The basics
What we are, how we differ, and what an engagement looks like.
What is zedders, software I buy, or someone who builds things for us?
zedders is a consultancy, not a product you buy off a shelf. We learn how your firm actually works, build automation around it, and hand it over so your team can run it. Off-the-shelf tools and generalist agencies have their place, zedders is the specialist who builds around the way your firm already works.
How is this different from buying AI tools, or running ChatGPT?
Off-the-shelf tools solve generic problems generically, and a public chatbot is not safe for privileged material. zedders builds around your real workflow and designs confidentiality in. The value is judgement about what to build, what to buy, and what to leave alone.
Do I need to understand the technology to work with you?
No. You bring knowledge of your practice; zedders brings the technical side, in plain English. zedders is run by someone who has worked inside a law firm, so the conversation starts in your language, not a vendor's. You should never have to explain the basics of your profession.
Does this integrate with our current DMS and PMS?
Usually, yes. Most of the value comes from making the tools you already have work together, not replacing them, so automation can sit on top of your existing email, practice-management system, and document storage. Some systems connect cleanly and others need workarounds. Scoping establishes what is feasible before you commit to anything.
Can AI actually handle our specific area of law?
More than you would expect, and more than a year ago. AI handles repetitive work easily, and with the right context it now does a capable first pass on nuanced work that turns on judgement too. Two things still hold: a lawyer must review the output, because the real risk now is AI delivering a wrong answer confidently, and the most demanding work is the hardest to run on a model kept inside the firm, so there is a trade-off between keeping data in-house and using the most capable model. Scoping settles where that line sits for your practice.
What does a typical engagement look like, start to finish?
A discovery call, then scoping the way your firm actually works through check-ins with your lawyers and support staff, then building and testing specific automations that meet your firm's requirements, then handover with documentation and training so you can run it without us. Focused builds are measured in weeks, not months, and most firms start with one workflow and grow from there.
Send it over and we will answer it directly, usually the same day.