One Problem, Different Paths: How Mid-Sized Firms Build AI Adoption
Munck Wilson Mandala, Gray Reed, and Foley Hoag built firmwide AI adoption through three distinct approaches shaped by their leaders, cultures, and ways of working.
Mid-sized law firms regularly compete with firms that have much larger teams. AI can help them meet that challenge by expanding capacity, improving response times, and giving lawyers more time to focus on strategy and client service. Turning that potential into firmwide adoption, however, requires an approach that fits the firm’s people, culture, and priorities.
One Problem, Different Paths looks at the different tactics legal organizations use to address a shared challenge with Harvey. In this first installment, Munck Wilson Mandala, Gray Reed, and Foley Hoag show how technical fluency, practitioner-led change, and peer learning can each provide a foundation for firmwide AI adoption.
Munck Wilson Mandala: Build on the Firm’s Existing Strengths
Munck Wilson Mandala began its rollout with a level of technical fluency already embedded in the firm. Roughly half of its nearly 100 lawyers hold STEM degrees, and Managing Partner Bill Munck coded neural networks before attending law school. The firm had also assembled a multidisciplinary group to evaluate AI before generative AI gained widespread attention in the legal industry. That foundation helped Munck Wilson Mandala assess the technology rigorously and identify where it could make the greatest impact.
After selecting Harvey, the firm focused on document-intensive work across transactional and litigation practices. It also treated adoption as part of its service to clients. Its AI use policy requires lawyers to communicate openly with clients and obtain their permission, giving clients visibility into how the technology supports their matters.
From there, the firm turned early results into broader confidence, including among its clients. When one skeptical general counsel agreed to let the Munck Wilson Mandala team test Harvey on a due diligence project, the team uploaded the relevant contracts, refined its prompts over half a day, and generated an Excel spreadsheet answering every due diligence question. The output achieved more than 90% accuracy, and the firm completed the project in a fraction of the usual time.
“What we did with those contracts would have been three associates working a week and a half. We did it in a day.”
Bill Munck
Managing Partner at Munck Wilson Mandala
The firm carried that momentum into other areas. In a banking dispute, Dallas Managing Partner Jenny Martinez used Harvey to review a 2,000-page loan file and assemble a timeline, and Harvey surfaced the relevant documents and assembled the timeline in seconds. Associates also use Harvey as a training tool, validating their analysis and identifying what they may have missed before their work reaches a partner. Applying Harvey to both client matters and associate training helped make it part of the firm’s day-to-day work.
Principles Behind the Path:
- Build on expertise already within the firm
- Prove value through active client matters
- Bring clients into the adoption process
Read the full Munck Wilson Mandala story
Gray Reed: Put a Practicing Lawyer in Charge
Gray Reed approached AI adoption with a specific capacity challenge. The full-service Texas firm has more than 150 lawyers and regularly handles matters against national firms with larger teams. After evaluating its options for a year and a half, a firm committee selected Harvey — and then placed a practicing partner at the center of the rollout.
Litigation partner Skyler Stuckey now serves as the firm’s Chief Innovation Officer. He leads AI training for every practice group, builds Harvey Agents alongside practice leaders, and helps set the firm’s legal innovation strategy. At the same time, he remains an active Harvey user, applying it daily in his own high-stakes litigation practice. This gives him firsthand examples to bring into training and helps keep the firm’s strategy connected to how lawyers actually work.
Stuckey builds a Vault for every case and loads the relevant documents at the beginning of the matter. In one federal lawsuit involving 50,000 to 60,000 documents, that preparation paid off during a deposition. When he recognized a document opposing counsel was referencing, he asked Harvey to find it and received the correct document within moments, without shifting his attention away from the deposition.
“[:Harvey:] gives me more space to focus on strategy and key issues, which are the things the client wants to begin with.”
Skyler Stuckey
Partner and Chief Innovation Officer at Gray Reed
Stuckey’s work has also helped adoption spread across the firm. Transactional attorney Tanner McClellan saves approximately three hours a day by using Harvey to update hundreds of pages after deal structure changes and compare lengthy credit agreements. Bankruptcy partner Lydia Webb used Harvey to analyze filings, draft an objection, prepare a cross-examination, and assess potential challenges to her client’s standing under an urgent deadline.
Principles Behind the Path:
- Give an active practitioner ownership of adoption
- Tailor training to each practice group’s work
- Build reusable agents with practice leaders
Foley Hoag: Sustain Adoption Through Peer Learning
Foley Hoag took a firmwide approach from the beginning. The firm rolled out Harvey to lawyers and business services professionals in under one month, paired access with mandatory ethics training, and launched a coordinated communications program. Visible sponsorship from its Managing Partners and Executive Committee reinforced that AI adoption was a strategic priority for the firm.
To sustain adoption, Foley Hoag created a dedicated Harvey intranet hub, hosted regular office hours and workflow clinics, appointed AI Ambassadors within practice groups, and published a recurring newsletter. Brief “Harvey 5” segments during meetings gave colleagues another way to exchange practical examples and discuss how Harvey fit into active matters.
“Fostering opportunities for regular peer-to-peer sharing made the difference — colleagues spoke candidly about what worked, what didn’t, and how :Harvey: fit into real matters.”
Heidi Pemberton
Director of Knowledge Management and Innovation at Foley Hoag
These recurring opportunities helped lawyers learn from colleagues they already trusted and gave Foley Hoag a way to reinforce adoption after the initial training. Frequent feature updates, paired with hands-on training and guidance from the Harvey team, have helped drive broad adoption throughout the firm. More than 94% of Foley Hoag lawyers have adopted Harvey, and over three-quarters of the firm’s lawyers and staff use it weekly.
Lawyers use Harvey for M&A due diligence, litigation analysis, precedent research, and client communications, reflecting how Harvey has become part of day-to-day work across the firm.
Principles Behind the Path:
- Establish visible support from senior leadership
- Pair access with clear ethics training
- Make peer learning part of the ongoing rollout
Read the full Foley Hoag story
Different Paths, Shared Foundations
Across all three firms, Harvey was applied to real legal work, adoption had visible support, and early successes created momentum for broader use. The structure differed, but each firm made AI practical, visible, and easier to incorporate into daily work.
For mid-sized firms, these examples show that AI adoption can begin wherever the strongest momentum already exists. The most effective path is one that gives adoption clear ownership, reflects how the firm operates, and turns early successes into broader momentum.
Looking to identify a practical starting point? Read Four Legal AI Workflows to Help Mid-Sized Firms Take on More for guidance on choosing the right first workflow, measuring its impact, and making it repeatable across matters and practice groups.
