Stinson LLP Partners Stephanie Scheck and Dawn Valdivia authored a Law360 article examining how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the law firm RFP process and why firms should use those efficiencies to strengthen, rather than replace, client service.
In the article, Scheck and Valdivia explain that clients increasingly expect proposals to demonstrate an understanding of their businesses, operational pressures and the practical application of legal advice. Rather than treating an RFP as primarily an exercise in showcasing credentials and experience, they encourage firms to use the process as an opportunity to demonstrate business judgment and show how they would approach real-world challenges.
Scheck and Valdivia also explore how AI can streamline proposal preparation by helping firms identify relevant experience, develop capability narratives, select attorneys, evaluate responses and handle routine administrative work. They caution, however, that the time saved through these tools should be reinvested in understanding the client and developing a proposal tailored to its business and needs.
“AI tools can certainly help firms move through the RFP process better and faster, but a client-service mindset is what matters most,” Scheck and Valdivia write. “In other words, technology improves the process — but it does not replace the judgment.”
Scheck and Valdivia further discuss how proposals can demonstrate that a firm understands the client’s business by addressing practical considerations such as staffing, communication, fees and implementation. They emphasize that a tailored proposal should show clients not only that a firm can handle the legal work, but also what working with the firm will look like in practice.
Scheck serves on Stinson’s executive team and board of directors, and co-chairs the Labor, Employment and Employee Benefits Practice Division. In addition to her leadership responsibilities, she maintains a national employment practice focused on litigation and counseling, including advising federal government contractors on compliance matters, conducting high-stakes internal investigations and guiding employers through complex workplace challenges.
Drawing on more than a decade of experience as senior in-house employment counsel for a Fortune 100 aerospace company, Valdivia’s practice spans complex employment and labor matters that arise across the full employee lifecycle, from day-to-day workforce decision-making to high-stakes disputes. She regularly handles employment litigation, labor relations matters, workplace investigations, wage and hour compliance and litigation, restrictive covenant disputes, reductions in force, and matters involving compliance with federal and state employment laws.
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