Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers to the questions we hear most from managing partners and firm leadership.

About Our Services

What exactly does Fractal Legal do?

We provide three things no competitor bundles together:

  1. Hands-on AI training — tool-agnostic, taught against real legal workflows your attorneys actually use.
  2. Custom AI use policies — drafted to align with evolving professional standards and court-specific requirements.
  3. Ongoing compliance support — quarterly policy updates, court order tracking, and regulatory monitoring as rules evolve.

We are not a CLE provider and not a software vendor. We are your firm's AI compliance infrastructure.

Do you practice law or give legal advice?

No. Fractal Legal is a training and policy service, not a law firm. We draft AI use policies as operational documents — similar to an HR consultant drafting an employee handbook. We don't handle litigation, provide legal opinions, or represent clients in any proceedings.

Do you sell AI software?

No. We are completely vendor-neutral. We don't sell software and we don't take commissions from AI tool makers. Our training covers whichever tools your firm uses — or is considering. We independently evaluate tools and help you adopt them responsibly. When you switch tools, your Fractal training and policies still apply.

Do you work with firms in specific jurisdictions?

We work with law firms looking to adopt AI responsibly. Our training and policy frameworks are designed to be practical and adaptable to any jurisdiction. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all template, we customize our services to the specific needs and context your firm operates in.

Pricing & Value

How much does it cost?

Three tiers based on your firm's needs:

  • Foundation — $750/month. Custom AI policy, initial training, quarterly updates, court order tracker.
  • Professional — $1,500/month. Four training sessions/year, practice-group playbooks, tool evaluations, priority support.
  • Enterprise — $2,500/month. Unlimited training, full governance framework, CLE coordination, dedicated account manager.

Annual commitments receive a 15% discount. Founding clients get 25% off Year 1 pricing.

We already do CLE training. Why do we need this?

CLE teaches individual lawyers. It doesn't give your firm a policy, doesn't cover your specific tools, and doesn't update when courts change requirements. We complement CLE — we don't replace it. Think of CLE as the driver's ed class. We're the traffic rules, insurance policy, and ongoing vehicle inspection all in one.

Can't we just write our own AI policy?

You can. But will you update it quarterly when courts issue new standing orders? Will you track the evolving ethics landscape around AI? Will you train each practice group on their specific workflows? The subscription covers all of that. Writing the initial policy is the easy part — keeping it current is where firms fall behind.

How does this compare to hiring a consultant?

Consultants charge $15,000-$50,000 for a one-time engagement. You get a policy document and maybe a workshop. Six months later, the regulatory landscape has changed and the policy is outdated. For less than the cost of one consulting project, you get a full year of policy, training, and ongoing updates from us.

We're a small firm — do we really need this?

Small firms are actually at higher risk. Large firms have compliance departments and dedicated legal ops teams. You don't. A single AI hallucination in a filing — see Mata v. Avianca — can cost six figures in sanctions. Our Foundation tier is $750/month, less than one associate's daily billing rate. It's insurance that pays for itself.

AI regulation will settle down. Should we wait?

It's accelerating, not settling. Multiple new court orders in Q1 2026 alone. State legislatures have active AI bills. Professional standards continue to evolve. Firms that wait will spend more catching up than firms that start now. Our founding-client pricing (25% off Year 1) won't last — the time to lock it in is now.

How It Works

What does the onboarding process look like?
  1. Discovery call (30 min, free) — We learn about your firm's AI use, practice areas, tools, and pain points.
  2. AI Readiness Assessment — A one-page diagnostic showing gaps vs. current requirements. No charge.
  3. Custom proposal — We recommend a tier and scope based on your firm's specific needs.
  4. Pilot month — Your first month at a discounted rate. Includes initial policy draft and first training session.
  5. Ongoing — Quarterly policy updates, training sessions (per your tier), and continuous compliance monitoring.
How are training sessions delivered?

Sessions are 2 hours each and available virtually or in-person. They're structured, hands-on workshops — not webinars. Your attorneys work with real AI tools against actual legal scenarios relevant to your practice areas. Each session comes with a recording and slide deck for attorneys who can't attend live.

What's included in the AI Use Policy?

Your custom AI Use Policy is a comprehensive document covering:

  • Approved AI tools and prohibited uses
  • Confidentiality and data protection protocols
  • Output verification requirements
  • Client disclosure language and templates
  • Supervision and responsibility chains
  • Billing guidelines for AI-assisted work
  • Incident response procedures
  • Court-specific filing requirements (federal and state courts)

Delivered as Word and PDF, firm-branded, and updated quarterly as regulations evolve.

