My next guest is Matthew Symes of Levership. Matt works with leaders on strategy and execution. His goal is simple: build a business that is not a prison but one that enables your best life. 🌟 In this episode of The Tech-Savvy Lawyer.Page Podcast, Matt makes a bold claim. AI is not tech. It acts more like a teammate, and it belongs in your workforce plan. 🤝 From there, he gives lawyers a clear roadmap. First, fix scheduling, rebuild your file workflow, and add a triage process. Next, watch gross margin per week and utilization against plan. Finally, sharpen the human skills of trust, relationships, and accountability. 🔑 Matt also addresses the question many lawyers are asking. Is the billable hour going away? His answer may surprise you. 💡 If you have felt the “everything is an emergency” pressure in your practice, this conversation is for you.

Join Matthew Symes and me as we discuss the following three questions and more!

If you were advising a mid-size law firm that wants to move beyond AI hype, what are the top three workflows lawyers should redesign first to see real return on investment from AI and automation, and why those three?

Levership is described as a strategic operating system that installs systems, structure, and rhythm so organizations stop bottlenecking on their leaders. For a managing partner listening today, what are the top three levers they should pull in their firm’s operating system to better integrate legal tech and AI into day-to-day practice without burning out their lawyers?

Looking ahead over the next three to five years, what are the top three capabilities that individual lawyers must develop beyond traditional legal skills to collaborate effectively with AI systems and to protect their competitive edge?

Bonus follow-ups: Are we moving from the billable hour to flat fees? What are the top dashboard “widgets” a law practice should monitor? What is Levership? 🎁

In our conversation, we cover the following

[00:00] Welcome, and Matt’s current tech setup: a Rode mic, a small backup mic, and three monitors as “command central” 🎙️🖥️

[00:00] Why Matt works mostly in G Suite and why he sees AI as a teammate, not tech

[01:00] Why AI projects buried in IT fail, and why the successful ones sit in HR

[01:00] “Sentient and non-sentient teams” and “different horses for different courses”

[01:00] Matt’s computers: Dell desktops in two locations and a Dell laptop 💻

[02:00] Windows vs. Apple: corporate compatibility and the cost of the Apple ecosystem 🍎

[02:00] Matt’s iPhone, WHOOP, and Garmin for marathon running ⌚

[03:00] Using tech to track leading and lagging indicators, from health to the sales funnel

[03:00] Question 1: The top three workflows to redesign first for AI ROI

[04:00] Workflow 1: Scheduling, “the sneaky one,” and why quality problems are usually time problems ⏰

[05:00] Why poor scheduling pushes the weight onto the lead lawyer

[05:00] Workflow 2: Deconstructing and rebuilding how a legal file gets done 📂

[06:00] AI-assisted document creation, Harvey, Claude, and the pricing “arbitrage” opportunity

[06:00] Assistive AI vs. agentic AI in legal workflows 🤖

[06:00] Workflow 3: Triage and the right mix of work for each legal pod

[07:00] The triage lawyer and optimizing gross margin per week

[07:00] Moving from chaotic firefighting to a smooth operating machine 🔥➡️⚙️

[08:00] Follow-up: Are we moving from the billable hour to flat fees? 💵

[08:00] Value capture and why experience makes work faster

[09:00] The arbitrage moment and the coming market reset

[10:00] Question 2: Three levers a managing partner should pull

[10:00] Tolstoy, happy families, and why every firm’s workflows are dysfunctional in their own way

[11:00] Lever 1: Watch aggregate gross margin dollars each week with bespoke, AI-coded dashboards 📊

[12:00] Lever 2: Own the firm’s workforce plan as AI changes who does the work 👥

[12:00] Lever 3: Use AI to bridge the gap between intent and impact

[13:00] Using an AI note-taker and transcripts to review sentiment, mood, and talk time 📝

[13:00] Using AI as an executive coach for senior leaders

[14:00] Follow-up: The top dashboard metrics: gross margin per week vs. plan and utilization vs. plan

[14:00] Why hitting your numbers can still burn out three paralegals

[15:00] Second-level metrics: client mix vs. plan and competency health

[15:00] Technical, business, and leadership or behavioral competencies

[16:00] Customer complaints and satisfaction as the counterbalance ✅

[16:00] About Levership: a 12-month cohort strategic execution program 🗓️

[16:00] Strategy as a process of “being less wrong faster”

[17:00] Deciding what kind of firm you are actually building

[17:00] “Most organizations die of indigestion, not starvation” 🍽️

[18:00] The gym-partner analogy and building a business that is not a prison

[18:00] Question 3: Three capabilities lawyers need in the next three to five years

[19:00] Why the “soft skills” of relationships, sales, and real trust become the value 🤝

[19:00] Lawyers as “conductors of value” who frame and verify AI output 🎼

[20:00] Trust, relationship, and accountability as the core skill set

[20:00] Where to find Matt: levership.com, LinkedIn, and info@levership.com

Resources

Connect with Matthew Symes

Levership website: https://levership.com
Email: info@levership.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-symes-8328a765/

Mentioned in the episode

Levership 12-month cohort strategic execution program: https://levership.com

Hardware mentioned in the conversation

Rode microphone: https://rode.com/en-us/microphones
Dell computers: www.Dell.com
Apple iPhone: https://www.apple.com/iphone/?afid=p240%7Cgo~cmp-14648718653~adg-126654828629~ad-828674245810_aud-2340492069598%3Akwd-2258410302~dev-c~ext-~prd-~mca-~nt-search&cid=wwa-us-kwgo-iphone-noncore_iphonefamily-iphonefamily-iphonefamily_hero_avail_102326-iPhone-iPhone
WHOOP fitness wearable: https://www.whoop.com/us/en/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=24423704050&gbraid=0AAAABFGD8u5DViCSaYa9IWNlBEQW8VeyS
Garmin running watch: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/sports-fitness/running-smartwatches/