Most law firms that attempt AI adoption get the sequencing wrong. They begin with tool selection. They should begin with readiness assessment.
The pattern is consistent. A firm purchases a contract review platform or a research assistant, deploys it with minimal preparation, and watches adoption stall below 20% within six months. The technology is rarely the problem. The absence of a structured assessment of the firm's capacity to absorb new technology is almost always the cause.
This framework breaks AI readiness into six independently scorable dimensions. It provides a clear diagnostic of where a firm stands and what to prioritise first.
The firms that succeed with AI are not the ones with the biggest budgets. They are the ones that understand their starting position.
The Six Dimensions
1. Technology Infrastructure Audit
Before evaluating any AI solution, a firm needs an honest picture of its existing technology landscape. Can your systems support the data flows that AI requires? Most mid-market firms self-assess their technology readiness at 7 out of 10. In practice, the score is typically closer to 4. The gap is not capability. It is fragmentation.
2. Process Mapping and Maturity
AI does not improve processes. It amplifies them. A poorly defined or inconsistent process, once automated, produces inconsistency at scale. This dimension assesses how well a firm understands and documents its own workflows — from client intake to billing.
3. Team AI Literacy and Change Readiness
This dimension determines whether most AI strategies succeed or fail. A typical mid-market firm has 10-15% enthusiastic early adopters, 50-60% cautiously interested, and 25-35% sceptical or resistant. The effective strategy is to equip the cautious majority with the confidence to move forward.
4. Risk and Compliance Posture
AI in legal practice carries risks that do not exist in most other industries. Client confidentiality, professional privilege, regulatory obligations, and the potential for AI-generated errors all demand structured assessment — from data residency to professional indemnity implications.
5. Vendor and Market Evaluation
The legal AI market is growing rapidly. The noise-to-signal ratio is high. This dimension assesses a firm's ability to evaluate and select tools based on evidence — integration fit, security posture, total cost of ownership, and reference clients — rather than demos and marketing.
6. Implementation Roadmap
The final dimension pulls everything together. Based on scores across the five dimensions above, a firm can build a sequenced implementation plan in 90-day increments — starting with quick wins and building toward broader transformation.
The full report includes detailed scoring guides for each dimension, assessment questions with scoring worksheets, score interpretation bands, and a structured next-steps framework. Download it to run the assessment with your leadership team.