Best Injury Lawyers

At a glance:

• Full oversight of hundreds of active claims with a 10-person team
• At least one hour saved per lawyer, every day
• 10-page schedules of damages in the time a 2-page one used to take
• Onboarding calls transcribed into usable notes almost immediately – down from 3–5 hours of combined lawyer and admin time

Area of law: Personal injury

Firm size: 10 user firm

Location: Queensland

Benefits of using Smokeball and Archie AI:

• Enables Ryan and his team to have full oversight of hundreds of active claims, with clear visibility on where each one stands.
• Archie AI handles routine analysis and file synthesis, freeing the team up during peak periods without needing to add staff.
• Faster, more complete client updates – Ryan can walk into a call fully briefed, even after weeks away from a file.
• Higher-quality work in less time – ten-page schedules of damages in the time a two-page one used to take.

The challenge before Archie AI

Best Injury Lawyers, founded by Principal Lawyer Ryan Stehlik, helps individuals take on insurance companies after an injury or loss. After starting his career in corporate insurance, Ryan has built an award-winning personal injury firm that puts people first. “It's something I've built myself, and I love that," he says. Smokeball and Archie AI now help his team manage hundreds of complex claims without losing that personal touch.

Running his firm means carrying hundreds of matters at once, many running for years. Before Smokeball, keeping across where each claim stood was a constant weight. "Smokeball ensures we’re extremely organised," says Ryan. "It's up to date, making it very easy to manage hundreds of claims electronically across the firm, and to have complete oversight of all those matters."

The real pressure point for Ryan was synthesis – pulling together huge amounts of case information, especially during peak periods like Christmas, when the firm is racing to set files down for settlement. "It was often very difficult to bring together everything we needed and make sure claims were presented in the best possible way," says Ryan.

Archie AI provides a solution

That's where Archie AI changed the way the firm works. Ryan's team built a prompt that gives a full analysis of a claim – parties, status, whether it's pre-court or post-court, documents filed – and automatically flags urgent procedural dates like limitations. It means anyone, even a lawyer picking up someone else's file, can get across a matter fast.

The quality of your Archie AI prompt is going to dictate and impact the quality of the output. Archie AI has an improved-prompt feature, which helps immensely.

There's a more personal use case too. Before a client call, Ryan asks Archie AI for an update on the matter, what to raise, and anything on file about the client's family or pets. "It'll scan the file and pull that together," he says. "It lets me be a bit more personable with clients when that information isn't top of mind. It’s super simple, but it really helps with client interactions."

How Archie AI can help your firm

Ryan's advice to lawyers who are hesitant about using AI in their practice: "Why not? It's part of our practice management software, and it uses stringent security that's law-firm compliant." Unlike using external AI tools, Archie AI has secure, confidential access to the full matter, so the answers are more complete. The quality of the prompt also still matters. Ryan says “The AI I use knows what I do because I use it so often, and the quality of the prompt it generates is much better than anything I'd be willing to spend the time writing myself. You can also refine and build on those prompts and remember to ask for the output in Australian English. It really comes back to the security Archie AI provides; the more you put in, the more you get out of it.

The results

The time saved adds up. Onboarding calls that once took three to five hours of combined lawyer and admin time to write up are now recorded, transcribed, and turned into usable notes almost immediately. Ryan estimates each lawyer at the firm is saving at least an hour a day.

"When I prepare a schedule of damages, I'm now able to prepare a ten-page schedule in the time it used to take me to prepare a two-page one," says Ryan. "It's a much better outcome for the client in the quality of the work, and for the lawyers in the time they have to spend on those tasks."

Ryan’s top three tips for using Archie AI

1. Build a full-claim summary prompt. Ensure you ask for the prompt to include information that gives a full analysis of a claim - parties, status, whether it's pre-court or post-court, documents filed – and automatically flags urgent procedural dates like limitations. It means anyone, even a lawyer picking up someone else's file, can get across a matter fast.
2. Get client-ready before you dial. Before a call, ask Archie AI for an update on the matter, a few talking points, and anything on file about the client's family or pets. It will scan the file and pull that together, so you can be more personable and make the conversation count.
3. Draft your prompt with AI first. Without using any client information, describe the matter to an external AI – "I'm a personal injury lawyer in Queensland working on a combined workers' comp and public liability matter. Can you prepare a prompt for me to use in Archie AI within Smokeball to do X, Y and Z?". Then refine it before bringing it into the Archie AI prompt library. The better the prompt, the better the output.

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Find out more about how Archie AI can help your firm.

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