In this episode of the Fringe Legal podcast, host Ab interviews Stefan Ciesla, the co-founder and CEO of Ayora ai, a startup that focuses on helping law firms manage their revenues and improve the revenue management skills of fee earners such as attorneys and lawyers.

Steven discusses the problem Ayora is solving in the legal industry and the role of lawyers as revenue managers. He explains that fee earners often have to make revenue management decisions throughout a matter's lifecycle, but they may not have the necessary skills or focus on revenue management. Ayora's smart lockup assistant helps fee earners by scanning a firm's data related to matters and providing recommendations on monitoring scope, estimates, budgets, resourcing, outside counsel guidelines, and billing. The assistant pre-drafts emails and provides relevant information to make the decision-making process easier and more efficient. Steven also addresses the challenge of balancing AI and machine learning with human control and building trust in the recommendations made. He emphasizes that Ayora prioritizes transparency and user consent and never takes any action without the attorney's knowledge.

Key takeaways:

• Fee earners in law firms, such as attorneys and lawyers, often need to make revenue management decisions throughout a matter's lifecycle but may not have the necessary skills or focus on revenue management.
• Ayora's smart lockup assistant helps fee earners monitor scope, estimates, budgets, resourcing, outside counsel guidelines, and billing, providing recommendations and pre-drafting emails to make decision-making easier and more efficient.
• Ayora prioritizes transparency and user consent, ensuring that attorneys have control over the recommendations made by the system.

Uncommon learning
The legal industry may be missing out on billions of dollars of additional value due to suboptimal revenue management decisions.

Podcast show notes

00:02 Introduction to the Fringe Legal Podcast

00:29 Guest Introduction: Stefan Ciesla, Co-founder and CEO of Ayora

00:58 Steven's Background and Ayora's Founding Team

02:07 The Unique Blend of Ayora's Founding Team

02:55 Understanding Ayora's Mission and Purpose

04:24 The Role of Lawyers as Revenue Managers

04:43 The Impact of Decision-Making on Revenue Management

08:28 Introducing Ayora's Smart Lockup Assistant

20:20 The Role of AI and Machine Learning in Decision-Making

27:05 The Impact of Fixed Fee Work on Revenue Management

30:12 Conclusion and Contact Information