Big Law just productized this. I do it for small law.
In June 2026, Cooley launched an AI portal where startups upload their documents and ask an AI about them. It runs on Legora, a vendor valued at 5.6 billion dollars. The technology is not the news. The news is that the client portal has become the product. Almost no solo or small firm has one.
Legora & Harvey
White-labeled AI portals for enterprise firms. Roughly 3,000 dollars per seat per year, 10 to 20 seat minimums. Priced for Big Law, out of reach for a solo.
Two layers to the user
The firm rents a portal from a vendor; the vendor runs someone else's AI. The client rarely sees which licensed lawyer is actually responsible.
Small law is asking
Most solos and small firms are still asking what to do with AI. Few have built anything client-facing. That gap is the whole opportunity.
My lane. I am not competing with Legora or Harvey for Big Law. I build the same client-facing workflow for the firms they price out: solos, small firms, accountants, and professional-service businesses. One thing the big vendors cannot offer is a named, licensed attorney who designed the workflow and stays accountable for the legal judgment.
What I can build, by the job to be done
Each room is built around a specific task, not a generic chatbot. The client uploads, answers guided questions, and watches status. AI organizes the matter. The attorney reviews the legal work. Pick a tab.
Contract Review Room
- Client seesUpload an agreement, get a clause-by-clause risk map and plain-English notes.
- Lawyer seesThe same map plus a redline workspace with suggest, accept, and reject.
- What AI doesInventories clauses, flags risk, proposes business fallback positions.
- Attorney reviewsConfirms the redline, the fallbacks, and what is safe to sign.
- DeliverableA tracked redline plus a short issues memo.
Demand & Litigation Room
- Client seesGuided intake for facts, damages, evidence, and the other side.
- Lawyer seesA built timeline, a damages tally, a demand draft, and escalation options.
- What AI doesOrganizes the facts, drafts the opener, lists missing proof.
- Attorney reviewsWrites the demand, decides strategy, signs the letter.
- DeliverableAn attorney demand letter, optionally with a draft complaint as leverage.
Transactional / Startup Room
- Client seesOne place for entity docs, equity, IP assignments, and approvals.
- Lawyer seesA diligence checklist with what is missing and what blocks closing.
- What AI doesSorts the data room, flags gaps, drafts routine consents.
- Attorney reviewsConfirms structure, clears the checklist, approves signatures.
- DeliverableA closing or cleanup checklist plus the executed package.
Regulatory & Tax Response Room
- Client seesThe notice, the deadline, what to gather, and the plan.
- Lawyer seesA defense theory, a document tracker, and a draft response.
- What AI doesReads the notice, calendars the deadline, drafts the response shell.
- Attorney reviewsSets the defense, vets every assertion, approves before filing.
- DeliverableA response packet ready for the agency.
Accounting / Financial Workroom
- Client seesA guided intake for records, balances, and the dispute.
- Pro seesOrganized financials, a document request list, and staged letters.
- What AI doesStructures the numbers, drafts notices, checks compliance language.
- Pro reviewsConfirms the figures and the legal-safe language before sending.
- DeliverableAn organized evidence file and ready-to-send communications.
Full AI Law-Firm Website
- Visitor seesPractice pages that interview, not just describe.
- The flowAI intake, document upload, lead scoring, a recommended paid package, then a workroom.
- What AI doesQualifies the matter, captures facts and files, routes to the right offer.
- Attorney controlsEvery legal output, the disclaimers, and the engagement gate.
- DeliverableA working site that turns traffic into organized, attorney-ready matters.
White-Label Client Portal
- Client seesYour firm's brand, your domain, a secure room to upload and ask.
- You seeEvery room, every comment, a dashboard, and notifications.
- What AI doesAnswers client questions over their own documents, with sources.
- Attorney validatesReviews and refines what the AI surfaces, just like Cooley does on Legora.
- DeliverableA portal your clients log into, owned by you, not rented forever.
Why this is not AI slop
Generic AI output is now everywhere and nearly free. The scarce thing is a named professional who designed the workflow, shows the work, and stands behind the judgment.
