AI for solo lawyers and small firms
Ultramarine Work reads the files in your matter folder, drafts the will, the Chapter 13 packet or the eviction answer, and cites the file behind each fact. You decide what gets signed and filed.
Matters-week-of-Dec-7.xlsxExampleOpen matters, week of Dec 7
- RamosConflictsConsult ThuFlagged
Trellis Capital was adverse to a client in the 2021 Dunmore lien file, so review it before the consult.
- Harbor St.Eviction answerDue WedReady
The answer pleads the CARES Act 30-day notice and the habitability defense and is ready to sign.
- WhitcombChapter 13File FriWaiting
Schedule I stays blank until the client sends his last two pay stubs.
- IOLTANov three-wayClose FriFlagged
The Pruitt ledger is $350 negative from a filing fee paid twice, so replace it from operating today.
How it works
- 1
Open the matter folder
The matter folder stays the way you keep it, with the intake notes, statements, pay stubs, deeds, the will or trust and the court papers in place. For the conflict search it can also read your old client files elsewhere on the computer.
- 2
Say what you need
Ask for a trust review, a Chapter 13 plan, a parenting plan with the guideline numbers or an eviction answer. It drafts from the file and names what it could not find instead of guessing.
- 3
Review every file it touched
Each fact comes with a citation, so you can spot-check the ones that carry the case and decide what goes out under your signature.
Inside the Solo & Small-firm General Practice mode
Client intake conflicts and engagement
Runs the conflict search a new matter needs across name variants, affiliates and old files, then drafts the engagement, limited scope or non-engagement letter.
Legal billing and trust accounting
Puts the bank statement, check register and every client ledger into one monthly reconciliation, and prepares outgoing bills that meet the client’s guidelines.
Legal memos and briefs
Drafts the memo or the brief in your firm’s format, from the question presented and point headings through the standard of review and statement of facts.
Legal authority verification
Checks every case, statute and rule the draft relies on, names anything it finds overruled, misquoted or not binding, and reports what it could not confirm.
Pleadings and motions
Builds the complaint, answer or motion package with its notice, certification and proposed order, then checks it against the local rules and standing orders.
Court filing and docketing
Counts deadlines the way FRCP 6(a) and state counting rules count days, and keeps the filing, discovery, bankruptcy and appeal dates on the docket calendar.
Discovery and depositions
Drafts the interrogatories and document requests, responds with specific objections, and writes the deficiency letters and deposition outlines.
Demand letters and settlement
Writes the pre-suit demand, the policy limits or time-limited demand and the mediation statement, then drafts the settlement agreement and release.
Litigation support
Turns records and transcripts into a chronology with a page cite on every entry, and puts together the witness summaries and privilege log.
Trial preparation and exhibits
Assembles the exhibit and witness lists, drafts the motions in limine, and keys the jury instructions to the elements and the pattern instructions.
Contract drafting and redlining
Marks up the other side’s draft against your standard positions and lists what to concede, what to hold and what to price.
Entity management and annual filings
Forms the LLC or corporation and tracks annual reports and good standing, so a small business client avoids administrative dissolution.
Real estate transaction documents
Prepares the purchase agreement, deed, SNDAs and closing checklist, and checks each document against the title commitment.
Commercial lease review
Reviews the office or retail lease for the terms that cost money later, like CAM growth, personal guaranties, assignment and co-tenancy.
Estate planning documents
Writes the will, trust, powers of attorney and healthcare directive from the questionnaire, with the execution steps the state requires.
Trust and estate administration
Sets up the probate checklist from the letters, drafts the inventory and creditor notices, and pulls the accountings from the estate ledger.
Elder law and guardianship
Reads five years of bank statements, spots the transfers that draw a Medicaid penalty period, and drafts the guardianship petition.
Divorce custody and support
Prepares the marital balance sheet, financial affidavit and guideline support worksheet, and drafts the parenting plan around the facts in the file.
Bankruptcy petitions and schedules
Fills in the schedules, means test and Chapter 13 plan from the pay stubs and statements, and lists the transfers the trustee will ask about.
Proofs of claim and creditor remedies
Produces the proofs of claim, weighs preference exposure, and drafts the stay relief, garnishment and judgment enforcement papers for creditor clients.
Landlord tenant and eviction
Checks notice periods and federal coverage before the eviction answer, and drafts the answers, defenses and payment stipulations for either side.
Criminal case assessment
Lines up each element of the charge against the discovery, sorts Brady and Giglio material, and lays out the plea offer so the decision stays yours.
Self help legal information
Writes the plain-language instructions and court form guidance for walk-in clients, kept on the information side of the advice line.
- Office skills
- Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF
- Tools
- Read, edit and write files, Search files, Run code, Search and read the web, View images
- Connectors
- SharePoint, Google Drive, Gmail, and additional custom connectors
- House style
- Your fonts, layouts and rules, on every file
Ask it for
“Run conflicts on Vicente Ramos, Ida Ramos, Ramos Roofing LLC and Trellis Capital before Thursday’s consult, and list any prior file where a name variant hits.”
Ramos-conflicts-report.pdf“Build the November three-way reconciliation for the IOLTA from the bank statement, check register and client ledgers, and identify every balance that won’t tie.”
Nov-IOLTA-three-way.xlsx“Draft the Whitcomb Chapter 13 plan and schedules from the pay stubs, bank statements and tax returns, and list every field you left blank.”
Whitcomb-ch13-plan.docx“Work up the Pruitt marital balance sheet from the bank and retirement statements, sort marital property from inherited property, and flag transfers over $2,000.”
Pruitt-balance-sheet.xlsx“Read the trust Chen’s previous lawyer wrote and summarize the dispositive provisions, successor trustees, amendments and what happens to the Forest Street home.”
Chen-trust-review.docx“Write the answer for the 41 Harbor Street eviction, and check the CARES Act 30-day notice first, then the habitability and retaliation defenses in the file.”
Harbor-Street-answer.docx
Who it’s for
Solo, small-firm and legal aid lawyers whose matters span several practice areas in a normal week, and the paralegals who work with them.
Questions
Will it invent cases and citations?
No, the mode includes an authority check that looks up the cases, statutes and rules a draft cites and tells you the ones it could not confirm. Every statement in the draft also names the file it came from. None of it goes to court until you have checked the citations yourself. Courts have sanctioned lawyers for filing AI-fabricated cases, and the certifications some courts now require about AI use and verified citations are yours to sign.
Can I put client files in it without breaking Rule 1.6?
That call is yours, not ours. The content Ultramarine Work works on goes to Paper Instruments’ servers to be processed, so guidance like ABA Formal Opinion 512 applies before you put client information into any tool. The opinion makes you evaluate the disclosure risk under Rule 1.6, and it requires the client’s informed consent where a tool keeps learning from what it processes. Boilerplate consent clauses in engagement letters are not enough.
Can I bill clients for the time it saves?
You bill your own hours, not the ones the tool saves you. Opinions like ABA Formal Opinion 512 read hourly billing as charging for prompting, reviewing and verifying drafts, and the time the tool took out of the job is not billable. Adjusting a flat fee or disclosing AI use on an invoice is your call under Rule 1.5 and your state bar’s guidance.
Where does our data go?
Ultramarine Work changes files only in the project’s folder. When a request needs it, it can read files elsewhere on your computer, never passwords, keys or app data, and you can turn that off in settings. The model runs on Paper Instruments’ servers, so the content it works on is sent there to be processed. Paper Instruments is SOC 2 Type II, and our security and compliance details are on our compliance page.