A lot of small and mid-sized practices in Ireland already have some type of system in place – an early case management platform, Microsoft 365 in the background, maybe an AML tool bolted on.
What’s changed is the weight now sitting on those systems. The Law Society has issued specific guidance on generative AI stressing that tools do not dilute duties of confidentiality, competence or independence. We also have the EU AI Act moving into force bringing new expectations around transparency, risk management, data governance and staff AI literacy. All of this means that your core platform is no longer just IT but is now part of your governance story.
This piece is a practical guide for Irish firms that want to move beyond drifting into a system and instead make a deliberate platform choice. It sets out the real decisions facing small and mid-sized practices, uses concrete platform examples to make those decisions tangible and treats your core system as what it has now become which is a pillar of governance, risk management and client experience as much as a piece of IT.
What Do We Mean By Platform?
Think about your platform in three layers:
Core practice platform
This is where matters live: clients, files, documents, time, billing, tasks.
For Irish small and mid-sized firms, the core options people tend to look at include:
| Platform | What it is | Overview |
| Keyhouse (Dye & Durham) | Ireland focused practice and case management, in the cloud or on premise. | Longstanding presence in the Irish market, integrates case management, documents, accounts, time and billing. Cloud version (“Keyhouse 365”) runs on Microsoft infrastructure. |
| LEAP | Cloud, all in one platform: case management, document automation, legal accounting, publishing and now AI tools. | Explicitly targeted at small and mid-sized firms, has an Irish office and is prominent in Irish law firm marketing and awards. |
| Clio | Cloud practice management with client intake, case management, billing and a client portal plus AI assistant “Clio Duo”. | 10+ years in Dublin, strong integrations especially with Microsoft 365 and third party apps, widely used by Irish firms moving fully to the cloud. |
There are others. The Law Society’s practice note on case management systems lists a wider set of potential suppliers, but for many Irish practices these three are the first serious contenders.
Around that core platform, everything else in your digital world either feeds work in, helps you do the work or proves how the work was done. It’s useful to think about those pieces as layers – starting with how people actually communicate and move documents around the firm.
Collaboration & Content Layer
This is how work actually flows:
Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, SharePoint/OneDrive, Teams) or Google Workspace.
E-signature tools like Adobe Acrobat Sign or DocuSign.
Client portals (built into platforms like Clio and LEAP or provided separately).
Controls & Intelligence Layer
The layer that touches AML, KYC and AI:
Onboarding / AML tools e.g. PlanetVerify (legal focused onboarding and KYC/AML checks), AML HQ, Sedicii, KYCexpert, Aryza Validate: Legal.
AI features in your existing tools – Microsoft 365 Copilot inside Word/Outlook, AI assistants inside platforms like LEAP or Clio Duo.
The real decision you’re making is: which core platform should sit at the centre of all this, and how should everything else plug into it?
Before you get into comparing platforms you need internal clarity. Think about the 3-5 changes that are most urgently needed. And think in 18 month windows rather than “someday”. That could look like:
- Cut file opening and AML admin time in half.
- Move from manual bills to a reliable monthly billing cycle.
- Give top clients a simple portal where they can see status and documents.
- Have a defensible record of where AI is used in our work.
You should be able to tie a feature back to a specific change like this.
With regards to AI and data risk, The Law Society’s generative AI guidance and library resources are clear. AI does not replace professional judgment. Risky uses such as drafting submissions or legal advice directly from AI require strong safeguards and you must be able to verify, supervise and stand over outputs. Alongside the AI Act’s literacy and governance expectations that means your platform has to live with:
- An internal AI policy (allowed/forbidden uses).
- Logging around AI assisted actions.
- Clear statements on whether your data trains anyone’s models.
Essential information you need in advance of selecting a platform that will work for your firm include:
- Budget per user, across the whole stack e.g. practice platform + AML + e-signature + AI.
- How much non billable time you can spend on migration, configuration and training.
- Who owns the project internally – typically a partner plus the practice manager.
A good mid-market platform you actually implement is worth more than a perfect enterprise system that never leaves pilot.
So How Do The Main Platforms Differ In Practice
Here’s how the big names tend to line up for Irish firms. This isn’t endorsement of one over the other – and again there are other options – it’s about understanding what options are out there so your selection is deliberate.
Keyhouse (Dye & Durham)
Ireland centric practice management system that can be cloud based (Keyhouse 365) or on premise.
Strengths:
- Deep fit with Irish practice areas (conveyancing, litigation, probate, etc.).
- Tight integration of case management, documents, accounts and time recording.
- Option to move from a server based installation to cloud gradually.
Questions to explore in a selection process:
- How does Keyhouse 365 handle AI features – both now and on its roadmap?
- How cleanly does it integrate with your chosen AML tool and Microsoft 365 / SharePoint?
- Good fit if you want: continuity with a familiar Irish system but a clearer route into modern cloud and AI features.
LEAP
Cloud, all in one system for small and mid-sized firms, combining case management, document automation, legal accounting, billing and legal content with AI tools woven in.
Strengths:
- Strong automation of standard letters and precedents – heavy focus on document production.
- Integrated accounting, avoiding the case system + separate accounts package tangle.
