Three Ways AI Changes What Small Firms Can Take On

A client asked Acevedo Belt, a Miami-based boutique firm with an all-senior attorney model, to complete initial investor due diligence on a nine-figure deal within 48 hours. Hundreds of closing documents needed to be reviewed and summarized, and last-minute changes raised questions that required quick analysis. For a small firm, the challenge was how to handle that volume while preserving time for the judgment the deal demanded.

Acevedo Belt used Harvey to move through the document package, giving its attorneys more time to focus on substance, risk, and strategy. It met the client’s accelerated timeline. More broadly, Acevedo Belt’s experience points to an opportunity for small firms: AI can help them take on demanding, time-sensitive matters while senior lawyers remain responsible for interpreting the findings and advising clients on their significance.

1. Handle Document-Heavy Matters With a Lean Team

A document-heavy transaction can require substantial time for review, research, and synthesis. Larger firms can spread those tasks across a larger team; a boutique has fewer people to assign. Acevedo Belt built its practice around senior attorneys handling complex matters, so simply adding more junior lawyers would mean a different model of practice.

On the due diligence assignment, Harvey helped the team quickly synthesize the document package, giving attorneys a faster starting point for their review. That use was part of a broader approach: attorneys use Harvey for due diligence, drafting, document analysis, and synthesizing findings, with playbooks and agents built into the firm’s core workflows. The firm also created short videos and on-demand tutorials and held weekly “Tech Tuesdays” to share updates and work through questions.

2. Keep Senior Lawyers Focused on Judgment

AI can help a small firm work through information more quickly, but clients still rely on lawyers to decide which details are important, how they affect a matter, and what advice to give. The added capacity is valuable when senior attorneys can apply their experience to those decisions.

Brian Belt, Founding Partner at Acevedo Belt, says senior attorneys carefully verify work generated by Harvey, just as they do work from junior lawyers. Harvey’s footnotes make that review easier by letting attorneys trace statements back to source documents. They then assess what the findings mean for the matter and the advice the client needs.

3. Put Time Savings Back Into Client Work

For a small firm, time saved on repeatable tasks creates room to give clients more attention, pursue questions in greater depth, and produce stronger work.

Acevedo Belt attorneys reported saving 10–50% of their time each week by using Harvey, depending on the user, practice area, and task. The firm says it put that time toward client work, deeper research, and improved work product. Its AI capabilities also helped it win new work: a client chose Acevedo Belt over another law firm for a substantial assignment, citing its use of AI-powered legal technology as the deciding factor. A global consultancy partner also referred a major client after repeatedly noting the firm’s use of AI.

Capacity Beyond Headcount

Belt argues that the number of lawyers a firm can assign is no longer the only measure of its capacity. Acevedo Belt’s experience shows why: Harvey helped its senior-led team move through document-heavy work and focus on the analysis and advice that shape a client’s decisions. For small firms, that can make more complex matters feasible while keeping experienced counsel closely involved.

For firms looking to apply AI to similar work, Harvey’s guide, Four Legal AI Workflows to Help Mid-Sized Firms Take on More, offers a practical starting point with examples in document review, drafting, diligence, and matter development.