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Katy Young - Interviewed by Sandro Tuzzo
At a Glance: Key Results
Firm: Ad Astra Law Group, PC (San Francisco)
Practice Areas: Business, employment, real estate, and trademark litigation
Team: 6 attorneys
Results after adopting Legion:
- 27% reduction in staffing costs
- Higher profitability within months
- Complaints drafted in ~2.5 hours instead of 1–2 days
- Discovery turnaround reduced from weeks to days
- Faster execution without increasing headcount
- Improved client satisfaction and referrals
- Greater control over schedules and workflows
The Challenge: A Capacity Issue at the Worst Possible Time
In 2025, Ad Astra Law Group underwent a major structural transition. The firm shifted from a partnership model to a single-owner professional corporation, anticipating a meaningful revenue change as partners exited.
Then, in May, the firm’s most junior associate, an eighth-year attorney, was unexpectedly poached.
Rather than rushing to hire a replacement, Katy, the Managing Partner, paused and confronted a dilemma that plagues most litigation practices: hiring another associate meant adding significant financial strain to a firm already bracing for revenue loss, not to mention the layers of risk that come with any new hire — finding the right fit, training them on the firm's systems and standards, and hoping they'd stick around long enough to justify the investment.
Solving the "Blank Page Problem" Without Overhiring
Katy analyzed her remaining team. It consisted entirely of senior attorneys and Of Counsel with 20 to 40 years of experience, billing between $550 and $700 an hour.
“It’s not cost-effective to have a $700-an-hour lawyer doing the first draft of a complaint or discovery. It doesn't make sense.”
The firm adopted several AI drafting tools. Legion became what ended up solving “the blank page problem”, getting that initial draft done so experienced attorneys could focus on refinement rather than starting from scratch. The firm has since used Legion for the following:
- Complaints
- Written discovery (propounding & responding)
- Motions
- Trial briefs
Change Management: Getting the Team on Board
Not everyone embraced the technology immediately. Some of Katy's attorneys needed encouragement to persist through the learning curve.
"A lot of lawyers get frustrated and walk away" if tools aren't immediately perfect, Katy observes. She learned this herself with Westlaw CoCounsel, which she initially found too limited. But her office manager — a tech-forward young professional who fields cold calls from legal tech companies — kept encouraging her to try again. As the tool improved, she discovered its value for demand letters, timelines, and case summaries.
Now Katy applies the same persistence with her team: "I've had to say to them, 'No, no, we're going to do this. You're going to continue using the tool until you learn how to master it. If you give up now, you'll never master it.'"
The "Impossible" Workload: A Discovery Case Study
The power of the tool became evident in a complex case involving 10+ sets of defendants that had been stagnant for two years. To get the case "back on the rails," Katy needed to propound discovery on everyone immediately.
Using Legion, she generated 40 sets of discovery (roughly 950 requests) in a single workflow.
“That was 40 sets of discovery. It took me two days and it cost a total of $10,000 between my time and Legion's fees. That was two weeks worth of an associate's time easily.”
The ROI: Why "Less Billing" Meant More Profit
Katy acknowledges the counterintuitive economics: "It used to take two days to draft a complaint, now it takes me two and a half hours. So immediately, yes, there is an impact on my billing— I'm billing two and a half hours instead of eight hours."
But she's taking the long view. For Ad Astra's core clientele — small and medium-sized businesses and individuals — the difference between a $1,500 complaint and a $5,000 complaint can determine whether they can afford to pursue a dispute at all.
The efficiency gains also unlocked new strategic capabilities. Katy can now quickly draft a full complaint to attach to demand packages, giving her clients significantly more leverage in pre-litigation negotiations.
“That's a 45-page complaint. That looks like I already poured 10,000 bucks into it and we're damn serious. I'm getting way better responses.”
When she reviewed the numbers with her CFO after the first few months, the data confirmed her vision:
- Clients are "absolutely thrilled" about both the quality and cost of services
- Increased referrals from current and former clients
- More colleague referrals as word spreads about cost-effective services
- Ability to take on smaller cases that other firms won't touch
Quality of Life: An Underrated Benefit
Perhaps the most surprising result of adopting AI wasn't the money — it was the morale. By removing the tedious aspects of litigation, the practice became fun again. Katy said:
“I actually get a little giddy when it's time for me to go use one of these tools... It pops out a set of special interrogatories and I'm like, yay!”
Advice to Other Firm Owners
For practices facing similar pressures, Katy's message is unequivocal:
“Jump in, lean into it. There's no real risk to giving it a try. The worst thing that happens is you don't like it and you're out. Maybe you spend an extra hour on the project.”
She emphasizes identifying pain points first, then finding tools to address them. The ROI has proven "incredible" across multiple implementations, giving her confidence to keep experimenting.
The Bottom Line
Ad Astra Law Group's transformation demonstrates that AI adoption isn't just about survival—it's about building a more profitable, efficient, and client-friendly practice. By embracing technology out of necessity, Katy discovered a path to serve more clients, generate more referrals, and increase profitability while actually reducing what she charges per project.
The firm's 27% reduction in staffing costs paired with increased profits proves that the right tools, implemented thoughtfully, can fundamentally improve a law firm's economics without sacrificing quality or service.
As Katy puts it: "I'm busier than I've ever been. Although each project takes me less time and is ultimately less billing at the beginning, what I'm getting is a bigger book of business. If you look at it over the long view, our profits are way up."
About the Interviewer
This interview was conducted by Sandro Tuzzo, a lawyer-turned-legal-technology consultant who helps small and mid-sized law firms adopt AI in a practical, business-focused way.
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