AI for Legal Business Development: Smarter Pitches and Tenders
Practical ways to use AI to draft, tailor and proofread tenders and pitch documents without promising things the firm cannot deliver.
Business development for law firms has always been part science, part art:
- understanding the client’s world;
- showing that you have done similar work before;
- explaining why you are the safe pair of hands.
AI will not turn a weak proposition into a strong one. But it can help you:
- understand tenders and RFPs more quickly;
- assemble relevant experience and case studies;
- draft clearer, more client-focused responses.
This article looks at practical ways to use AI in business development and tenders without drifting into exaggeration or risking regulatory trouble.
1. Understanding the tender properly
Large RFPs and panel tenders are often:
- long;
- repetitive;
- full of boilerplate.
AI can:
- summarise key requirements;
- highlight evaluation criteria and weighting;
- extract deadlines and mandatory questions;
- identify where clients have given hints about what really matters.
For example:
- “Summarise this 30-page RFP into a one-page brief for partners, focusing on scope, evaluation criteria and key dates.”
- “List all questions where the client refers to innovation, pricing models or technology.”
This helps you aim your effort where it counts.
2. Building relevant track record and case studies
Strong tenders show:
- clearly comparable matters;
- your role and value-add;
- results that matter to the client.
AI can help by:
- searching internal matter data (carefully, with appropriate anonymisation) for similar cases;
- drafting case study summaries from existing notes, billing narratives and reports;
- normalising language and structure so examples feel consistent.
Guardrails:
- ensure factual accuracy – no invented outcomes, clients or figures;
- keep client identities anonymised where confidentiality requires;
- avoid implying regulatory approvals or special statuses you do not have.
Partners should approve which matters and clients are named, as they would today.
3. Drafting better answers, faster
Common tender questions include:
- “Describe your approach to matter management and communication.”
- “Explain how you use technology and innovation to deliver value.”
- “Provide examples of how you have managed complex litigation / transactions.”
AI can:
- propose draft answers tailored to the client’s sector and priorities;
- help you avoid repetition across questions;
- adjust tone (formal, plain English, board-level summary).
You might ask:
- “Draft a first-pass answer explaining our approach to case management, using these bullet points and assuming a UK financial services client.”
- “Rewrite this answer to be shorter, more concrete and less buzzword-heavy.”
As always, humans must:
- tailor substance to the specific client;
- check claims against reality;
- align commitments with what your actual systems (such as OrdoLux) can deliver.
4. Using AI for pricing narratives
Pricing is not just numbers; clients also look at:
- whether you understand their constraints;
- how you propose to avoid surprises;
- how you share risk.
AI can help draft pricing narratives that:
- explain your proposed fee model;
- show how technology will control cost and improve predictability;
- set out assumptions and change-control clearly.
For example:
- “Based on this fee model outline, draft a client-friendly explanation that a GC could share internally.”
Again, final numbers and structures should be decided by partners and finance, not the model.
5. Keeping within regulatory and ethical boundaries
Marketing and tenders are still subject to:
- SRA Principles and Codes;
- advertising rules;
- general duties not to mislead.
When using AI:
- watch for subtle over-claiming (“we always”, “we guarantee”, “we have leading expertise in every area”);
- make sure references to AI and technology match what you actually use (for example, OrdoLux, DMS features, eDisclosure tools);
- ensure you are not implying endorsement or accreditation you do not have.
It can be helpful to build checklists into your process:
- “Does this answer overstate our track record?”
- “Are we promising turnaround times that we cannot consistently meet?”
- “Have we described client benefits accurately?”
6. Capturing knowledge for next time
Each major tender generates:
- answers that could be reused with tweaks;
- refined descriptions of your services;
- updated lists of key matters and case studies.
AI can help:
- tag and store good answers against topics (for example, “innovation”, “regulatory investigations”);
- suggest which past answers might fit a new question;
- keep language consistent as your positioning evolves.
Over time, you build a living BD knowledge base, rather than scrambling from scratch each time.
Where OrdoLux fits
OrdoLux is being designed not just as a case management system, but as a source of truth about how you actually work:
- matter data, time entries and documents demonstrate your track record;
- AI features help extract anonymised case studies and summaries;
- workflows for communication, chronologies and reporting back up claims you make in tenders about process and technology.
That means your tenders can say:
- “This is how we manage matters” – and point to a concrete system;
- “This is how we use AI” – and refer to specific, governed workflows inside OrdoLux.
This article is general information for practitioners — not legal advice or marketing advice for any specific tender.
Looking for legal case management software?
OrdoLux is legal case management software for UK solicitors, designed to make matter management, documents, time recording and AI assistance feel like one joined-up system. Learn more on the OrdoLux website.