A law firm automation engagement with Atlas Programming Solutions has four steps: a free 20-minute discovery call, a paid AI workflow audit, the build, and ongoing support. The call ends with a plain answer on whether automation is worth it for your firm. The audit is priced by firm size, from $500 to $1,500, and you know the price before you book. This post explains each step, what you get from it, and how to judge any automation consultant you talk to, including us.
Why the process matters
When an automation project disappoints, the cause is often settled before any code is written. The workflow wasn't understood. The scope was vague. Nobody agreed on what "done" meant. Or the firm bought a system it didn't need, because whoever sold it was paid to build, not to advise.
The APS process is built to prevent those failures. We look first and build second. Every build has a scope and a quote before work starts. And we'll tell you when automation isn't the answer, before you spend money finding out.
APS is a one-person firm. Aramis M. Figueroa does the audit, the build, and the support himself, backed by a team of AI agents he built in-house. You talk to the person doing the work at every step.
Step 1: Discovery call (free, 20 minutes)
The discovery call is a short conversation about how work moves through your firm today. We ask about intake, document collection, case management, and the handoffs between them. We look for the places where staff time goes into chasing, copying, and re-typing information.
What to bring:
- One or two workflows your team repeats every week.
- The tools involved, such as Clio, MyCase, Microsoft 365, Gmail, or Outlook.
- A rough sense of who does that work today.
What you leave with:
- A plain read on where automation fits in your firm, and where it doesn't.
- A short list of workflows worth looking at in the audit.
- A clear next step, or an honest "not yet."
Sometimes the answer is that automation isn't worth it yet. If a process runs a few times a month, a checklist may serve you better than software. We'll say that on the call. Book the free 20-minute call.
Step 2: AI workflow audit (priced by firm size)
The audit is where vague ideas become specific projects. We map each workflow step by step, using your real tools and documents. We note who touches each step, where it stalls, and which systems hold the data.
What you get:
- A map of each workflow as it runs today.
- A ranked list of projects.
- A scope and quote for each project.
- The list of systems and accounts each build needs access to.
What it costs: the audit is priced by the total number of people at your firm. Up to 5 people is $500. From 6 to 14 is $750. From 15 to 19 is $1,250. From 20 to 29 is $1,500. Firms of 30 or more get a custom quote after a call.
You book the audit online and pay by invoice after the kickoff call. If you go on to a build of $2,000 or more, the audit fee is credited toward it. See what the audit includes, or look at a sample audit plan.
You don't have to build everything on the list. You can start with the single project that saves the most staff time and leave the rest for later.
Step 3: Build
We build against your real tools and test with your real workflow before anything goes live. First AI workflow builds typically cost $2,000 to $3,500. Each build is quoted in the audit, so you know the price before work starts.
Anything that emails people or writes to your systems starts with a person approving each action. AI-drafted messages wait for a staff member to approve them. A full test case runs first with sending and filing switched off.
What you get:
- A working system connected to the tools your firm already uses.
- A full test run before go-live.
- A period where your team approves actions before they run.
- A go-live date you approve.
Step 4: Ongoing support
Going live is not the end of the engagement. Firms change: staff turn over, checklists get updated, a connected tool changes how it works. A system nobody maintains stops matching the firm it was built for.
Ongoing support covers:
- Monitoring and failure alerts, so problems surface without someone at your firm having to notice.
- Updates when your checklists, templates, or rules change.
- Fixes when a connected tool changes how it works.
Ongoing support costs 10% of the build cost per month, with a $500 monthly minimum. If we ever part ways, we hand over everything we built, remove our access, and delete any copies of your data we hold. Read more on data safety and ongoing support.
How to evaluate any law firm automation consultant
Whether you work with us or someone else, these questions separate a consultant who ships from one who sells:
- Can they show you something they built that is running today? Ask for a system in production, not a slide deck. Ours include an AI agent for an insurance claims firm. It requests missing documents, checks the replies, and writes back with what is still missing.
- Will they tell you what not to automate? A consultant who says yes to everything is selling hours.
- Do you get a scope and a price before the build? "We'll figure it out as we go" is how projects run over.
- How does the system behave before it is trusted? Look for an approval step for anything that emails people or writes to your systems.
- Who fixes it when it breaks? Ask what happens after launch, and what it costs.
- Can they back up their results? Ask for numbers they'll stand behind, and how they were measured. Ours: that claims firm's team gets 10–20 hours back a week. The work page has the details.
Where we work
APS is based in South Florida and works with professional-service firms remotely, in Florida and beyond. Engagements run over video calls, email, and the tools your firm already uses. In-person visits are available on request.
Next step
Book a free 20-minute call, or read about the AI workflow audit. Bring the workflow your team complains about most, and we'll tell you plainly whether it's worth automating.