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[ INDUSTRIES ]

Legal tech development that actually fits your firm

Your firm outgrew Clio. Your legal SaaS needs production-grade search. We've built case management, document search, trust accounting, and compliance tools for legal teams. Displaced firms from Clio, Smokeball, CosmoLex, and LEAP.

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3

legal platforms shipped

100ms

search on 1M+ docs

$220K+

client savings/year

[ CAPABILITIES ]

What we build for legal

Four areas where we have repeat delivery experience.

Case Management

Multi-portal platforms with document automation, workflows, and compliance controls. Replace your SaaS subscription with case management software you own — including personal injury and medico-legal practices.

$26K–$53K · 8–10 weeks

Document Search

Elasticsearch on 1M+ documents with sub-100ms queries. Structured PDF extraction, AI classification, synonym handling, fuzzy matching for legal terminology.

$17K–$44K · 2–4 weeks

Workflow Automation

Intake forms, e-signatures, audit trails, compliance tracking. Automate the repetitive work so your team focuses on billable hours.

$17K–$35K · 4–6 weeks

Trust Accounting

IOLTA-compliant trust accounting that actually works. Transaction-level accuracy, automated reconciliation, Rules of Professional Responsibility compliance.

First-class module, not a bolt-on

[ WHY FIRMS SWITCH ]

The platform you outgrew is holding you back

Clio / MyCase

Per-seat pricing at scale

A 15-attorney firm pays $168–263K over 5 years. AI add-on at $39/user/month that firms call "not transformative." You own nothing.

Smokeball

Locked in, Windows-only

No public API. Mobile app rated "useless." Post-PE acquisition, renewal prices nearly doubled. They intentionally block migrations.

LEAP

$4,000 per file to leave

Fragmented database. No complete backup possible. No single source of truth for your firm's information. Data hostage.

CosmoLex

Breaks at scale

Pricing went $49 to $109/user in 6 years. Built-in accounting breaks at 10+ attorneys. CPAs "highly opposed" to the general ledger approach.

The pattern is the same: acquire, raise prices, lock data, repeat. A custom platform costs $26–53K once, and you own it from day one.

[ PROOF ]

Legal platforms we've shipped

Document Search Elasticsearch

Legal Document Search Platform

1M+ legal documents with sub-100ms queries. Domain-specific synonym handling, AI classification, fuzzy matching, relevancy boosting. Replaced manual search costing $220K+/year in lost productivity.

100ms

Query response

1M+

Documents indexed

$220K+

Saved per year

Read the full case study →
Case Management HIPAA

Structured Settlement Platform

Three role-based portals built from scratch in 8 weeks. HIPAA-compliant document handling, automated workflows, audit trails. Replaced spreadsheets and email chains.

3

Role-based portals

8 wks

To production

HIPAA

Compliant

[ FOR LEGAL SAAS FOUNDERS ]

Building a legal search product?

Pre-seed to Series A. You need production-grade infrastructure, not another prototype.

Entry Point

SearchKit

Production-grade Elasticsearch for your legal SaaS. Synonym handling, fuzzy matching, relevancy tuning, autocomplete. We've shipped this 3 times. Your users get 100ms on 1M+ documents.

$8K–$15K

2 weeks · ROI: $220K+/year in search time savings

Elasticsearch Synonyms Fuzzy Autocomplete

Full Build

Legal Platform

Case management, document automation, compliance controls. 8–10 weeks from scope to live. We handle infrastructure so you focus on go-to-market.

$26K–$53K

8–10 weeks · Fixed price

[ LEGAL TECH RESOURCES ]

From our legal tech practice

Guides and analysis based on real legal tech builds.

COST ANALYSIS

The Real Cost of Clio: 3-Year TCO

Line-item breakdown for a 15-attorney firm. Complete + AI + QuickBooks + processing fees over 3 years.

Read → CASE STUDY

Why Law Firms Build Custom Search

How a 17-person firm recovered $220K/year in billable time by replacing iManage with custom search.

Read → AI INTEGRATION

Claude MCP + Clio for Law Firms

How to connect Claude AI directly to Clio practice management via the Model Context Protocol.

Read →
PRODUCTION GUIDE

From Vibecoded Prototype to Production Legal Tech

What needs to change when a Cursor or Bolt prototype needs to pass a bar ethics audit.

Read → COST GUIDE

Legal Tech Development Cost 2026

Real project budgets for case management, document search, and workflow automation platforms.

Read → DOCUMENT SEARCH

AI Legal Document Search: Cost & Architecture

How we built 100ms search across 1M+ legal documents, what it costs, and when to build vs. buy.

Read →

[ NEW: PRE-BUILT FOUNDATION ]

Legal Search Kit

Production-ready Elasticsearch codebase extracted from a platform we shipped. Compliance architecture assessment included. Deploy in 2 weeks, not 10.

  • ✓Elasticsearch on 100K+ legal documents, sub-100ms queries
  • ✓Synonym handling, fuzzy matching, autocomplete, relevancy tuning
  • ✓Signed compliance architecture assessment letter
  • ✓Deployed to your infrastructure with 90-day guarantee
$12,000 fixed price · 2 weeks

Get the technical spec sheet

Architecture diagram, what's included, deployment requirements, and the compliance assessment scope.

