Cross-border litigation, scaled in three weeks.
A specialist litigation firm working across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland used Khiliad's Technology & AI Assessment to turn a working practice into a scalable, valuable, tech-enabled business.
The challenge
The firm was profitable and the team was capable, but the principal wanted to build something that could be valued as a tech-enabled business instead of a traditional partner-dependent practice and build a credible route to exit.
The day-to-day was familiar for a firm at this stage. The principal was the decision point for every inbound matter. Volumes lived in memory rather than in data. People had found their own workarounds: personal templates, personal reminders, personal ways/tools to share documents. It worked. Just not consistently.
The solution
Khiliad's Technology & AI Assessment is deliberately rigorous, deliberately fast. A discrete workstream alongside the leadership team, with no software to sell at the end.
A structured questionnaire across six dimensions of digital maturity. Confidential, anonymised staff interviews at every level. Comparative benchmarking against market average and best-in-class. Findings synthesised into a phased roadmap.
Three weeks, kick-off to leadership debrief resulting in twelve priority opportunities and a plan the client could act on the morning after.
The result
The headline finding clarified everything: technology wasn't the problem, but discipline, governance and structure around existing tools were. The roadmap extracts more value from systems the firm already owns before recommending anything new.
The methodology
The Assessment runs as four sequenced stages over three weeks. No software to sell at the end - the proposal explicitly states the engagement delivers standalone value, and that commitment is kept.
- Step 01MapStructured questionnaire across the six dimensions of digital maturity: infrastructure, process, AI, build, culture, client experience.
- Step 02ListenConfidential, anonymised staff interviews at every level, 45-60 minutes each. Surface what actually happens, not what's supposed to.
- Step 03BenchmarkComparative scoring against market average and best-in-class for firms of similar size and sector.
- Step 04RoadmapTwelve priority opportunities, sequenced into a phased plan with a leadership debrief and clear next moves.
The roadmap delivered
12 opportunities · 3 phases · 18 months- Activate unused CMS features
- Standardise templates & naming
- Lightweight AI usage policy
- Close unsafe document sharing
- Client portal deflects update calls
- Website intake → CMS direct
- Call recording & transcription
- Power BI on caseload & cycle time
- Marketing analytics ↔ case data
- Portal extended to third parties
- AI search & summarisation
- Succession-ready operating model
Projected impact, 24 months
Benchmarked against comparable transformationsMost firms have no baseline. He left with one that was honest, specific, and actionable.
- Honest scoringTelling a successful firm it scored 2.8 / 5 isn't comfortable. Flattery would have wasted everyone's time.
- No vendor agendaThe Assessment delivers standalone value. The roadmap maximises existing systems before recommending anything new.
- Sequenced winsPhase 1 delivers visible results in 90 days, building the credibility to tackle longer-horizon changes.
