The Invisible Work: Workflow Intelligence in the Modern Law Firm

Every law firm depends on thousands of document workflows happening behind the scenes every day.

Documents are scanned, routed, filed, secured, printed, stored and retrieved. Mail arrives. Records move. Information passes between people, systems and departments.

For years, the goal was to digitize that work. The next opportunity is to understand it.

That was at the center of “Invisible Work,” a client-led conversation hosted by Zebraworks at ILTACON 2026. The panel brought together three law firm technology leaders:

• Luther Allen, Director of IT, Miller & Martin

• Bob DuBois, Director of Information Technology, Williams Mullen

• Jason Thomas, Chief Information Officer, Cole Scott Kissane

Together, they explored what happens when firms move beyond simply digitizing documents and begin evaluating the work itself: what the document is, where it belongs, what should happen next, and which manual steps can disappear entirely.

Watch the full conversation below, or keep reading for the biggest takeaways.

Key Takeaways

1. Document Intelligence starts with the process, not the technology

One of the clearest observations came early in the conversation.

Law firms already have technology capable of eliminating enormous amounts of manual document work. The problem is what happens around it.

DuBois put it simply:

We have the tech. We have a process problem.

Firms are still scanning documents to email, maintaining enormous physical records inventories and moving information manually between systems, because those processes have become ingrained in how people work.

Document Intelligence changes the question. Instead of asking only whether something can be digitized, firms can begin asking:

What is this? Where does it belong? And what should happen next?

That evaluation is what makes intelligent automation possible.

Document Intelligence is the evaluation. Automation is the action.

2. The value of automation can extend far beyond the document

One of the strongest examples came from Thomas.

His firm automated court-notice processing — a workflow that previously required someone to retrieve the notice, identify the matter, name the document and file it into iManage.

Now, automation retrieves the notice and AI evaluates the document to determine the appropriate client and matter before filing it.

But the workflow doesn’t stop there. Because an attorney will need to review the notice, the process also creates a draft time entry.

The firm tags those entries to measure the revenue associated with the workflow. According to Thomas, that revenue pays for the technology at roughly 2X.

That’s the larger opportunity.

Document Intelligence isn’t simply about eliminating the task of scanning or filing.

It’s about understanding the document well enough to trigger what should happen next.

3. The smartest workflow is often the simplest one

The panel repeatedly returned to a deceptively important measurement: click count.

If scanning to email takes one click while properly filing something into the DMS takes several, people will choose email.

As the panel put it, “click count is huge.”

That means successful Document Intelligence can’t simply add intelligence on top of a cumbersome process. It has to remove friction.

A user authenticates. The system knows who they are. It understands their matters and destinations. The document is evaluated and routed with as little intervention as possible.

The direction is increasingly clear: Evaluate → Decide → Act.

The more intelligence that happens at the point of work, the less work the user has to do afterward.

4. AI can make the work of filing disappear

Today, many document workflows still require a person to provide the context.

Choose the client. Find the matter. Select the folder. Enter the metadata. Route the document.

The panel expects AI to eliminate more of that work.

Consider incoming mail.

Instead of simply scanning a document and handing the digital file to someone else to process, AI can evaluate the content, identify the appropriate client and matter, and route it into the correct location.

Thomas said his firm is already looking toward exactly that next step for its digital mail workflow.

That’s the evolution from digitalization to Document Intelligence.

Scan → Evaluate → Route.

The document becomes digital, but the intelligence determines what happens next.

5. Intelligence still requires trust and governance

Giving AI the ability to evaluate and act introduces a new requirement: trust.

The panelists were clear that intelligent document workflows need sufficient accuracy and auditability before firms will allow systems to act autonomously.

But technology isn’t the only governance challenge.

Changing established workflows also requires leadership.

The panel shared examples of firms removing older options entirely rather than allowing users to revert to familiar processes.

COVID provided another striking example: firms rapidly adopted digital workflows when circumstances required it, only for some paper-based behaviors to return as offices reopened.

Technology can make a better workflow possible.

Leadership makes it the way the firm works.

6. IT is moving from managing technology to redesigning how work happens

Perhaps the most important shift discussed wasn’t about documents at all. It was about IT.

The panelists described technology teams that were once primarily responsible for infrastructure, troubleshooting and keeping systems running.

Cloud and SaaS have changed that.

Today, firm leaders increasingly turn to IT with a different question: how can we do this better?

Technology leaders are becoming business problem-solvers — evaluating processes, connecting systems and identifying where automation can remove unnecessary work.

Thomas described the shift particularly well: IT is increasingly viewed as “problem solvers, not just problem fixers.”

And that puts technology teams directly at the center of Document Intelligence.

From digital documents to intelligent work

The first era of legal document technology was about turning paper into digital information.

The next is about understanding that information well enough to act on it.

A document gets scanned — and the system evaluates what it is.

Mail arrives — and the system determines where it belongs.

A court notice enters the firm — and it’s identified, filed and used to trigger the next workflow.

A user walks up to a device — and the system already understands who they are and where their work needs to go.

Evaluate → Decide → Act.

That’s Document Intelligence: bringing intelligence to the point of work so information can move securely and efficiently to the right place, with fewer manual steps between them.

Make document work intelligent.

Zebraworks brings Document Intelligence to the physical workflows law firms still depend on every day — from scanning and digital mail to secure printing, records and cost recovery.