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Behind the Scenes: How AI is Quietly Transforming the Legal Client Experience

Behind the Scenes: How AI is Quietly Transforming the Legal Client Experience

The following was contributed by Richard Culberson, the CEO North America of Moneypenny, the world’s customer conversation experts, specializing in call answering and live chat solutions.

When people think about the legal client experience, they often picture what happens in the courtroom or during a critical client meeting. But increasingly, the most meaningful changes to how law firms, legal service providers and legal funders support their clients are happening out of sight, thanks to the power of artificial intelligence (AI). Whether it’s client intake, communication routing, or managing complex caseloads and funding relationships, AI is reshaping the way legal teams deliver service behind the scenes.

Across America, firms in all industries are turning to AI to enhance their people. The goal is simple: deliver faster, more personalized, and more efficient service. And when done right, the difference is both quiet and powerful.

At Moneypenny, we work with thousands of legal professionals every day, from solo attorneys to large firms and legal funders, helping them manage customer conversations and deliver great client service. We’ve seen firsthand how AI, when applied with care and purpose, can reshape the client experience from the inside out.

Easy Access to the Right Information

In any busy legal setting, timing is everything. Whether it’s a client call, intake conversation, or case status update, having instant access to accurate information is key. That’s where AI comes in. It can surface the right details in real time so teams can respond quickly and confidently.

Take legal funders, for example, they often need to assess case viability quickly, AI tools can instantly surface key case milestones, funding eligibility criteria, and prior correspondence to accelerate decision-making and reduce friction.

Smarter Call and Message Routing

Any business fields a wide range of calls and messages in a day, and not every inquiry belongs on the same desk. AI can now analyze keywords, tone, and context to route communication to the right person, and it does it automatically.

That means clients reach the right person faster, and your team spends less time untangling misdirected messages. In an industry where responsiveness matters, this kind of behind-the-scenes efficiency is a real win.

Getting Ahead of Client Needs

What’s more, AI doesn’t just react, it can anticipate too. By looking at past interactions and analyzing the data, it can identify patterns and flag issues before they arise.

Let’s say a client regularly asks about timelines or paperwork. AI can flag repetitive requests for status updates from claimant attorneys or co-counsel, prompting automated reporting or scheduled updates to improve transparency and communication between parties. This level of attentiveness not only reduces frustration but also builds trust and reassures clients, something especially valuable in the high-pressure, high-emotion legal industry.

Seamless Experience Across Channels

Today’s clients want to communicate on their own terms, whether that’s by phone, email, live chat, or text. And they expect consistency, no matter the channel. AI can help to make that happen.

By bringing together data from multiple sources, AI ensures that whoever answers the phone or replies to a message (whether that is call one or message five) has the full context. The result is that clients feel heard and known, not like they’re starting over every time, and it is that kind of continuity that can turn a routine exchange into a relationship.

Real-Time Support for Your Team

Think of AI as a digital assistant, offering prompts, surfacing information, and making sure the person handling the call or message has exactly what they need. It is helping people deliver their best work.

At Moneypenny, our AI tools support our legal receptionists during conversations, pulling up relevant details, suggesting next steps, and helping maintain a personalized touch even during peak periods. It’s about helping good people be even better at what they do.

Scaling the Personal Touch

There’s a common misconception that AI makes things feel impersonal or robotic. But when it’s used well, it actually allows businesses to be more personal, and at scale. Imagine being able to greet every client by name, remember their preferences, and respond in a way that feels tailored, even when your team is managing thousands of interactions. That’s what we aim to deliver every day. And AI makes it possible.

For legal funders juggling a portfolio of diverse cases and law firm partners, AI can ensure consistency in tone, terminology, and updates so that funders can maintain an attentive, personalized service level without scaling up staff headcount.

The Big Picture: Human + AI = A Better Experience

Whether you’re running a law firm, operating a litigation finance business, or managing client services across the legal ecosystem, one thing is clear: clients want service that’s fast, accurate, relevant and personal. AI helps make that happen, by enhancing the human touch.

The real transformation isn’t just happening in space that the client sees but in the systems behind the scenes that power that experience. For leaders across legal industry and beyond, the takeaway is this: the future of service isn’t just about upgrading the visible. It’s about building smarter, more supportive systems that let your people do what they do best.

That’s where AI delivers its real value and where the real competitive edge lies. 

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Singapore Court Expands Scope for Legal Finance in Civil Cases

By John Freund |

In a pivotal decision likely to reshape Singapore’s litigation finance landscape, the country’s High Court has affirmed that third-party funding is permissible beyond its historically narrow confines. The judgment, delivered in DNQ v DNR (2025), broadens legal finance's potential use in civil cases unrelated to insolvency or arbitration, marking a significant milestone in the jurisdiction’s approach to access-to-justice tools.

