New built-in AI layer unifies and activates law firms' institutional knowledge, surfacing insights that help firms capture missed revenue, elevate expertise, and confidently execute client work
DENVER, Aug. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Actionstep, the leading provider of cloud-based law firm operations software for midsize law firms, today released Actionstep Intelligence, an AI layer built directly into its practice management platform. Purpose-built for midsize law firms, Actionstep Intelligence delivers firmwide business insights, identifies revenue opportunities, and helps professionals understand, prioritize, and execute tasks across approved legal operational and financial workflows.
The AI layer is designed for the business of law and the unique needs of midsize law firms. BigLaw often has bespoke data science teams and solo firms don't need enterprise-level insight. Midsize law firms sit in between, often running their business leanly, which makes many bolt-on AI tools too costly to adopt and fuel ROI. Actionstep Intelligence fills a gap for midsize law firms by activating AI intuitively within the workflows professionals already use, not bolting it on or requiring a separate solution or integration project.
"The legal industry isn't short of AI promises. Midsize law firms have been told that AI is the answer to their challenges, without being given AI that works for them and their future," said Early Stephens, CEO, Actionstep. "A lot of what's on the market today sits outside the systems firms already use, which creates friction and higher overhead. We built Actionstep to adapt to how midsize firms run since day one, and Actionstep Intelligence brings that same approach to AI. Our AI is configured to the firm and developed to help it grow."
Actionstep Intelligence works through four connected capabilities:
- Context: Draws on the firm's matters, data, and workflows held securely within Actionstep's practice management platform.
- Observe: Detects activity across email, documents, and Actionstep, understands the context of the work, and connects it to time capture, matter management, task completion, and billing so firms can bring in more revenue.
- Recommend: Analyzes firms' business data and recent activity to identify trends, anomalies, and opportunities, recommending next steps to support informed and timely decision-making.
- Execute: Proposes and carries out approved operational and financial work with human oversight and full audit trails.
"Actionstep Intelligence works differently because of how deeply it understands each firm," said Triona Buckley, chief product officer, Actionstep. "AI built into the system of record, which firms have configured to how they want to operate, already understands their practice area, matter types, workflows, client histories, team structure, and more. Because that context is already there, the AI puts the right insights in the right hands at the right moments across the firm. The firm's knowledge becomes accessible to everyone who should see it, freeing professionals to focus on the work that genuinely requires their expertise."
The first capabilities available through Actionstep Intelligence are AI-powered time tracking and business intelligence.
AI-powered time tracking, Trace, observes and identifies billable activity across a fee earner's work, maps it to the right matter and billing codes, and prepares draft time entries for review inside Actionstep. Entries are not posted automatically, and the fee earner retains control over what reaches the bill. Trace helps firms bill faster, stay focused on client work, and capture more revenue. Firms have reported recovering 25-50 additional billable hours per lawyer per year, saving up to 100 hours of manual entry per lawyer annually and holding billing deductions and appeals to 3% or less.
AI-enhanced business intelligence, Acumen, gives firm leaders, team leaders, and fee earners an interactive, role-specific, current, and curated picture of the financial and operational metrics they need to meet their KPIs, spot opportunities, and make more informed decisions. Acumen business intelligence is delivered through preconfigured, filterable, law-firm-specific dashboards within Actionstep. Acumen has an AI insight assistant to query reports, data sets, and trends and automatically surface insights and recommend actions tailored to the user profile and role. Acumen replaced the need to export and reconcile data through manually maintained systems or third-party tools.
Actionstep is expanding Actionstep Intelligence later this year with additional capabilities across search, workflow execution, and an MCP server.
Actionstep will be at ILTACON 2026 in Nashville, August 23-27, where members of the leadership team will be available for product demonstrations.
About Actionstep
Actionstep is the leading law firm management platform for midsize firms around the world. Built to adapt to a firm's unique strengths and goals, Actionstep empowers more than 5,000 firms globally to modernize operations and build lasting advantages in the legal marketplace. Connected capabilities like client intake, matter management, document management and automation, time tracking, billing, legal accounting, and business reporting, support users globally. Learn more and request a demo at www.actionstep.com.
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Corporate Ink for Actionstep
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