Most law firms have a CRM. But if we're being honest, not many are actually using it, at least not in a way that drives growth. The truth is, most legacy systems weren’t built to support how lawyers work or how relationships are built today.
AI-powered business development tools surface actionable intelligence in your CRM by turning scattered internal and external data into timely, relevant, and personalized insights attorneys can act on.
No more dashboards full of noise. No more aimless contact lists. AI helps answer the real question: Who should I reach out to, and why now? And it delivers that insight right where lawyers already work, so nothing gets lost in translation.
As Hans Haglund, CMO of Harness IP, put it: most CRM deployments in law firms fall short because they are over-engineered and under-adopted. They promise everything from contact management to opportunity tracking but often fail at the most basic outcome, which is enabling lawyers to know who to talk to, when, and why.
“Simple is hard,” Hans noted, and he's right. Tools that try to do everything often end up doing nothing effectively.
Andrew Hutchinson, CRO of Nexl, added that the issue wasn't always the vendors but it was a misalignment between what CRMs were designed for and how lawyers actually work. Salespeople can be forced to use CRMs. Lawyers? Not so much.
What law firms need isn’t more data. They already have plenty of that. What’s missing is intelligence and the kind that is:
This is where AI is changing the game. By layering internal CRM data with external signals, like regulatory shifts, litigation filings, leadership changes, or market trends, firms can move beyond contact management and start surfacing what matters: opportunities to connect.
These aren’t leads in the traditional sense. They’re moments.
Small but meaningful signals that give lawyers a reason to reach out, with context that strengthens the conversation. Instead of asking attorneys to sift through data, modern intelligence tools quietly work in the background to surface the right touchpoints, whether it’s a news event, a client update, or a relationship nudge.
Platforms like Kaitongo are helping firms bring these signals together in one place so that lawyers can act quickly and credibly.
Andrew described one vision clearly: “I’m not giving you a lead. I’m giving you something meaningful to go talk to a client about.” That might be:
This is where AI comes in as the means to monitor, filter, and surface signals in a scalable way. Kaitongo’s AI first identifies relevant triggers, such as client news, regulatory filings, or shifts in the industry. Then, instead of generating generic outreach, it uses those signals to craft structured and value-added messaging that aligns with the attorney’s practice area.
As Hans pointed out, early CRM deployments often relied on teams of data stewards just to keep things usable. The systems were clunky, disconnected, and rarely reflective of how lawyers actually engaged with clients. The result? Lots of data and very little insight.
Today, that’s starting to change.
With the help of AI and more modern architectures, firms are beginning to unlock the real value of both structured data (contacts, meetings, pitch activity) and unstructured data (news, filings, market trends). But success doesn’t come from simply pouring all that data into a system. In fact, more data can create more noise unless it’s carefully structured and surfaced meaningfully.
This next chapter of CRM is about:
The goal isn’t just to track what happened. It’s to guide what happens next. By focusing less on storage and more on activation, firms are turning their CRM from a passive database into an active tool for growth.
Client engagement isn't a transaction but a process of building trust and credibility and becoming their trusted advisor. Lawyers don't need another confusing dashboard to check but a timely and meaningful reason to reach out.
When the right trigger shows up, whether that be a client milestone, market shift, or legal event, that's when a CRM becomes useful. This is where AI can make a substantial difference. It can surface the kind of insights that lawyers can act on, turning CRM from a static database into a growth tool that supports what it's supposed to...relationship-building.
Let’s say a patent attorney is tracking a pharmaceutical company. A new product filing hits the news but instead of relying on someone to catch it manually, an AI-powered system flags it automatically.
It gets:
With just a few clicks, that attorney can:
That’s the difference between having a CRM... and having a competitive advantage. Scaling business development doesn’t mean adding more dashboards but enabling more conversations that count.
Kaitongo helps enable this future by serving as an intelligence layer that turns vast, scattered data into focused, lawyer-friendly prompts. Firms no longer need to choose between human touch and machine scale. With the right AI tools, they can have both.
Want to Learn More?
Explore how AI can transform your CRM from a database into a growth tool.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation with Hans Haglund and Andrew Hutchinson on Knowledge in Practice: The CI Chronicles.
Ready to see it in action? Book a personalized demo with Kaitongo.