- Designed from the ground up as a cloud SaaS product.
Questions to explore:
- Where exactly data is hosted and how Irish regulatory expectations are addressed.
- How AI is embedded: which tasks it covers, how you can control and audit usage.
- How it handles Irish specific workflows e.g. Land Registry, Revenue interactions, legal aid, etc. in your actual practice mix.
Good fit if you want: a single platform to run most of the firm (files, docs, accounts) with a strong automation story and are comfortable going fully cloud.
Clio
Cloud practice management and client intake platform with billing, online payments, a client portal and growing AI capabilities via Clio Duo and integrations.
Strengths:
- Very strong integrations with other tools – 90+ apps in its directory including accounting, document management and specialist legal tools.
- Secure client portal and online payment options that feel like modern SaaS to clients.
- Mature migration and onboarding support given its long presence in Ireland.
Questions to explore:
Whether you keep accounts in Clio or integrate with Xero/Sage/etc. and how that affects reporting.
How Clio Duo (the AI assistant) is configured for EU data/privacy and how outputs are audited.
How well it supports your precise Irish workflows.
Good fit if you want: a cloud hub with strong integration potential, a polished client facing experience and are happy to assemble best of breed components (accounts, AML tools, etc.) around it.
Whichever core platform you choose, you’ll probably have at least one specialist system around it:
AML / onboarding
Tools like PlanetVerify, AML HQ, Sedicii, KYCexpert and Aryza Validate: Legal are all pushing into the digital onboarding and AML/KYC space for regulated professionals, including law firms. They typically offer:
- Digital client data capture.
- ID verification and document collection.
- Risk scoring and screening (PEP/sanctions).
- Reports you can show an inspector.
The selection question here is simple – does our core platform play nicely with whichever AML tool we pick or are we creating another silo?
AI / Microsoft 365 Copilot
Whether or not your core platform has built in AI, many firms will end up using Microsoft 365 Copilot because it sits inside Word, Outlook, Teams and Excel. Microsoft is marketing Copilot explicitly to legal teams as a way to reduce manual work and improve drafting and review, and Irish IT providers are already rolling it out to SMEs. Taking this into account, the question then becomes “how do our core platform and Copilot coexist”?
- Where do we allow Copilot to touch client content, and where do we forbid it?
- How do we keep a record of when AI has been used in the lifecycle of a file?
You want your platform choice to make those answers easier, not harder.
Ultimately, when you sit down with Keyhouse, LEAP, Clio or any other contender, you’re trying to answer six practical questions.
Workflow fit
- Can this system handle your real world?
- Run an Irish residential conveyance, from first enquiry to closing.
- Run a typical District Court litigation file.
- Run a probate file or corporate transaction.
- Include AML, conflict checks, key dates, bills and AI assisted steps.
Have each platform walk your scenarios with your templates where possible.
Compliance built in
- Where do AML and KYC checks live in the process?
- How are risk assessments, PEP/sanctions hits and enhanced due diligence recorded?
- What audit logs are kept (including for AI use)?
- How easily could we show this to an auditor?
The Law Society’s technology and AI resources, plus its practice note on case management systems are good independent checklists here.
Data, hosting and exit
- Where is data hosted (country and cloud provider)?
- Are there Irish or EU data residency options?
- How do we export all our data if we leave, and in what format?
- What happens if there is a breach?
Integration with your other tools
Look specifically at:
- Outlook and Word.
- Your chosen AML tool.
- Your accounting system (if not fully inside the platform).
- E-signature solutions and any specialist practice tools you rely on.
Clio leans more heavily on integrations while LEAP tends to do more in one place; Keyhouse sits somewhere in between with tight integration to Dye & Durham services. Understanding this helps you avoid future surprises.
Reporting and visibility
Ask each platform to show you:
- WIP and billing by partner/department.
- Files with no significant activity in the last 30 days.
- Open high risk matters from an AML perspective.
- Basic AI usage reporting (where applicable).
Contracts and roadmap
Finally, look beyond the price per user:
- Minimum term, notice and price review clauses.
- Commitments around changes to hosting, sub processors and AI features.
- How is the platform adapting to the AI Act and Irish AI guidance?
You’re buying into a direction of travel as much as today’s feature set.
In practical terms, many Irish small/mid-sized practices will end up with something like:
- One core platform – e.g. Keyhouse, LEAP or Clio – as the system of record for matters, documents, time and billing.
- Microsoft 365 used properly – structured SharePoint/OneDrive, templates, Teams where it makes sense, with or without Copilot.
- One AML/onboarding tool – tightly integrated into file opening, producing inspection-ready reports.
- One e-signature solution – wired into your document workflows.
- Research/precedents tools – Lexis/Westlaw/vLex/Bloomsbury etc.
- A short written AI policy – aligned with the Law Society guidance and AI Act, naming which tools and platform features are in bounds.
These are the essentials.
A good platform choice in 2025 isn’t about betting on the winner” of the software market. It’s about if the Law Society or a major client sat in your boardroom tomorrow and said, “Show us how you run your files, use AI and manage risk,” could you open your system, step through real matters and feel calm?
If the answer is “yes”, then you’ve chosen the right platform for your firm.
