Director of Technology Software — Law Firm & Legal Ops (North County San Diego)
I'm PJ, a solo tech consultant in Encinitas. If you run tech for a law firm and you're tired of enterprise vendors quoting six figures to do what should take a week, text me — I'll tell you in one message if it's a real fit.
📱 Text PJ: 858-461-8054Quick Answer
- What I build: Custom tools that sit between iManage/NetDocuments, Clio, Aderant, and whatever else your firm actually uses.
- How fast: Most integrations or internal tools ship in 2–4 weeks, not 2–4 quarters.
- What it costs: Fixed scope, fixed price. No SOW theater. Most projects land $5k–$25k.
- Who I work with: Directors of Technology and Legal Ops leads at firms 20–300 attorneys who need something built, not sold.
→ See a sample legal tech build
Questions Directors of Technology actually ask me
Can you integrate with our existing DMS (iManage, NetDocuments, Worldox)?
Yes. I've worked with all three APIs. Most "impossible" integrations are a REST wrapper and a weekend. Tell me what you're trying to connect and I'll tell you straight if it's doable.
How do you handle client confidentiality and ethical walls?
I sign NDAs, work in your environment or a segregated dev tenant, and build access controls that mirror your matter-level permissions. I don't touch client data I don't need.
Our practice management vendor won't build the feature we need. Can you?
Usually yes, if their API exposes it. If it doesn't, I can build a sidecar tool that reads/writes around them. This is the most common thing I do for law firms.
Can you automate intake, conflicts checks, or time-entry workflows?
Yes. These are bread-and-butter. I'll usually pilot one workflow end-to-end before scoping the rest so you can see it work with real data first.
Do you do AI / LLM work for legal — or is it all vaporware?
Both exist. I build narrow, auditable LLM tools (summarization, doc classification, intake triage) with guardrails. I will not sell you a "legal AI platform." Scope it small, prove it, expand.
Why would I hire a solo consultant over a legal tech firm?
Speed, price, and you talk to the person writing the code. If your project needs 12 people, I'm not your guy. If it needs one sharp one for a month, text me.
Useful things to know in this role
Buy vs. build the boring stuff
Buy: DMS, time & billing, conflicts. Build: the glue between them. That's where 80% of the attorney complaints live and where vendors won't help you.
Pilot one workflow, not the platform
Pick the single most-hated workflow (new matter intake is usually it). Automate that one. Measure hours saved. Then expand. Big-bang rollouts fail in law firms.
Attorneys will not read docs
If the tool requires training, it will not be used. Design for zero-onboarding. Auto-fill defaults. One button. If you can't get there, the workflow is wrong.
Audit logs are non-negotiable
Every automation you ship needs who/what/when logging. Not for compliance theater — for the day a partner asks why their doc moved.
Scope AI tightly or don't bother
"Summarize this depo" works. "Our firm's AI assistant" doesn't. Narrow, auditable, human-in-loop tools win. Everything else is a demo.
Your vendor roadmap is not your roadmap
If a feature is "coming in Q3," assume Q3 of