Practice & professional support
Practice Support – a worked example
Practice support bought in from outside isn’t yet common, so it can be hard to picture what it looks like. Here’s the shape most engagements take, and two illustrative examples of the investment involved.
Legal practice support looks different in every firm.
Some firms have solid precedents that just need refreshing. Some have gaps they haven’t had time to map. Some know exactly what training they need and just need someone to deliver it. Some want to start with AI governance and work backwards. Some have wide, established practice support teams; others rely on enthusiastic client-facing lawyers to develop processes for everyone.
But “practice support” as a service, purchased from outside, isn’t yet common — so it can be hard to picture what that looks like, or how you might use it. What follows isn’t a fixed path. It’s more like a shape that makes sense in most cases.
The journey
How an engagement typically develops
Step 1 · Free, no obligation
Initial conversation
A 30-minute call to understand where you are and whether there’s a useful fit. No charge. No agenda other than making that assessment.
Step 2
Getting a clear picture
If the initial conversation suggests there’s something useful to do, the next step is usually a short diagnostic session — reviewing existing precedents and templates, a conversation with your PSL team about where the gaps are, or a broader look at how knowledge and training are currently managed.
The output is a short note covering what you have, what’s working, and where investment would make a meaningful difference — enough to make a sensible decision about what to do next, and to make sure any later work is targeted at the right things.
Step 3
Building reference resources
Depending on what the diagnostic surfaces, short recorded sessions on specific topics — changes in data protection law, AI obligations, how to approach a particular type of clause — give your team something they can access when it’s useful, rather than needing to attend a scheduled session. They also extend the life of live training by giving people a reference point to return to.
Step 4
Live training
Sessions for fee earners, PSLs and non-legal colleagues. Typically 2–3 hours, focused on a specific topic, with time for questions. Content is built around what your team actually needs and can put into practice.
For teams that need more structured development, a programme of sessions can be designed around their practice area and level.
Step 5
Workshop: precedents & drafting approach
A deeper, more focused piece of work — typically a half or full day with a practice group or PSL team, working through how the firm wants documents to read, where precedents need to change, and how to build consistency across a team.
These work best after some initial diagnostic work, because the conversation can be grounded in what the firm actually has.
Step 6
Train the trainer
Training for PSLs or other trainers on successful training in today’s law firm: making use of technology, different formats and approaches suited to embedding successful transformation and continued development.
Step 7 · Ongoing
Ongoing support
Where a firm wants a continuing relationship — maintaining precedents, providing a sounding board on knowledge and training questions, supporting AI adoption and governance — a monthly retainer makes sense. This gives access to senior specialist support without the overhead of a permanent hire.
Automation is increasingly part of this: working out where template automation adds value, building simple workflows, and making sure the governance around them is in place. We use the technology you already have, and our own automation to support our work. We do use AI — but often only for designing processes and scripting, not to generate output — and where AI is used with documentation we favour local models first. No Concatena client information is ever used for AI training purposes.
What it might cost
Two illustrative examples
These are examples only. Every engagement is scoped and priced individually.
Example A
Assessment & training
A mid-size commercial firm wants to understand the state of its data protection and technology law templates, and get fee earners current on AI obligations.
| Stage | What it involves | Indicative fee |
|---|---|---|
| Initial conversation | A call or meeting | No charge (if call or in Birmingham) |
| Diagnostic session | 2–3 hour review of a selection of templates and training gaps, based on existing training plans; short findings note | From £900 |
| Training session | 2.5-hour session on AI obligations for commercial lawyers (up to 12) | From £1,500 |
| Follow-up session | Refresher and Q&A, approximately 3 months later | From £900 |
Indicative total: from £3,300 + VAT
Example B
A full engagement
A firm wants to refresh its commercial contracts precedent bank, build a training programme for fee earners, and put an ongoing support arrangement in place.
| Stage | What it involves | Indicative fee |
|---|---|---|
| Initial conversation | 30-minute call | No charge |
| Diagnostic session | 3-hour review with PSL team; findings note | From £1,200 |
| Reference content | 3 short recorded modules (data protection, AI obligations, technology law basics) | From £2,700 |
| Training programme | 3 × 2.5-hour live sessions over 6 months | From £4,500 |
| Drafting workshop | Full-day session on house style and precedent approach | From £3,500 |
| Ongoing retainer | 1–2 days per month: precedent maintenance, KM support, AI governance | From £2,000 / month |
Indicative initial investment: from £11,900 + VAT
Ongoing: from £2,000 per month + VAT
Good to know
Questions worth asking
Do you work with firms that already have a PSL team?
Yes, absolutely. This isn’t about replacing PSL resource; it’s about providing additional capacity and a different perspective, and freeing up your PSLs to do their most valuable work.
Do you work with firms that don’t have a PSL team?
Yes, absolutely. We can work with teams or partners who want to improve knowledge functions or specific areas of work, and advise on how that can be done alongside fee-earning teams. We can provide training and precedent production and maintenance which your lawyers have the expertise for, but not the time — and additional specialist expertise in technology or data where there’s no specialist data team.
Which practice areas do you cover?
We offer training and facilitation for practice support across all legal specialisms. Currently we only offer precedent creation and maintenance, and legal training, in relation to commercial law. We can also offer reviews for other practice areas focusing solely on contract, data and technology issues.
How does pricing work?
Wherever possible, we work on a fixed fee. Before any paid work starts, you’ll have a clear number for what it costs. There’s no hourly rate, no scope drift, and no bill you weren’t expecting. And we can cut our cloth to fit — if you have a budget and an objective in mind, we can give you a realistic idea of the best path.
Can sessions be delivered remotely?
Yes. Some workshops benefit from being in person, but that’s not a requirement. We’ve developed a range of strategies for working well in remote and hybrid environments (and we can provide training on that, too).
What’s the minimum commitment?
There isn’t one. A single training session or a diagnostic review is a perfectly reasonable starting point. Most longer engagements begin that way.
What does your AI expertise actually cover?
I’m a lawyer first, and have no qualifications in technology. But I’ve been tech-forward my entire career — from my first Palm Pilot to spawning my own AI agents. My legal specialism is in technology, so I’ve worked on significant tech transformations, and that expertise includes the data protection implications. I’ve also been Head of Data Governance — integrating technologies in a compliant manner, instilling data governance programmes and taxonomies, and, importantly, navigating client confidentiality considerations in the UK and across jurisdictions. I’m also a nerd, so I’ve always volunteered to be the tech champion for any IT initiative.
The focus of this work is on how AI is used in legal practice: which tools are appropriate for which tasks, what governance needs to be in place, and how to assess vendor claims about AI products without being either credulous or obstructive. It’s about understanding how lawyers actually work, and what kind of rollout and training has a meaningful impact on uptake. It doesn’t extend to software engineering or technical AI architecture.
What’s your background in large firms?
25 years as a commercial lawyer, including senior roles in large law firms on both the client-facing and business-facing sides, before building an independent practice. That means familiarity with how law firm practice groups and business teams actually work — the pressures, the structures, and the gap between strategic intent and what fee earners can realistically implement.
A 30-minute call. No charge, no obligation.
The best place to start is a short conversation about where you are and whether there’s a useful fit. There’s no minimum commitment.
