LEGAL AUTOMATION

AI Legal Assistant: Replace Clio, PracticePanther, and MyCase

Build a legal operations AI that manages matters, tracks billable hours, drafts documents, and never misses a deadline—all in a shared workspace that costs a fraction of per-seat legal software.

December 26, 2025•LEGAL AUTOMATION

Let's do the math. Clio: $109/user/month. PracticePanther: $75/user/month. MyCase: $54/user/month. For a 10-attorney firm, that's $6,480 to $13,080 per year—just to track time and store documents.

What do you actually get? A database with a calendar. A document folder with search. Time tracking that your associates still forget to use. The 'automation' is just email templates and reminder notifications.

What if an AI agent managed your entire legal practice—tracking matters, logging time automatically, drafting documents from templates, and coordinating with your billing agent to get invoices out on time?

The Legal Software Tax

Here's what legal practice management tools actually cost for a 10-attorney firm:

Tool	Price/User	Annual (10 users)
Clio	$109/user/mo	$13,080
PracticePanther	$75/user/mo	$9,000
MyCase	$54/user/mo	$6,480
LawPay	$22/user/mo+ 2.95%/txn	$2,640

Prices based on professional tiers as of December 2025. Enterprise tiers cost 2-3x more.

You're paying $109/user/month for what's essentially a fancy spreadsheet with a calendar.

What Legal Practice Management Actually Is (The Uncomfortable Truth)

Strip away the branding and what are you left with?

Legal Software Feature	What It Really Is
Matter Management	Folder structure with metadata fields
Time Tracking	Timesheet with hourly rate math
Document Management	File storage with version history
Client Portal	Login page showing shared files
Legal Billing	Time entries × rates = invoice PDF

Legal practice management software is a $109/user/month file cabinet with a timer.

What an AI Legal Assistant Actually Does

An AI legal assistant isn't just a chatbot that searches your documents. It's a persistent agent that actively manages your practice—and works alongside other agents in your legal team:

Maintains a shared matter database

The agent creates and updates matter files that other agents can read. Your billing agent, intake agent, and research agent all access the same client information.

Logs time automatically

Email correspondence, document drafting, research—the agent tracks your work and suggests time entries. No more reconstructing your week on Friday.

Drafts documents from templates

Engagement letters, motions, discovery requests—tell the agent what you need and it pulls from your templates, filling in matter-specific details.

Never misses a deadline

Court dates, filing deadlines, statute of limitations—the agent tracks every critical date and alerts you with time to spare.

Manages client communications

Draft status updates, log calls, schedule follow-ups. The agent keeps your client relationships organized without the data entry.

The Killer Feature: A Shared Workspace for Your Legal Team

Here's what makes this fundamentally different from any legal software you've used before. In Lazarus, your AI agents share a persistent workspace—the same files, the same context, the same source of truth. Your legal assistant, billing agent, and intake agent all work in the same space, building on each other's work.

/legal
  /matters
    acme-corp-contract-dispute/
      matter-info.md
      timeline.csv
      communications.md
    johnson-estate/
      matter-info.md
      documents.csv
  /templates
    engagement-letter.md
    motion-to-dismiss.md
    discovery-request.md
  /billing
    time-entries.csv
    invoices/
  deadlines.csv

When your intake agent onboards a new client, it writes to /matters/. Your legal assistant reads that file and sets up the matter structure. Your billing agent monitors the same matter files for invoiceable time. No API integrations, no data silos, no sync issues—just agents collaborating in real time.

No per-seat fees

The agents maintain simple data files together. No Clio, no PracticePanther, no monthly bills multiplied by headcount.

Full data ownership

Your client data lives in your workspace. Export it, back it up, migrate it—no vendor lock-in, no data hostage situations.

Agents collaborate seamlessly

When one agent updates a matter, every other agent sees it instantly. Intake creates a client? Legal assistant sets up the matter. Time logged? Billing agent prepares the invoice.

Intelligence compounds over time

Every matter, every document, every communication logged by one agent becomes context for all agents. Your practice gets smarter the longer you use it.

This isn't a tool that helps you manage matters. It's a legal operations team that manages your entire practice.

Setting Up Your Legal Assistant

Here's what a configured legal assistant looks like in Lazarus. Every agent gets its own email address and works within the shared workspace:

Agent Name

Legal Assistant

Description

The legal assistant for your firm. Maintains matter files, tracks deadlines, logs time, drafts documents, and coordinates with billing and intake agents automatically.

