Questions General Counsel ask us
Direct answers on Legal Engineering and implementing AI in an in-house legal department. For anything else, email us.
What does a Legal Engineer do?
A Legal Engineer translates legal work — advice, review, approvals, intake — into structured processes, rules and systems that technology can support, while keeping lawyers responsible for judgment.
In practice that means mapping how work flows today, codifying positions into playbooks and decision rules, redesigning the workflow, and configuring tools such as workflow platforms or AI assistants to carry it out.
Read the full guide to Legal Engineering →How can AI be implemented in an in-house legal department?
Start with specific, high-volume tasks, redesign the workflow around them, configure and test a tool against your own documents, then train lawyers and set clear rules on use and review.
The strongest results come from starting with the use case, then the tool. A short readiness assessment identifies where AI will help, what needs to be in place first, and in what order to proceed.
AI readiness assessment →Do we need to replace our existing legal technology to implement AI?
In most cases you can build on what you already have. Many legal departments already license capable tools, including AI features within platforms they use every day.
We start by assessing what you have and how it is used. New software is recommended only where there is a clear gap.
Legal AI implementation →Can a Legal Engineer help us implement Harvey, Legora or Microsoft Copilot?
Yes. Legal Engineering work — defining use cases, preparing playbooks and templates, configuring, testing and training — applies to any of these tools. Synapse is technology-independent and paid only by its clients.
We will tell you at the outset which specific products we have hands-on implementation experience with, and where we would be working from vendor documentation alongside your team and the vendor.
How we approach implementation →What is the difference between Legal Engineering and Legal Operations?
Legal Operations runs the business of the legal function — budgets, vendors, metrics, technology portfolio. Legal Engineering designs and builds specific workflows and systems within it.
They are complementary. Legal Engineering gives a legal operations function design-and-build capacity; in smaller teams the same person may do both.
Read the guide to Legal Engineering →How do you identify which legal workflows should be automated?
We look for work that is high in volume, follows recognisable patterns, has a clear owner, and where errors can be caught by a proportionate review.
Each candidate is assessed for value, feasibility and risk, and tested with the people who do the work. Often the right first step is redesigning or simplifying a workflow before automating any of it.
Legal workflow automation →How can we train our lawyers to use AI effectively?
Train on real work: role-based sessions using your own documents, tasks and tools, backed by clear guidance on what AI may and may not be used for.
Behaviour changes when training mirrors daily work. Effective programmes combine hands-on workshops, prompt and workflow playbooks, internal champions, and follow-up to see what is being used.
AI training and change management →How do you manage confidentiality, reliability and human oversight when implementing legal AI?
Through design: agreeing what data a tool may access, testing output against your standards before rollout, and building mandatory lawyer review into the workflow wherever judgment is involved.
We work with your IT, security and data protection colleagues on data handling and vendor terms, and document an AI usage policy and review protocol so expectations are clear and defensible.
Legal AI implementation →Can Synapse work alongside our internal IT team?
Yes. Most engagements involve IT, security or data colleagues, and we design so that what we deliver fits your existing architecture and policies.
Our role is typically to represent the legal workflow and requirements; your IT team retains ownership of infrastructure, integration and security decisions.
Get in touch →Do you offer standalone assessments and implementation support?
Yes. Each service can be engaged on its own — including a standalone AI readiness assessment — and implementation support can be scoped for a single workflow or tool.
Assessment outputs are yours to use whether or not you continue with Synapse. Scope and fees are agreed before work starts.
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