Top 10 AI Tools Every Legal Professional in Billings Should Know in 2025

Billings attorneys should pay attention: national research shows individual generative‑AI use is rising but firm‑level adoption and strategy lag, creating both risk and opportunity for Montana practices (FedBar Legal Industry Report 2025).

Leading studies call AI “the single driver” reshaping law firms and urge immediate action to pilot high‑impact use cases and build data governance (Thomson Reuters 2025 AI Action Plan for Law Firms).

Key quick wins in Billings include automating intake, transcriptions, and billing workflows while training lawyers to supervise outputs; practical upskilling like Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work helps smaller firms close the competency gap and implement safeguards (Nucamp AI Essentials for Work syllabus).

Metric	Value
Personal generative AI use (2024)	31%
Firms with visible AI strategy	22%
Expect AI to change business (5 yrs)	80%

“Today, we're entering a brave new world in the legal industry, led by rapid‑fire AI‑driven technological changes that will redefine conventional notions of how law firms operate…”

Our selection prioritized practical value for Billings firms: we scored tools on security/compliance, accuracy, integration with common practice‑management and billing systems, ease of use for small teams, and measurable ROI from pilot deployments - criteria adapted from the buyer‑guide methodology used by SSR (SSR buyer-guide methodology for onboarding tool evaluation).

We gave extra weight to features that reduce manual intake and billing work while preserving attorney supervision, and we screened vendors for SOC 2 or equivalent controls and straightforward integrations because Montana firms often lack large IT departments (see local ethics and supervision guidance in Nucamp's practical primer on AI use: Nucamp practical primer on using AI as a legal professional in Billings, 2025).

Finally, we validated vendor claims through demos, pilot tests, and user interviews, then cross‑checked workforce implications against Nucamp's recommendations on upskilling for Montana lawyers to supervise AI outputs responsibly (Nucamp guidance on AI and legal jobs in Billings, 2025).

Evaluation Criterion	Priority
Security & compliance (SOC 2, encryption)	High
Integration with PMS/billing	High
Ease of use / small‑firm fit	High
Accuracy & auditability	Medium
Pilot ROI & vendor support	Medium

For Billings litigators handling discovery, depositions, and fast‑moving motion practice, Casetext's CoCounsel - launched in March 2023 and tested by large firms - brings rapid, citation‑aware legal research and document analysis that can meaningfully reduce routine review time while surfacing issues for attorney oversight (Casetext CoCounsel launch and testing - LawNext article).

Product summaries and vendor benchmarks report measurable gains - faster document review and higher hit rates on key facts - while also emphasizing Westlaw/PRACTICAL‑Law‑style grounding and integrations that matter to firms using established research and DMS tools (CoCounsel Legal product metrics and integrations - Thomson Reuters).

At the same time, independent analysis underscores that CoCounsel is GPT‑4–based and flags persistent risks: hallucinations, jurisdictional gaps (Montana statutes and local precedent require extra vetting), and the need for clear supervision and data controls (Technical and trust analysis of CoCounsel - COHUBICOL blog).

Use it in Billings as a supervised assistant - pilot on discovery bundles, require citation checks, and train staff to spot state‑law edges.

Metric	Value
Document review speedup	2.6×
Users finding more key information	85%
Casetext acquisition headline	$650M

“It creates a momentous opportunity for attorneys to delegate tasks like legal research, document review, deposition preparation, and contract analysis to an AI, freeing them to focus on the most impactful aspects of their practice.”

ChatGPT (OpenAI) - versatile drafting, summaries, and brainstorming: For Billings attorneys, ChatGPT is a practical, low‑friction assistant for first drafts, client‑facing summaries, intake scripts, deposition question brainstorming, and quick research outlines - but only as a supervised tool that respects Montana's confidentiality and local precedent checks.

Industry guides recommend GPT‑4o (ChatGPT Plus/Enterprise) for higher input capacity and speed while cautioning firms to avoid pasting privileged client data into public models and to verify all citations and state‑law conclusions (ChatGPT for Lawyers guide (Rankings.io)).

