Using AI to Compete with BigLaw: The Small Firm Playbook w/ Shavon J. Smith
Release Date: 11/20/2025
Using AI to Compete with BigLaw: The Small Firm Playbook w/ Shavon J. Smith
AI in Practice
Washington, DC attorney Shavon J. Smith runs a small firm that serves growing businesses as their fractional general counsel. In this episode, she explains how AI helps her compete with larger firms โ from mapping workflows to drafting contract checklists, improving client alerts, pressure-testing assumptions, and crafting clearer redline comments during negotiations. She also shares where AI meaningfully improves efficiency, where it simply improves quality, and where human judgment still matters most, especially in negotiation and client counseling. ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ...
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AI Readiness: The IT Infrastructure Lawyers Need Before Adopting AI with Olivia Anderson
AI in Practice
Olivia Anderson helps law firms build the IT infrastructure they need before adopting AI. As Principal at Framework IT, a managed service provider working with legal practices of all sizes, she's seen what happens when firms rush into AI without the cybersecurity foundations in place. In this conversation, she walks through shadow AI, the $5.5 million problem most firms don't know they have, and why managing partners need to own AI governance whether they like it or not. ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: Draft and review contracts 10x faster โ try it free: ...
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AI's Role in the Courtroom with Appellate Lawyer Todd Smith | AI in Practice
AI in Practice
Todd Smith is a board-certified appellate lawyer in Texas who consults with trial teams and handles appeals. In this conversation, he explains how AI tools are changing his workโand where they hit their limits. ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: Draft and review contracts 10x faster โ try it free: ๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐: 0:00 - Introduction 1:42 - Todd's appellate practice model 6:10 - AI collaboration challenges 9:15 - Analyzing trial transcripts with AI 14:57 - Finding arguments vs. knowing what to do with them 19:03 - Small data sets and...
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How to Build a Law Firm That Runs Without You with Joey Vitale
AI in Practice
Before โAI automationโ was a buzzword, Joey Vitale built Indie Law to operate without him. That experienceโpaired with years helping lawyers scale through virtual assistantsโturned him into a quiet expert on systems, delegation, and identity. In this episode, he and host Mike Whelan dig into what happens when the work that once defined you starts running itself, and why the real value of a lawyer might have less to do with tasks and more to do with trust. ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: Draft and review contracts 10x faster โ try it free: https://www.spellbook.legal/...
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Teaching Lawyers to Prompt with AI Legal Consultant Alessandra Colaci
AI in Practice
Alessandra Colaci helps in-house legal teams figure out how to actually use AIโnot just talk about it. As the founder of Legal Plus AI and former founding marketer at Harvey, she's spent years teaching lawyers to prompt, experiment, and integrate AI into their daily work. In this conversation, she breaks down the quick wins that build momentum, the security concerns that keep lawyers up at night, and why most teams need to start smaller than they think. ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: Draft and review contracts 10x faster โ try it free: ...
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Fixed Fees, AI Experiments, and The Future of Family Law with Beau Atkins
AI in Practice
Beau Atkins runs Evolve Family Law in Saskatchewan, Canada, where heโs using AI to reach the 79% of people with legal problems who never hire a lawyer. In this conversation, he shares how he built an AI-assisted tool that guides self-represented clients through court processes โ and how heโs testing an AI agent to handle intake calls. His end goal? Serve with three lawyers what would normally take 300. ๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐: 0:00 - Introduction 1:14 - Meet Beau Atkins 2:15 - The journey from frustrated lawyer to entrepreneur 5:34 - AI experiments in family law...
info_outlineWashington, DC attorney Shavon J. Smith runs a small firm that serves growing businesses as their fractional general counsel. In this episode, she explains how AI helps her compete with larger firms โ from mapping workflows to drafting contract checklists, improving client alerts, pressure-testing assumptions, and crafting clearer redline comments during negotiations. She also shares where AI meaningfully improves efficiency, where it simply improves quality, and where human judgment still matters most, especially in negotiation and client counseling.
๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ:
Get the latest news, trends, and tactics in legal AIโstraight to your inbox.
โ join free: https://www.spellbook.legal/newsletter
๐ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ:
Draft and review contracts 10x faster
โ try it free: https://www.spellbook.legal
๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐:
0:00 - Introduction
2:15 - Meet Shavon J. Smith
3:32 - What is fractional general counsel?
4:00 - AI for process mapping and improvement
6:03 - Using AI as a brainstorming partner
7:46 - Marketing and client communication
8:25 - How clients find the firm (including through AI)
10:06 - Email overwhelm and client management
13:12 - AI for contract drafting and review
16:06 - Being a better strategic advisor
18:00 - Understanding clients' businesses
19:48 - Managing people and processes
22:35 - Where AI can't help: settlement psychology
24:17 - Learning from other lawyers
24:35 - Connect with Shavon