How Polaris Lawyers creates stronger client relationships with AI guidance tools

“When clients are better engaged and informed, we can create stronger relationships.”

Polaris Lawyers is a boutique personal injury law firm based in Melbourne, Australia. The firm’s no stranger to creating self-service legal tools, and in the past six months launched two, public-facing AI guidance solutions:

• WorkMate, which helps people navigate workers’ compensation, and
• The TAC FAQ tool, which answers legal questions surrounding traffic accidents.

Recently, Founder and Principal Nick Mann sat down with Josef Co-founder & CEO Tom Dreyfus to chat about the tools, what the firm’s learned creating them on Josef’s AI module Josef Q, and what impact they’ve had on clients and the team at large. 

Watch the conversation in full or read our recap below.

Empowering the 40% 

From the start, Polaris has focused on helping everyday people navigate complex, often intimidating legal systems.

Nick shares that, “About 40% of people who suffer a personal injury never go on to engage legal representation. Some of that is because they’ve been told they don’t have a claim.”

Such misguidance can come from general online searching, chatting with hospital staff, neighbors or friends—and it can cost people their right to compensation.

Polaris saw an opportunity to step in before such misinformation takes hold.

Accessible legal answers, anytime

Polaris’ AI guidance tools, WorkMate and The TAC FAQ Tool, provide everyday people with lawyer-approved answers, anytime. 

They’ve made it easy. All users have to do is:

1. Go to Polaris’ website,
2. Locate the relevant resource, and
3. Ask WorkMate, for example, a question like, “How can I seek workers’ compensation?”

The tool then provides an accurate, plain-language answer that the user can trust. If they’d like further 1:1 help, the user can escalate their query directly within the tool.

Nick says that when assessing the tools’ accuracy pre-launch, he thought, “What kind of answer would I like to overhear my lawyers sharing with clients? That became our benchmark.”

Uncovering hidden knowledge gaps

Before launching WorkMate, Polaris had published more than 250 blog posts about personal injury law.

But when the tool went live, Nick and his team were surprised by the kinds of questions people were asking. 

“Beforehand we were just guessing what people really cared about.” Now, with access to Josef Q’s intelligent reporting, Nick says, “the questions people ask WorkMate enlighten us!” They spotlight new topics the firm hadn’t considered which now influence everything from content strategy to how the team fields calls and handles intake.

Better staff training, better conversations

Nick shares that the tools haven’t just helped clients—they’ve strengthened internal processes too.

“Building the tools has helped inform how we train our staff, how we engage our clients, and the types of information we want to give them upfront and along the journey of their claim.”

The firm’s been able to create more consistent messaging across its team, meaning fewer miscommunications, smoother conversations, and better client outcomes.

“A hugely valuable resource”

At a high-level, WorkMate and The TAC FAQ Tool have meant:

• Fewer poor-fit clients: “WorkMate’s a hugely valuable resource for people who might be on the fence… or who may not have a claim,” Nick says. “When they don’t want to wait to speak to someone to get that answer, they can find one themselves!”
• More qualified consults: “When clients are better engaged and informed, we can create stronger relationships,” he says.
• Time saved for lawyers: “What you’re left with is lawyers who you trust to guide you through your claim—not just someone who can simply recite legislation. We don’t need a human to do that.”

Even existing clients benefit. “WorkMate exists as a tool both for new and existing clients—or people who never become clients but want the information and go on their way,” Nick explains.

“I underestimated how much interest the tools would get”

While Polaris created the tools with potential clients in mind, the firm was surprised by the wider industry’s reception.

“I underestimated how much interest the tools would get in the legal community,” Nick admits. “People from TAC (Transport Accident Commission), and other lawyers would say, ‘When can we have it?’”

Some firms even used the tool themselves.

“At first I felt annoyed,” he laughs. “And then I felt proud. Because it meant we weren’t going back to a world where all the legal information was siloed. This is now part of the common stock of knowledge.”

A human-centred approach

For Polaris, their AI tools haven’t replaced the human touch—they’ve only amplified it.

“If you are driven by empathy and want to meet your client where they are and walk with them… then you are much better positioned than the person who can simply recite the legislation,” Nick says.

With their tools doing the heavy lifting, answering questions–all while attracting new clients–the Polaris team can do more of what it does best: winning trust, building relationships, and delivering better outcomes—for more people.

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Watch Josef Co-founder and COO Sam Flynn chat with NYU’s Sateesh Nori to find out.

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