Adoption is most effective when paired with prompt discipline (role, jurisdiction, format) and reuseable templates; Clio's prompt library shows how concise, role‑defined requests yield usable outputs for client emails, FAQs, and intake flows (ChatGPT prompts for lawyers (Clio)).

Benchmarks show lawyers commonly use general LLMs for drafting and summarization - useful context when deciding which tasks to automate vs. supervise (AI legal writing tools & usage stats (MyCase)).

Use cases summary:

Task	Usage %
Drafting correspondence	54%
Summarizing documents	39%
Editing & templates	35–32%

Start with low‑risk pilots (non‑confidential client guides, marketing, and intake) and escalate to secured enterprise deployments for casework after establishing review protocols and staff training.

Lexis+ AI is a practical, citation‑first choice for Billings firms that need AI assistance without sacrificing verifiability: recent LexisNexis updates embed Shepard's® citation validation into search results and the Protégé assistant to flag “At Risk” authorities and surface treatment summaries, so Montana practitioners can immediately spot cases that may be overruled or weak for Montana state law (see LexisNexis Shepard's citation validation enhancements: LexisNexis Shepard's citation validation enhancements).

Lexis+ AI's integrated Protégé assistant and secure multi‑model options let you set a default jurisdiction (set it to Montana for Billings matters), upload briefs for Shepardizing, and run grounded deep research without switching tools (product overview: Lexis+ AI legal research platform and Protégé overview); LexisNexis also announced Protégé General AI to extend secure, private access to multiple models while preserving Shepard's checks for human review (Protégé General AI secure multi‑model access announcement).

Use Lexis+ AI in Billings as a supervised research assistant - treat linked citations as starting points, always Shepardize before filing, and train staff to verify Montana statutes and local precedent.

“The lawyer remains the ultimate validator of legal research.”

Metric	Value
Law firm ROI (3 years)	344%
Corporate legal ROI (3 years)	284%

Clio Duo brings legal‑specific AI into the practice management flow Billings firms already trust, embedding instant matter summaries, document analysis, intake automation, and task/time entry creation directly inside Clio Manage so small Montana teams can cut admin work while keeping attorney supervision front and center (see Clio Duo legal AI features: Clio Duo legal AI features and capabilities).

Available as a U.S. add‑on to Essentials, Advanced, or Complete plans, Duo respects permissions, keeps activity logs, and does not use firm data to train outside models - important for Montana confidentiality and regulatory review - but firms should pilot on intake and billing workflows and require manual verification of state statutes and case law (pricing and plan tiers: Clio Manage pricing and plans).

In practice, Billings firms can start with Duo to automate client intake forms, draft routine client messages, and summarize medical or discovery documents, then scale its use with firm policies and training (detailed product guidance available in Clio's overview: Clio Duo product overview and blog).

Plan	Starting price (USD/user/mo)
EasyStart	$49
Essentials	$89
Advanced	$149

“Clio Duo makes it easy for my support staff to quickly generate professional letters and correspondence for court personnel, prosecutors, and other key stakeholders.”

Smith.ai offers Billings firms a pragmatic, cost‑aware path to 24/7 intake, lead screening, and bilingual answering that reduces missed calls and captures time‑sensitive matters after hours - useful for solo practitioners and small Montana firms that can't staff a full‑time receptionist.

The hybrid model pairs an AI‑first layer with North America‑based human agents for seamless escalation, native integrations with Clio and other practice systems, and per‑call or subscription pricing so you only pay for captured opportunities; see Smith.ai's detailed virtual receptionist pricing for plan comparisons and add‑ons (Smith.ai virtual receptionist pricing and features).

For lean pilots, the AI Receptionist tier can start as low as a 30‑call bundle while preserving live backup and call transcription - Smith.ai documents its AI Receptionist plan tiers and per‑call overages for clear budgeting (Smith.ai AI Receptionist plans and per‑call pricing).

Independent product listings and reviews note a risk‑free trial window and strong law‑firm feature support (Clio, LawPay, conflict checks) that matter for Montana confidentiality and intake workflows (Smith.ai review and feature summary - LawNext directory).

