How Solo Practitioners Can Compete with Big Firms Using AI Tools

The enormous gap in manpower between solo practitioners and medium and large firms has long been insurmountable. This dynamic has crystallized over the years, creating an environment where the best cases go almost exclusively to the biggest firms. Countless solo practices have failed because they could never afford to scale and hire. 

The rise of AI tools has created the potential for this dynamic to be flipped on its head. Any lawyer can tell you that firms tend to adapt slowly to new technologies. In many cases, this industry-wide skepticism is a good thing, but AI is not just another blip in the ever-evolving world of new technologies. It represents a truly transformational fulcrum moment in the legal world. 

Solo practitioners using AI can finally keep up with big firms because AI can take the place of the staff members they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. Although AI might be best known for its ability to create silly pictures, its true capabilities are much more vast. It has a nearly infinite capacity for lighting-fast information analysis – when you learn to give it the right work the right way, AI can truly enable solo attorneys to deliver big-firm outcomes—on a solo-firm budget.

What Can AI Do for a Solo Practitioner?

The possibilities are endless. If the perfect employee is hardworking, efficient, takes instruction well, will adapt to the tasks you ask from it, and rarely struggles with burnout or low morale then AI should certainly be first in line for an interview. 

You can think of AI much like how you might think of a legal assistant – the majority of the tasks a legal assistant can handle fall squarely within AI’s capabilities. This includes:

Process, Organize, and Search Evidence

At its core, AI’s greatest ability is to process infinite data in moments. There is perhaps no field more suited to this ability than legal work. How many first-year associates have spent days or weeks combing through 10,000 pages of discovery looking for the needle in the haystack? AI thrives in tasks like these and can take them completely off your plate with seemingly impossible speed. 

Transcribe and Summarize Meetings or Calls

Record client meetings, jail calls, or witness interviews and automatically receive accurate transcripts with searchable summaries. Forget manual note-taking, AI can take care of it. 

Draft Motions, Follow-Ups, and More

From routine follow-up emails to initial drafts of motions or demand letters, AI can generate structured, editable content in seconds – giving you a vital head start. It will learn as you give it feedback, meaning drafts will improve as you work with it.

Create Page Line Summaries and Surface Key Facts in Deposition Transcripts

Tools like SmartDepo (now part of Rev) use AI to generate deposition summaries with accurate page-line citations, highlight inconsistencies, and call out case-critical statements – eliminating hours of manual review.

Clip and Share Key Pieces of Evidence

No more scrubbing through hours of footage – AI makes it easy to extract the exact moments that matter. AI can clip relevant video segments for you. Use it to build exhibits, prep arguments, or share with your team. It’s fast, accurate, and nearly effortless.

Assessing Case Quality During Intake Calls

AI can help you identify strong cases early – without relying on memory, notes, or gut instinct. By transcribing intake calls and extracting key details automatically, AI gives you a structured way to assess case viability in real time.

Generate Structured Outputs From Recurring Case Types

You can customize AI tools. For example, if you handle a lot of DUI defense cases, you can create templates tailored to that workflow – capturing facts like date of arrest, BAC results, officer statements, and procedural errors. Rather than starting from scratch each time, simply feed your AI the discovery and watch it organize everything into your custom template within seconds.

Always Ensure Security Protocols

While not all AI tools prioritize security, Rev’s is specifically designed for lawyers and is SOC 2 Type II compliant with 100% reliable security. If you’ve never experimented with AI, you’ll be amazed at the quality of work it can produce in seconds and the way it can stay locked in on security measures and always fall within compliance. No human error to worry about here! 

How to Best Use AI in Your Solo Practice

Not every attorney who has successfully harnessed the power of AI uses it for everything. It is perhaps best used for alleviating the most tedious and cumbersome tasks, freeing you and your team up to focus on the vital, case-changing details. Some attorneys use AI to give themselves far more time to speak with their clients (without worrying about taking notes while they do!) 

AI can lead to more than just better notes – it can lead to a team with more time, higher morale, and deeper connections with their clients. This can help attorneys to discover a fuller picture of their clients’ experiences and thereby represent them more effectively. 

There is nothing more effective in court than an attorney with time and mental space. In today’s landscape, being that attorney is possible, even if you’re working as a solo practicioner or in a small firm. 

Learning the Nuances of Using AI

Regardless of how you choose to implement AI in your practice, it’s wise to take the time to learn how to maximize the tools. Many developing AI users stop short of unlocking AI’s full potential because they never learn to properly customize it. Rev’s product team can walk you through the many uses of AI, and our blog offers many tips on how to best use AI depending on your practice area. 

AI is only as good as the lawyer using it. For your firm to truly achieve big-firm results with solo practitioner resources, take the time to learn how to maximize the tools. Train your existing staff and exponentially expand their capacity without having to spend on outside hires. 

The more you understand how to fine-tune AI to your workflow, the more return you’ll see—not just in saved time, but in case outcomes, client experience, and overall capacity. AI doesn’t just work out of the box. But when it’s trained to fit your practice, it becomes one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.

Take Your Solo Practice to the Next Level With Rev

Today, big-firm cases and big-firm results aren’t out of reach. Rev can help you close the gap. 

Rev transforms hours of jail calls, deposition transcripts, and interview footage into searchable, citable records you can act on. With legal-grade transcription accuracy, customizable AI Templates, and security built for attorney-client privilege, Rev gives solo practitioners the power to work like a full team—without hiring one.

Thousands of legal professionals already trust Rev to help them move faster, uncover case-winning details, and stay organized without burning out. Start your free trial or book a demo today. Let Rev turn your evidence backlog into a strategic edge.