An article on Burford Capital's blog notes that the case involved a claimant pursuing enforcement in Singapore of a £31 million UK family court award. Facing financial hardship, the claimant secured funding from a professional litigation financier. The defendant moved to strike out the case, arguing the arrangement violated public policy by being champertous. But the court disagreed.

Presiding Senior Judge Tan Siong Thye upheld the funding agreement, finding it did not offend the principles of justice or procedural fairness under the Vanguard test. Crucially, the judge ruled that statutory reforms to Singapore’s Civil Law Act did not negate common law exceptions that allow for such funding arrangements.

The court outlined three factors favoring the agreement: the claimant’s lack of resources absent funding, the reasonableness of the funder’s return (potentially up to 56%), and the claimant’s continued control over litigation strategy. The judgment also clarifies that litigation funding is not confined to the specific scenarios listed under section 5B of the Civil Law Act, such as insolvency or arbitration, thus opening the door to broader use in commercial disputes.

This decision signals increasing judicial acceptance of litigation finance in Singapore’s courts and is likely to embolden funders exploring opportunities in the region. As jurisdictions around the world re-evaluate the role of third-party funding, Singapore’s High Court appears poised to join a growing chorus endorsing its value in supporting equitable legal outcomes.

EY Models Peg Litigation Funding’s Cost to Insurers at $25B–$50B

By John Freund |

An article in Carrier Management reveals that third-party litigation funding (TPLF) could impose up to $50 billion in direct and indirect costs on the U.S. casualty insurance industry over the next five years. The estimates come from a model developed by EY actuaries Mike McComis and Abbi Bruce, who presented the findings at the Casualty Actuarial Society’s recent reinsurance seminar. Their “top-down” model—built using funders’ reported returns, AUM growth, and case resolution timelines—pegs direct costs between $13 billion and $18 billion, with an upper-end projection of $25 billion. Including indirect impacts like prolonged litigation and increased advertising by law firms, the estimate swells to $50 billion.

The report startled even seasoned executives. Hartford CEO Christopher Swift, during a Q2 earnings call, bristled at a question about TPLF’s effects, lamenting how it has “turned our judicial system into a gambling system.” EY’s McComis was more measured but no less pointed, declaring TPLF “the most significant and measurable driver of social inflation.” He cited modeled trends showing TPLF’s rising burden on insurers—up to $3.5 billion in direct costs annually by 2028—and warned that actuaries should not ease off assumptions around escalating claim severity.

With litigation funders averaging annual returns of 25-30% and succeeding in 85-90% of cases, the capital influx is shifting settlement dynamics, increasing legal costs, and pressuring insurer loss ratios. EY’s analysis found the commercial liability industry could see a 4.5 to 7.8 point spike in loss ratios due to TPLF alone.

As disclosure mandates expand, insurers may need to develop internal models to track and respond to TPLF-backed cases more effectively. For legal funders, the report underscores the mounting attention—and scrutiny—coming from the actuarial and insurance sectors. If EY’s projections bear out, litigation funding’s influence on premium pricing and loss trends may soon be impossible to ignore.

Funders Target Gulf Disputes as Claims Surge

By John Freund |

A combination of court reforms and project delays is pulling more Gulf disputes into the third-party funding orbit, with global and regional players sharpening their focus on the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

An article in AGBI quotes Burford Capital’s Dubai-based team describing demand as having “risen sharply over the past two years,” and says the funder is now actively underwriting and funding more claims, especially in the UAE. Construction leads the pipeline—unsurprising given persistent schedule overruns and cost blowouts—while banks and other institutional claimants are increasingly tapping funding to preserve working capital or monetise awards.

Local entrant WinJustice reports a 60% jump in case assessments over the last year, with a sweet spot that starts around $1 million in onshore courts and $5 million in offshore forums; returns are typically a 30%–35% share of recoveries or a hybrid model. And LFJ just reported on UAE-based Lexolent's first successful investment conclusion.

The AGBI piece also flags a gradual easing of the region’s historic enforcement frictions, with Dubai courts recognising multiple foreign judgments in the past two years—an important de-risking signal for capital providers eyeing cross-border value recovery. The growing Gulf focus is consistent with funders’ search for scalable commercial matters backed by robust assets and clearer enforcement pathways.

For underwriting teams, the “construction-plus” mix—JV disputes, shareholder fall-outs, and complex debt recoveries—offers diversified routes to exit, particularly where arbitral awards can be recognised and enforced across jurisdictions. Pricing discipline will matter: as local awareness rises and new funders enter, competitive pressure could compress nominal returns even as deployment opportunities expand. For in-house teams in the region, dispute finance is evolving from last-resort cost cover to a balance-sheet tool—one that can hedge risk, front settlement leverage, and unlock liquidity tied up in slow-moving claims.

If enforcement keeps improving and banks continue to monetise judgments, expect more Gulf allocations, more bespoke structures (including potential Sharia-aligned variants), and a faster maturation of the MENA legal-finance market.