Simple cost snapshot:

Plan	Calls Included	Price / month
Starter (AI)	30	$97.50
Basic (AI)	90	$270.00
Pro (AI)	300	$825.00

“Smith.ai is our inbound sales team. Having a trained and personable voice has transformed our ability to answer the phone and convert callers to clients.”

For Billings firms, pilot Smith.ai on after‑hours intake and conflict‑check workflows, measure lead conversion lift, and require attorney review of intake summaries before case acceptance.

Gavel.io is a lawyer‑built, no‑code document automation platform that helps Billings firms speed intake and generate court‑ready Word/PDF documents with conditional logic, client portals, and Clio integration - making it a practical choice for Montana practices that need to cut routine drafting time while keeping attorneys in the review loop; explore the vendor directly at Gavel.io document automation platform and compare plan limits on the Gavel.io pricing and plans.

Key features - guided interviews, Word add‑in, DocuSign/Stripe integration, SOC‑grade security, and an AI “Blueprint” to accelerate workflow building - fit solo and small‑firm needs in Billings for estate planning, probate, real estate closings, and intake automation; read the product overview for legal form drafting at the Gavel.io legal form software overview.

Simple pricing snapshot for budgeting in Montana:

Plan	Monthly Price (USD)
Lite	$83
Standard	$210
Pro	$290
Scale / Enterprise	Starts ~ $417

Use a 7‑day trial and pilot Gavel on one high‑volume workflow (e.g., estate plans or intake → document set) to measure time saved and ensure Montana statutes and local court forms are validated by counsel before filing.

“We were able to do an entire estate plan in 30 minutes.”

Relativity remains the enterprise standard for large‑scale e‑discovery and is worth Billings firms' attention when a case means millions of documents, cross‑border data, or complex privilege issues: Relativity aiR for Review and aiR for Privilege accelerate first‑pass review, surface citations and rationales, and expose why a prediction might be wrong so Montana counsel can supervise defensibly.

Practical takeaways for Billings practices: pilot aiR on a single large matter, validate with statistical sampling (precision/recall and elusion testing), insist on citation evidence for any AI‑flagged documents, and confirm model availability/security for US Azure deployments before enterprise use.

Relativity publishes adoption and performance metrics that illustrate its scale and defendability; below are representative operational metrics to weigh during procurement: Relativity's “The New Review” on aiR for Review RelativityOne release notes & What's New

Metric	Value
Active aiR account growth	4× year‑over‑year
Documents analyzed (YOY)	10× increase
Reported recall in studies	~96%

Use Relativity as a supervised augmentation - align workflows to Montana rules, preserve human review for state‑law issues, and lean on enterprise controls and secure model integrations described in Relativity's AI overview when scaling: Relativity Artificial Intelligence overview and aiR metrics.

“aiR is an open door to pay more attention to the discovery process and the documents that you're analyzing throughout that process.”

Spellbook is a Microsoft Word‑native contract copilot that Billings transactional attorneys can pilot to speed drafting, automate redlines, and enforce firm‑specific review playbooks while keeping lawyers as the final arbiter: the Word Add‑In lets you generate clauses from saved libraries, run risk‑focused redlines, compare against industry benchmarks, and now leverage its latest LLM upgrade (GPT‑5) for higher‑quality drafts.

Its design favors small‑firm workflows in Montana - use Playbooks and the new Associate multi‑document agent to standardize estate‑planning, real‑estate, and commercial templates, then require attorney sign‑off before filing to address state‑law nuances and local court forms.

Spellbook is marketed to law firms and in‑house teams with custom per‑seat licensing and a 7‑day free trial - contact sales for quotes on team pricing (Spellbook pricing and plans for law firms) - and it emphasizes privacy and defendability (zero data‑retention agreements, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR/CCPA compliance) in its usage guidance (Spellbook security and usage guidelines for legal teams).

For a concise feature summary and implementation tips for small firms, see Spellbook's product overview and Word Add‑In details (Spellbook product features and Word Add‑In overview).

