixes it?
8. 14What goes wrong, how often, and what does the team do when it does?
9. 15Does anyone see this workflow as a whole? If someone asked where a particular file stood right now, who would know, and how long would it take them to find out?

CWhere it costs you

1. 16Which kinds of work routinely take more time than you priced them for?
2. 17Do you track that anywhere, or is it more of a feeling?
3. 18If each person on the team got five hours back a week, what would you do with them — take on more work, or give people their evenings back?
4. 19Are you turning away work you could take? If so, is the limit your team's capacity or what clients can afford?
5. 20What does a file of this type earn the firm, roughly, once it is done?

DAI as it stands today

1. 21Is anyone in the firm using AI tools for work right now? What for?
2. 22Was that something the firm set up, or did people start on their own?
3. 23Has anything been tried and abandoned? What happened?
4. 24Is there a written policy on AI use? If so, please describe it or attach it.
5. 25What would make you uncomfortable about AI touching client files?

EConstraints

1. 26Is there any part of this workflow we should leave alone? Something that works, something a client expects, something you simply do not want changed.
2. 27Are there regulatory, licensing, or client-confidentiality considerations particular to your business that we should have in front of us?
3. 28Is there anyone on the team who would resist a change here, and do you know why?
4. 29Realistically, who would have the time to put a change into practice, and when?

FWhat good looks like

1. 30A year from now, what is different about how this workflow runs?
2. 31Is there anything we have not asked about that you think we should know?