Can your training count toward CLE credits?

Our training sessions are designed with CLE-style rigor and may qualify for Ethics and Professional Practice CLE credit (2 credits per session). Enterprise tier clients receive support with CLE credit applications and documentation.

Compliance & Trust

What regulations does your service address?

Our training covers the key ethical obligations lawyers face when using AI, including:

  • Competence — understanding AI capabilities and limitations
  • Confidentiality — protecting client data when using AI tools
  • Supervision — ensuring proper oversight of AI-assisted work
  • Court disclosure requirements — tracked and updated as new orders are issued
How does Clio's free AI certification compare?

Clio's AI certification teaches you how to use Clio's AI features. It doesn't draft a firm-wide policy, doesn't address jurisdiction-specific ethics rules, and doesn't cover the other AI tools your firm uses. If you use Clio, great — our services are complementary. We handle the compliance layer that sits above any individual tool.

How does Fractal Legal's vendor certification compare to other providers?

Most competitors fall into one of two camps: large-firm enterprise services ($10K-$50K+) or generic CLE courses ($100-$800/yr per attorney). Neither serves the 5-75 attorney firm well.

  • Hotshot/Legora target Am Law 100 firms at enterprise pricing. No jurisdiction-specific policies.
  • NBI and similar CLE providers offer lecture-format courses. No policy drafting, no firm-specific customization.
  • Alpha Apex does one-time consulting at $15K-$50K per project. No ongoing updates.

Fractal Legal is the only subscription service that combines jurisdiction-specific training, custom policy drafting, and ongoing compliance monitoring at a price point built for small and mid-size firms.

AI Implementation

How do I implement AI at a small law firm step by step?

Start with a policy, not a tool. Month 1: assess current AI use across your firm, draft an AI use policy aligned with applicable ethics rules, and identify 2-3 low-risk use cases. Month 2: run hands-on training for all staff, pilot AI on selected use cases with supervision protocols. Month 3: roll out firm-wide, establish quarterly review cadence. Most small firms can be fully operational in 90 days with the right structure.

What AI tools are safe to use with client data?

Only enterprise-tier AI tools with data processing agreements should be used with client information. ChatGPT Team/Enterprise, Claude for Business, and Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 all offer contractual commitments not to train on your data. Free-tier ChatGPT and consumer Claude should never receive client-identifiable information — this risks violating your confidentiality obligations. Your firm's AI use policy should clearly classify which tools are approved for client work vs. internal-only tasks.

What's the ROI of AI training for a small law firm?

A trained attorney using AI typically saves 5-10 hours per week on routine tasks like research, drafting, and document review. At $300/hour billing rates, that is $78,000-$156,000 in recovered capacity per attorney per year. For a 10-attorney firm on our Foundation plan ($750/month), the annual cost is $9,000 — a 10-17x return on investment. Use our ROI Calculator to see the numbers for your firm.

How do I disclose AI use in court filings?

Multiple federal judges now require AI disclosure certifications in filings. The specific requirements vary by judge — some require affirmative certification that AI was or was not used, while others require detailed descriptions of how AI tools were used in preparing the filing. Your firm needs to track each judge's individual standing orders and include the appropriate certification language. Our court order tracker monitors these requirements across federal and state courts and alerts you to changes.

What happens if a lawyer submits an AI-generated brief with errors?

The consequences are real and growing. In Mata v. Avianca, attorneys were sanctioned $5,000 for citing non-existent cases generated by ChatGPT. In Park v. Kim, a lawyer faced sanctions for AI-generated fabricated citations. Courts have made clear that AI hallucinations in filings are treated the same as any other failure to verify authorities — the attorney bears full responsibility. A proper AI use policy with mandatory verification workflows prevents this.

How should we train paralegals and support staff on AI?

Paralegals and staff need different training than attorneys. They should learn approved use cases for their role (document organization, research assistance, client intake support), clear boundaries on what AI can and cannot be used for, and the firm's data handling requirements. Supervising lawyers have professional responsibility obligations to ensure non-lawyer staff comply with ethical duties when using AI. Our training sessions include role-specific tracks for attorneys, paralegals, and administrative staff.

Still have questions?

Book a free 30-minute discovery call. We'll answer your questions, walk through a sample AI Readiness Assessment, and help you figure out the right fit — no pressure.

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