Compical

For small and regional law firms

Opening a new matter burns hours nobody bills.

Conflicts clear, you take the matter, and then the same names, billing details, and permissions get typed into three systems by someone whose time you cannot bill. Somebody will sell you a platform that promises to end that. Call me before you sign it and I will tell you what it really does and what your practice-management software already does.

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Where I would start

Accepted engagement to a reviewed matter-opening packet

This is a guess based on businesses like yours, not a diagnosis of yours. On the call we find out whether it is actually your problem.

The job

Accepted engagement to a reviewed matter-opening packet

Where work can fragment

Staff may copy client and matter details from intake records and engagement documents into practice-management, billing, document, records, and collaboration systems. They also chase missing administrative fields, assign permissions, and route setup tasks. Different practices or offices may handle the same step differently.

What I would ask on the phone

On the phone I ask where the handoffs are, what your intake, practice-management, document, and billing systems already do, and which odd cases someone has to handle by hand. I do not assume a custom agent or a new platform is the answer, and I am not paid by anyone who sells either.

What stays with professionals

This work starts only after the firm has cleared conflicts and settled acceptance, scope, and engagement terms. Lawyers retain every judgment about representation, advice, strategy, deadlines, and professional obligations. A feasibility test does not create matters, change permissions, calculate deadlines, or send communications without firm approval.

Who this is for

Built for a firm with a consequential matter-opening decision.

  • You open matters often enough that the setup work adds up, and more than one person touches it.
  • You can point to where the money goes: administrative rework, opening delays, delayed billing, staff overtime, or inconsistent setup.
  • A partner can sign off, somebody owns the day-to-day, and the responsible lawyers, whoever handles the money, and whoever looks after your systems can take part.
  • The firm is willing to configure an existing product or stop if the evidence does not support custom work.

What to call about

Three things worth picking up the phone for.

A question you need answered

Should I be using AI for this. My competitor says he automated his intake, is that real. My office manager wants a new system, do we actually need one. You ask, I answer, you decide.

A contract you are about to sign

Send me the proposal, the contract, the statement of work. I read it and tell you on the phone what it actually commits you to, what is missing from it, and which parts you are already paying for somewhere else.

A vendor call you want me on

I join the demo with you and ask the things you do not know to ask. Booked in advance rather than on the spot, because I need to read up first.

Who should be on the call

Have whoever runs intake on the call if you can.

Managing partner, COO, or executive director

Own the decision, agree where the job starts and stops, and decide whether what I find is worth acting on.

Responsible lawyers and the process owner

Define where the admin work begins, identify exceptions, and preserve conflict, acceptance, scope, deadline, and professional-review requirements.

Finance, billing, records, IT, and security

Check my cost numbers, what you already license, access controls, vendor constraints, retention requirements, and implementation dependencies.

Limits

Professional judgment and client information remain controlled.

I give you the technical and operational read. You and your own advisers keep every professional, legal, compliance, and security call.

No conflict, acceptance, or legal decisions

AI does not clear conflicts, accept a client or matter, determine scope, alter engagement terms, calculate legal deadlines, provide advice, or make a professional judgment.

Client information stays under firm control

Tests use synthetic or minimized data by default. Before any of your real records are used, you approve why, where, who can see them, how long they are kept, and what is allowed in.

Verification before system action

A designated person checks names, matter details, billing fields, permissions, documents, and routing before anything is created or changed in a production system.

The firm's governing rules still apply

The firm validates any implementation against the professional rules, ethics opinions, court requirements, engagement terms, client instructions, and security obligations that govern its work.

Not a fit

When a phone call is not what you need.

  • A generic AI training request or a search for tools without a named business decision.
  • Autonomous legal research, advice, strategy, conflict clearance, matter acceptance, deadline calculation, filing, or substantive client communication.
  • A practice-management migration, firm-wide data-cleanup program, custom legal platform, or replacement of the firm's security and compliance work.
  • A project where nobody can sign off, nobody owns the job, no responsible lawyer is involved, or I cannot get at the numbers.
  • Somebody to run the project for you. I answer the phone, I do not build it.

Reference material

Industry and government guidance

These sources inform the questions and boundaries above. Exact obligations depend on your work, your jurisdiction, your clients, your contracts, and your own advisers.

What I put at risk

Two things I will put in writing.

Compical is new and I am taking on my first clients now. I would rather say that than have you work it out. I cannot point you at ten companies like yours that I have already done this for. What I can do is put something of mine at risk on every single call, which is what the two commitments below are.

Nobody pays me except you

No referral fees, no reseller margin, no commission from a vendor. Nobody pays me to point you at their product. If the answer is that you already own the fix and somebody needs to turn it on, that is the answer you get, and the call ends there.

If it was not worth it, I will not bill you

You hang up, you decide the call was not worth what I charge, you tell me. I do not send the invoice, and you do not have to argue about it. That is on every call, not once at the start.

Start here

Who do you call about this stuff?

The first call is free and takes thirty minutes. I use it to learn what you run and who does what, so the paid calls are short. I am not selling you anything on it, because there is nothing to sell you yet.

Book the free first call