Agent ID

legal-assistant

legal@firm.lazarusconnect.com

Capabilities

Read filesWrite filesSearch in filesConnect to external toolsSend emails

Scheduled Work

Daily deadline checkEvery day at 7:00 AM

Statute of limitations scanEvery Monday at 9:00 AM

Weekly billing summaryEvery Friday at 5:00 PM

The agent's email (legal@firm.lazarusconnect.com) lets you forward client emails for logging, CC the agent on correspondence, or email it directly with instructions. Other agents in your workspace can see the interactions it logs.

A Day in the Life: Your Legal AI Team

Here's what it looks like when AI agents manage your practice. Watch how they track matters, draft documents, and coordinate billing seamlessly:

Morning Matter Review via Slack

via Slack - #legal

@legal-assistant what's on my calendar today?

Here's your schedule for January 20, 2025:

Matter	Status	Next Deadline
Acme v. Globex	Discovery	Jan 25 - Interrogatories due
Johnson Estate	Probate filing	Jan 28 - Court date
Smith Contract Review	Awaiting signature	Jan 22 - Follow up

Heads up: The Acme v. Globex interrogatories are due in 5 days. I've drafted responses based on the discovery materials—ready for your review in /matters/acme-v-globex/drafts/.

Should I schedule time to review the Johnson Estate documents before the court date?

Document Drafting via Email

via Email - to legal@firm.lazarusconnect.com

Draft a motion to compel for the Acme case. They haven't responded to our second discovery request.

I've drafted the motion to compel based on your firm's template.

Referenced: Second Request for Production (served Nov 15), their responses (partial, received Dec 20), and the meet and confer email from Jan 10.

Saved to /matters/acme-v-globex/drafts/motion-to-compel-2025-01-20.md

Looks good. File it and calendar the hearing.

Filed via CM/ECF. Hearing calendared for Feb 3, 2025 at 9:00 AM. I've notified opposing counsel and updated the matter timeline.

Time Entry Review via Slack

via Slack - #billing

@legal-assistant show me my unbilled time this week

Here's your unbilled time for the week of January 13-17:

Matter	Hours	Amount
Acme v. Globex	12.5	$4,375
Johnson Estate	8.0	$2,800
Smith Contract	3.5	$1,225
General Consultation	2.0	$700

Total: 26 hours at $350/hr = $9,100 unbilled. I've prepared draft invoices for your review. Should I send them to the billing agent for processing?

Deadline Alert via Email

via Email - Scheduled (Daily at 7:00 AM)

Deadline Alert - January 20, 2025

Critical deadlines requiring attention:

Deadline	Matter	Action Required
TODAY	Acme v. Globex	File motion to compel
Tomorrow	Meridian LLC	Response to discovery due
Jan 25	Chen Divorce	Settlement conference

I've prepared a draft motion for the Acme filing—review needed by end of day.

The Meridian discovery responses are 60% complete. I can finish drafting if you approve the remaining answers.

Build Your Legal AI Team in 15 Minutes

Here's how to build your first legal assistant—and set up the shared workspace for your entire firm:

Step 1: Create the agent and write instructions

Open Lazarus and create a new agent. Name it 'Legal Assistant' or 'Matter Manager.' Then describe what you want:

"You are my legal assistant. Maintain matter files in /matters/. Track all deadlines in /legal/deadlines.csv. Log time entries to /billing/time-entries.csv. Draft documents using templates in /templates/. Every morning, check for upcoming deadlines and alert me. Coordinate with the Billing Agent for invoice preparation."

Step 2: Connect to Email and Slack

Add your communication channels. The agent will log client correspondence, respond to Slack mentions, and track all interactions in the shared workspace.

Step 3: Set up the shared workspace

Create the folder structure your legal team will share: /matters/, /templates/, /billing/, /deadlines.csv. All your agents will read from and write to this same structure.

Step 4: Import existing matters and templates

Export your existing matters from Clio/PracticePanther as CSV and upload. Add your document templates to /templates/. The agent will learn your firm's patterns.

Step 5: Test and add more agents

Forward a client email to the agent and watch it log the communication. Ask for a document draft. Then create your Billing Agent and Intake Agent—all working in the same workspace.

That's it. You've built the foundation for a legal operations team that tracks every deadline, logs every hour, and drafts documents on demand—for a fraction of per-seat software costs.

The Full Picture: Your Legal Operations AI Team

This is where Lazarus truly shines. Build a team of specialized agents that share the same workspace—reading each other's files, building on each other's work, and collaborating without human orchestration:

Agent	Role	Workspace Access
Legal Assistant	Matter management & document drafting	Writes /matters/*, reads all
Billing Agent	Time tracking & invoice generation	Writes /billing/, reads /matters/
Intake Agent	Client onboarding & conflict checks	Writes /clients/, reads /matters/
Research Agent	Legal research & case law analysis	Writes /research/*, reads all