🤖 Faceless AI tool
- Anonymous output, no responsible professional
- One generic chatbox for every problem
- No matter-specific checklist or evidence tracking
- No escalation rule, no review trail
- Confident answers, no sense of what is missing
- Unclear who is liable when it is wrong
⚖️ Attorney-built workroom
- Built by Sergei Tokmakov, Esq., CA Bar #279869
- A task-specific workflow per matter type
- Document upload, evidence tracking, real checklists
- Attorney handoff and a clear review trail
- Shows what is known, what is missing, what could change it
- A named lawyer accountable for the legal work
A lawyer you can actually see
AI organizes the matter. The attorney controls the legal work.
The big vendors can outspend me on engineering. They cannot offer what a faceless platform structurally lacks: a real, licensed, visible attorney who designed the workflow and is accountable for the judgment. In a world of AI slop, that accountability is the product.
Sergei Tokmakov, Esq. · California Bar #279869 · the same person who builds it, runs it, and answers for it.
What goes inside every workroom
Mix and match. A room can be as light as upload-and-comment or as deep as a full intake-to-deliverable workflow.
Pricing that small firms can actually act on
I scope and quote every build before any payment. These are typical ranges, not enterprise seat licenses.
Already using AI? A review of your stack for confidentiality, competence, and supervision, plus a "what to automate first" roadmap.
See the audit →One practice-area workflow, on your brand, deployed to your domain, with the comment, e-sign, and handoff layer.
Scope a build →Practice pages, AI intake, document upload, package recommendation, client workrooms, an attorney dashboard, and the ethics layer.
Scope my site →Your branded room for your clients. A one-time build plus a small monthly plan, instead of 30,000 dollars a year, forever, to a vendor.
Scope a portal →You own it. Builds live on your domain and your brand. Optional ongoing plan (roughly 200 to 800 dollars per month) covers hosting, maintenance, and monthly workflow tuning. Compare that to enterprise tools at about 3,000 dollars per seat per year with a 10-seat minimum.
How a build works
- Scope. You tell me the matter type and what your clients need. I tell you what fits and what it costs.
- Design. I map the workflow, the AI pathways, and the attorney-review gates that keep it compliant.
- Build. On your brand, deployed to your domain, with the upload, comment, e-sign, and handoff layer.
- Train. I show you and your staff how to run it day to day.
- Support. An optional monthly plan for hosting, fixes, and new workflows as you grow.
Typical timeline: one to three weeks for a single workroom. Larger website builds run longer.
Frequently asked
Is a client-facing AI portal protected by attorney-client privilege?The question Cooley had to disclaim
Not automatically. A general intake or upload tool usually is not privileged until an engagement actually forms, which is exactly why Cooley had to post that disclaimer. Part of what I build is the disclaimer, confidentiality, and engagement-gating layer so this is handled correctly from the first click, instead of bolted on later.
Who owns the workroom?You do
You do. It is built on your brand and deployed to your domain. You are not renting access that disappears when you stop paying a per-seat license.
Does the AI replace my legal judgment?No
No. AI organizes the file, drafts shells, and tracks status. Every legal call is made by a licensed attorney, you on your matters or me on mine. The attorney-in-the-loop is not a disclaimer, it is the design.
Do you work with firms outside California?Yes, for the build
I build and implement the system for firms anywhere. The legal advice your firm gives its clients is yours to give. My own legal practice is California, Bar #279869.
What does it run on?Modern AI, hosted simply
GPT-class models for the reasoning, hosted on Cloudflare, wrapped in the attorney-review and ethics layer I design. No heavy enterprise stack, which is part of how the price stays in reach for a small firm.
How fast can you turn one around?1 to 3 weeks
A single workroom is typically one to three weeks once scope is set. A full AI website is a larger project and we phase it.
Want one of these for your firm?
Tell me what you do and what you are trying to build. I will tell you what fits, what it costs, and how fast, before any commitment.
This page describes website and software implementation services and is for general informational purposes only. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Building a workflow system for a firm does not make me counsel to that firm's clients; each firm's attorneys remain responsible for their own legal advice and judgment. Sergei Tokmakov is licensed in California (Bar #279869).