Building a Scalable AI Adoption Model for Freeths
When leading UK law firm Freeths first began exploring AI adoption, the foundations were already in place. Microsoft Copilot had been rolled out across parts of the business, lawyers were actively engaging with AI tools, and the firm had begun experimenting with more advanced AI capabilities.
David Lane, Head of Legal AI at Freeths, wanted the firm to move beyond isolated experimentation and create something more scalable, practical, and embedded into the way the business operated.
“We wanted to take it further,” explains David. “We needed a structured process that would allow us to build repeatable workflows, create prompt libraries, and ultimately develop a model we could continue scaling internally.”
That ambition led Freeths to partner with First AI in December 2025 on a firm-wide AI adoption programme focused on practical implementation, workflow development, and long-term operational change.
Moving beyond AI experimentation
Before partnering with First AI, Freeths had already seen positive engagement with Microsoft Copilot across the firm.
Lawyers were using the technology, training had begun, and there was growing interest in how AI could improve legal workflows.
However, the challenge was no longer whether AI could provide value, it was how to operationalise it effectively across the firm.
The objectives were clear:
- Develop a scalable AI adoption framework
- Build repeatable workflows and prompt libraries
- Identify and prioritise high-value legal use cases
- Create a structured process the internal Legal Engineers team could continue long-term
- Explore how tools like Legora and Copilot could work together across the business
Rather than approaching AI adoption as a purely strategic consultancy exercise, Freeths wanted a delivery-focused partner that could work alongside internal teams to actively build solutions.
“We wanted someone who could help us actually develop workflows and tools — not just produce reports,” says David. “First AI brought a much more hands-on, collaborative approach.”
An embedded partnership approach
Throughout the engagement, First AI consultant Natalie worked closely with David and the wider Freeths innovation team through daily collaboration, weekly project calls, workshops, and ongoing communication across the business.
“Natalie became an extension of the team,” David explains. “She was embedded into our systems and our communication channels. Lawyers across the firm had direct access to her through email and the intranet, which created a huge amount of momentum and collaboration.”
This operationally embedded approach allowed ideas and use cases to move quickly from concept to implementation.
Together, they developed a triage process to assess AI opportunities based on feasibility, desirability, ROI, and business impact. Lawyers across departments submitted bottlenecks, workflow challenges, and ideas directly into the programme through internal channels.
“We were always open to ideas,” says David. “We focused on both the low-hanging fruit and the bigger transformational opportunities.”
Legora and Copilot: A Complementary Approach
Working alongside lawyers and legal engineers, First AI helped Freeths develop a growing library of AI-enabled workflows, prompts, and operational assets across both Microsoft Copilot and Legora.
More than 100 potential legal AI use cases were identified throughout the firm, with many developed into practical prompts and workflow tools now being used across the firm.
The focus was always on solving real operational challenges for lawyers.
“The goal was twofold: to reduce time spent on repetitive manual tasks, so lawyers could focus on the more intellectual aspects of their work, and to then give tools to support lawyers in that creative and intellectual thinking” David explains.
Some of the most impactful use cases included:
Contract and due diligence analysis
Contract review playbooks
Drafting and review support
Automated report creation
“Mass document analysis that 3 years ago would have been cost-prohibitive is now on the table” says David “Not only can we offer that capability to clients in a commercially viable way, we are exploring how to take it to the next level with complimentary data analysis and workflow support.”
Building practical AI solutions for legal workflows
A key element of the programme involved understanding how different AI platforms could support different areas of the business.
For Freeths, the combination of Microsoft Copilot and Legora proved highly effective.
“Copilot is built into everything we do within the Microsoft ecosystem,” says David. “It gives us enormous contextual awareness across email, SharePoint, meetings, and operational workflows.”
Meanwhile, Legora offered highly specialised legal functionality designed specifically for lawyers.
“Legora is incredibly powerful for legal workflows straight out of the box,” David explains. “It’s purpose-built for legal tasks and allows lawyers to work much faster within familiar processes.”
Rather than viewing the tools competitively, Freeths saw significant value in using both together.
“Legora is fantastic for legal-specific work, while Copilot adds value across wider operational and organisational tasks. They’re highly complementary.”
The firm has since expanded Legora licensing and undertaken a full Copilot for 365 rollout across the business.
Culture & people
One of the most notable outcomes of the project was the level of engagement and enthusiasm shown by lawyers and teams across the business.
Rather than resistance, Freeths experienced curiosity and proactive involvement throughout the rollout.
“The culture at Freeths has been incredibly positive toward AI,” says David. “People were eager to engage, experiment, and understand how these tools could make their time more efficient and effective.”
Training, governance, and responsible AI usage were prioritised early to build trust and confidence across the firm.
“We made sure people understood how to use the technology responsibly, where the guardrails were, and the importance of human oversight.”
As adoption increased, AI also began influencing how lawyers approached their work more fundamentally.
“We’re starting to see people think AI-first,” David explains. “Not just ‘How do I do this faster?’ but ‘How could this process be completely reimagined using AI?’”
Knowledge sharing also became a major part of the culture shift, with teams actively sharing workflows, learnings, and use cases internally.
Creating a Scalable AI Adoption Blueprint
For Freeths, one of the most valuable outcomes of the engagement has been the creation of a scalable AI adoption framework the business can continue building upon internally.
The project established:
- A structured AI solutions pipeline
- Repeatable legal AI workflows
- Prompt and use case libraries
- Cross-functional collaboration processes
- Foundations for future AI agent development
- Internal operational capability for long-term adoption
The next phase will focus on scaling adoption further, expanding prompt libraries, and exploring AI agents opportunities across the business.
“We’re still at the foothills of what’s possible with AI,” says David. “But we’re already seeing lawyers rethink how work can be approached entirely differently.”
Reflecting on the success of the partnership, David believes the collaborative, delivery-focused approach was central to the project’s impact.
“Collaboration and momentum has been the biggest factor,” he says. “Having Natalie embedded as part of the team allowed us to work in a genuinely agile and practical way.”
For First AI, the Freeths project demonstrates how successful AI adoption in legal services depends not only on technology, but on structured implementation, complimentary AI tools working alongside each other and operational collaboration from inside the business.
As firms across the legal sector continue exploring AI, the partnership between Freeths and First AI offers a practical example of what scalable, embedded AI talent can deliver in practice.