In this blog, we feature insights from Terry Dohrmann, co-founder and CEO at Lexafide, on how AI is reducing intake efficiencies that erode law firm profitability. Terry explains why non-lawyer operational functions have historically created significant cost pressure for plaintiffs law firms, and how new AI-driven workflows are reshaping performance without replacing people.

The Historic Drag of Intake Inefficiencies

For years, law firm profitability has been viewed through a narrow lens: more cases, higher rates, better marketing, and stronger settlements. The real drag, however, often starts long before a case reaches an attorney.

One of the most overlooked drivers of the bottom line isn’t case settlement. It’s the non-lawyer workforce, particularly intake teams and case managers. According to Terry, “We often hear firm runners say at industry conferences that up to 80% of their firm’s operating expenses (Opex) is payroll, with up to 80% of that payroll attributed to non-lawyers”. These roles, while essential, have historically created heavy operational overhead, inconsistent execution, and inefficient manual workflows that drain profit margins long before matters reach attorneys, even in high volume firms.

Today, AI is quietly reshaping this landscape, not by replacing skilled staff but by unburdening them and reducing intake inefficiencies. Firms are beginning to discover that the fastest way to increase profits isn’t hiring more people, it’s rethinking how work gets done.

The Real Cost of Non-Lawyer Labor

Unlike attorneys, intake teams and case managers don’t generate revenue directly. Yet, in many plaintiffs law firms, they are often among the largest cost centers in the operating budget. A mid-sized firm with 100 employees may employ 30–40 staff solely for answering calls, following up with leads, scheduling appointments, and gathering basic case information.

This creates a two-fold financial impact:

• Labor Cost: Intake departments can account for 20–30% of payroll¹ in personal injury and mass tort firms.
• Operational Leaks: Missed calls, unqualified leads, and inconsistent follow-ups, and data entry errors directly reduce revenue, often without clear visibility into the loss or true cost.

The result is lower case conversion rates and lower profit per case, even when case volume is high.

Why Intake Tends to Operate Inefficiently

Most traditional intake processes evolve organically, not strategically. As a result, these intake and case management workflows depend on:

• Manual data entry
• Phone trees and voicemail dead-ends
• Follow-ups via sticky notes and spreadsheets
• Processes shaped by human variability instead of standardization.

The 3 Common Issues for Law Firm Intake

For plaintiffs law firms, case acquisition is considered the lifeblood of the practice. Too often, firms lose cases because their intake processes allow leads to fall through the cracks.

Here are three common issues affecting law firm intake:

• Fragmented communication channels: Calls, texts, emails, forms, and referrals live in different systems.
• Delayed response times: Lead value decays by the hour, not the day.
• No real-time reporting: Most firms lack real-time insight and often do not see conversion metrics until it’s too late.

The Shift: AI as a Force Multiplier, Not a Replacement

One misconception is that AI will eliminate intake jobs. Instead, AI is emerging as an efficiency multiplier that enhances human performance.

With AI, firms can:

• Capture every call, lead, or web inquiry 24/7
• Qualify leads instantly using firm-define criteria
• Sync data directly into CRM or CMS platforms
• Generate real-time KPI reporting automatically, including conversion, response time, value per lead, and bottlenecks

AI systems create structured data that finally makes intake measurable. That’s where profitability starts to compound.

The Economics Are Hard to Ignore

Plaintiffs law firms implementing AI-driven intake tools are seeing a meaningful shift in operational leverage:

The economics flip quickly: replacing even two full-time intake roles with AI-assisted workflows can save $120K–$160K per year¹, without sacrificing performance, and usually improving it.

This doesn’t mean creating smaller teams. Law firms will create teams that can focus on higher-value work, such as client communication, deeper qualification, and litigation support. The benefit is smarter, not thinner teams.

Why This Matters Now

The legal market is shifting from “do more work” to “do smarter work.” Firm owners are paying closer attention to:

• Profit per employee
• Cost per qualified case
• Time to follow-up
• Conversion rate by channel

Firms that adopt AI now will gain a competitive advantage through faster client response times, cleaner data, and more consistent client experiences. Those that wait may face a gap that many retailers faced during Amazon’s rise. The winners were not the companies that hired more people. They were the companies that built better systems.

The Future Plaintiffs Law Firm: Smaller, Faster, More Profitable

The law firm of the future may not be bigger. But it will be:

• Data-driven instead of gut-driven
• Automation-first instead of manpower-first
• Built on structured intake instead of improvisation

AI won’t replace intake; it will elevate it. And in doing so, it will reshape the economics of plaintiffs law firms across the industry. Because the real profit isn’t in adding more people, it’s enabling the ones you already have to do more.

¹ U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes436012.htm