We'll email it to you shortly. No spam.

[ FAQ ]

Common questions about legal tech development

Yes. We've built custom case management platforms that replace off-the-shelf tools like Clio, MyCase, and PracticePanther. The difference: you own the software, you control the roadmap, and you stop paying per-seat licensing fees. A custom platform typically pays for itself in 14–18 months compared to SaaS subscriptions.
Yes. We open-sourced one at github.com/oktopeak/clio-mcp. 12 tools covering matters, contacts, documents, tasks, calendar, and billing. Audit logging aligned with ABA Opinion 512. Install in 5 minutes with your Clio credentials.
The open-source connector handles about 20% of what most firms want from Claude + Clio. Document automation templates, intake workflows, custom AI agents, and full compliance architecture built around it — that's what the paid Legal AI Integration service covers. $17K-$53K, 4-6 weeks.
Yes. One install command, one OAuth flow in your browser, and Claude can read your Clio. No compiling, no infrastructure setup. A legal ops person or tech-comfortable partner can do it in 5 minutes.
Data stays local. The connector fetches from Clio's API directly to your MCP client. Every tool call is logged append-only for ABA Opinion 512 compliance. OAuth tokens are encrypted at rest. Your data is never used for model training, and with Zero Data Retention enabled it is not stored after the request completes.
Yes. The connector implements MCP (an open standard from Anthropic) and works with any MCP-compatible client, not just Claude. Firms that need absolute privilege protection can run an open-weight model (Llama 4 70B, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Mistral Large) on their own hardware with zero third-party AI processor. Recommended hardware: Mac Studio M4 Max with 128GB unified memory ($5K-$7K). LM Studio is the cleanest MCP client for local models.
Yes. We open-sourced one at github.com/oktopeak/mycase-mcp. 18 tools covering cases, contacts, documents, tasks, calendar, calls, staff, time entries, and billing. ABA Opinion 512 audit logging. Install in 5 minutes with your MyCase Advanced credentials. First and only open-source MyCase MCP connector as of May 2026.
The open-source connector handles about 20% of what most firms want from Claude + MyCase. Document automation templates, intake workflows, custom AI agents, and full compliance architecture built around it — that's what the paid Legal AI Integration service covers. $17K-$53K, 4-6 weeks.
Yes. One install command (npm install -g @oktopeak/mycase-mcp), one configuration block in Claude Desktop, then call the authenticate tool inside Claude. No compiling, no infrastructure setup. Done in 5 minutes. MyCase Advanced tier is required for Open API access — OAuth credentials are requested from MyCase support.
Data stays local. The connector fetches from MyCase's API directly to your MCP client. Every tool call is logged append-only at ~/.oktopeak-mycase/audit.log for ABA Opinion 512 compliance. OAuth tokens are encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM. Your data is never used for model training, and with Zero Data Retention enabled it is not stored after the request completes.
Most legal tech builds run $26,000-$53,000 for an MVP with core workflows. Document search systems start around $17,000. The exact scope depends on your requirements, we'll give you a fixed quote after a 30-minute scoping call. No hourly billing surprises.
6-12 weeks for an MVP depending on complexity. Our structured settlement platform shipped in 8 weeks with 3 role-based portals. We scope aggressively to get working software in your hands fast, then iterate.
Yes. We've migrated data from Clio, legacy databases, and spreadsheet-based workflows. We build migration scripts that map your existing data to the new platform, validate everything, and run parallel systems until you're confident in the switch.
We build for HIPAA, SOC 2, and state bar data handling requirements. This includes encrypted data at rest and in transit, role-based access controls, audit logging, and data retention policies. Compliance is architected in from day one, not bolted on after.
Yes. We offer retainer agreements for ongoing development, bug fixes, and infrastructure management. Most clients start with a build engagement and move to a monthly retainer post-launch. You also get full source code ownership from day one.
If your firm has fewer than 10 attorneys and standard workflows, off-the-shelf works fine. But at 15+ attorneys, per-seat pricing costs $168-263K over 5 years. Smokeball is Windows-only with no public API. LEAP charges $4K per file to export. CosmoLex accounting breaks at scale. At that point, a $26-53K custom platform that you own outperforms a rental you can't escape.
Yes. We build IOLTA-compliant trust accounting with transaction-level accuracy, automated reconciliation, and full audit trails. This is a liability area. Clio's QuickBooks sync has miscredited trust payments, and PracticePanther has documented compliance gaps. We architect trust accounting as a first-class module, not a bolt-on integration.
AI tools give you a prototype fast. They can't give you production infrastructure: hosting, security hardening, HIPAA compliance, state bar data handling rules, trust accounting that survives an ethics audit. We use the same AI tools, but we pair them with 10+ years of compliance architecture experience. The result: 3x more platform, production-ready, with references you can call.

Still have questions?

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[ GET STARTED ]

Tell us what your firm needs

30 min with a co-founder who's built legal tech platforms. We'll scope it, price it, and tell you honestly if we're the right fit.

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Accepting 1 new build. Q3 2026

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