Feature	Why it matters for Billings firms
Word Add‑In (Draft/Redline)	Keeps workflow in familiar editor; reduces formatting rework
Playbooks & Associate	Standardizes firm language and multi‑doc matters
Security & Trial	SOC 2, zero retention, 7‑day free trial for pilots

For Billings firms, LawDroid offers a practical, small‑firm friendly way to automate 24/7 intake, qualify leads, and generate draft documents while keeping attorneys in control: its no‑code Builder platform creates website chatbots that typically double lead capture versus a static contact page, and Copilot provides focused legal research, document summarization, and drafting support for routine client communications and screenings.

Deploying LawDroid can reduce front‑desk time (capture, conflict checks, document requests) and feed structured intake into your case management, but Montana counsel should pilot on after‑hours intake and conflict‑check workflows, require human takeover for state‑law questions, and never paste privileged data into unvetted prompts.

LawDroid also surfaces analytics to help prioritize callers and refine triage scripts, so small teams in Billings can scale without hiring extra staff. For product details and demos see LawDroid AI legal assistants overview, the deep dive on LawDroid chatbots for client intake, and an independent Copilot review with pricing and features.

Product	Reported starting price (USD/month)
Copilot	$25 / user
Builder (no‑code chatbots)	$99

“I was going to hire a paralegal, but after trying out LawDroid Copilot, I now have the help I need.”

Everlaw is a cloud‑native e‑discovery platform well suited to Billings firms handling FOIA requests, public‑records litigation, and multi‑party discovery because it combines rapid ingestion, collaborative review, and generative AI tools that speed early case assessment while preserving attorney oversight; explore the Everlaw cloud‑native eDiscovery platform to see product highlights and Storybuilder for trial prep (Everlaw cloud‑native eDiscovery platform product page).

Its platform‑level strengths - near‑instant searches, automated OCR/transcription, predictive coding, and FedRAMP/StateRAMP security - let small Montana teams run defensible ECA workflows that constrain review scope and costs, a critical advantage as the ediscovery market grows and data volumes rise (see Everlaw ediscovery features and speeds for technical details: Everlaw eDiscovery features and speeds details).

Practical pilot tip: start Everlaw on a single FOIA or internal‑investigation matter, tune predictive models with attorney feedback, and require human verification of Montana statutes and local precedent while measuring cost impact against national trends in eDiscovery costs (Ediscovery costs and AI trends 2025 analysis).

Key platform metrics for Billings procurement considerations:

Metric	Value
Processing speed	900K docs / hour
Ediscovery market (2025 est.)	> $15 billion
Typical processing cost (2025)	≈ $25 per 100 GB

"The beauty of Everlaw is that it's so fast, and it's so easy to get the data in and upload it quickly. What used to take hours can take minutes now."

For Billings firms the sensible starter AI stack is pragmatic, low‑risk, and supervised: embed Clio Duo for intake, matter summaries, and billing automation, add a secure legal research layer like Lexis+ AI for citation‑first searches and Shepardizing, and pilot a document automation or intake bot (Gavel or LawDroid/Smith.ai) to cut routine drafting and after‑hours capture while keeping attorneys as final reviewers.

Begin with one high‑volume workflow (intake → conflict check → initial form set), measure time saved and conversion lift, require Montana jurisdiction defaults and manual citation checks, and validate security (SOC 2/zero‑retention) before scaling.

Invest in staff training - Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work is designed to teach practical prompt discipline, tool selection, and oversight skills for non‑technical teams.

A compact pilot budget and metrics table below helps planning:

Tool	Primary use	Pilot cost (typ.)
Clio Duo	Practice management & intake	$39 / user‑mo (add‑on)
LawDroid / Smith.ai	24/7 intake & screening	$25–$97.50 / mo (tiers)
Gavel (Lite)	Document automation	$83 / mo

The lawyer remains the ultimate validator of legal research.

Start small, document your review protocols, and run matched pilots with clear ROI goals using vendor demos (Clio Duo features for legal intake and automation, Lexis+ AI overview and legal research tools) and practical upskilling (Nucamp AI Essentials for Work syllabus and course details) before broader rollout.