For law practices
Rote is the frontier deployer of AI for South African law practices.
We make sure the FICA documents, engagement letters and deposits never get missed in the background, while your attorneys deal with your clients.
One process at a time. Fixed price. Live in 30 days.
The law isn't what slows a new matter down. The paperwork is.
A client instructs you, and then the file sits.
- FICA documents. The ID copy and proof of address that were promised "this week", and the company documents for corporate clients.
- The engagement letter. Sent, but not signed, so the matter can't open.
- The deposit. Until it's in, you can't start and you can't bill.
- New enquiries. They arrive while you're in consultation or at court, and by the evening some have called the next firm.
Built and tested on demonstration data
Each of these runs on invented clients and invented matters. They show exactly how the system behaves. They are not results from a real practice.
New-client onboarding chaser
Built for law practices
- Knows what each new matter still needs: FICA documents, the signed engagement letter, the deposit, and company documents for corporate clients.
- Sends each client one email listing what's outstanding, grouped by matter, in your practice's words, with your secure upload link.
- A welcome on day 1, a reminder on day 4, and a clear "we can't start without these" on day 8, counted in business days with public holidays excluded.
- Reads replies before it chases. "Uploaded this morning" means a note for you to check, not another reminder.
- After 12 business days it stops emailing and tells the attorney to phone.
- Tells the attorney when a matter has everything it needs and is ready to start.
Enquiry responder
Demonstrated on a trades business; set up for a practice in the build
- Replies to a new enquiry within about a minute with your own short acknowledgement: thanks, we've got your message, here's when we'll be back to you.
- Flags urgent matters, using the words your practice chooses, for an attorney to phone straight away.
- Drafts a proper reply from your own notes on consultation fees and what to bring, waiting for a tick.
These two are where most practices start
Rote builds the system your practice actually needs, from scratch where it has to be: matter intake, first drafts from your own templates, client progress updates, your diary, or anything else that follows a pattern. An attorney reviews everything that matters. Quoted after the audit. Custom builds start from R25 000.
It tracks, reminds and drafts. Your attorneys decide.
- It never handles a document. It tracks whether the ID copy has arrived, never the copy itself. Your staff tick "received". No ID numbers and no documents pass through it.
- It never decides whether a client meets FICA. It tells you what is still outstanding. Checking and verifying is your practice's job, done by a person.
- It never gives legal advice. Nothing about the legal matter itself goes into a summary or a draft.
- It can't be used for deposit fraud. Every email that mentions the deposit carries your own warning, word for word, to phone and confirm your bank details before paying. Any draft that contains bank details is blocked.
- Nothing goes to a client without an attorney's tick. The one exception, if you use the enquiry responder, is your own fixed acknowledgement, which you write and approve once. It promises a reply and nothing else.
- Personal circumstances stay with a person. A message about someone's health, a death, religion or a court case is never sent to AI.
No new portal for your clients or your staff
Most practice software asks you to move: a new portal for clients to log into, a new system for your staff, your client data in someone else's database.
Rote works the other way round. The system runs in your own email and your own Google Sheets, alongside the practice management software you already use. Your clients get an ordinary email from your practice, with your own upload link.
Client data stays with you. Rote does not store or copy it.
Less goes to AI. It sees first names, matter references and the list of what's outstanding. Never ID numbers, never documents, never the substance of the matter.
It's yours. If you stop working with Rote, the system keeps running.
Every build is designed in line with POPIA.
Work out your hours
How many hours would come back to your practice?
Type in your practice's own figures. Every number already filled in is an assumption to get you started, not a fact about your practice. Change any of them.
This counts hours, not money saved. The point is time back for client work, not fewer people. The Audit measures your real figures before you commit to anything.
Audit, first build, care
1
Audit
R2 500
One week mapping where your staff's hours go.
- A written report: what to automate, what not to
- A fixed quote for the first system
The full R2 500 comes off your build if you go ahead within 30 days.
2
First build
R15 000
One system from Rote's library, adapted to your matter types, your wording and your tools.
- Live in 30 days, or you don't pay the balance
- Half up front, half when it goes live
3
Care
FromR2 500a month
Monitoring, fixes and a monthly health note with running costs.
- Essential: one live system, R2 500 a month
- Plus: up to three, R4 500 a month
- Practice: four or more, R7 500 a month
Running costs (the automation platform and AI usage) are paid by the practice, in its own accounts, at cost. Rote is not VAT registered, so no VAT is added. See full pricing
Questions
Will this replace anyone in the practice?
No. It takes the reminding and checking off your staff's desks so they can do the work clients instruct you for.
Has Rote done this for a law practice before?
Not yet. The onboarding chaser is built and tested on invented clients and matters. The Audit is where we test the fit with your practice, for R2 500, before you commit to a build.
We use Outlook, not Gmail. Does it still work?
The demonstrations run on Google Workspace. If you run on Microsoft 365, tell us on the call and we'll say plainly what changes.
What if it gets something wrong?
Nothing goes to a client without a tick, and every run is logged. If something fails, you're told what and why.
Which new matter is waiting on paperwork right now?
Twenty minutes, no preparation needed. If it isn't worth automating, we'll say so.
Book a 20-minute call