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Scope and fee estimate letters for commercial solicitors

Draft scope and fee estimate letters for business clients from your own template with an AI assistant, then check them. Free, or up to about $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month.

At a glance

  • What it costsFree–$27Free–£20Free–€24Free–A$38Free–C$38 a month

  • Worth, in extra profit or time saved in the worked example$621£467€556A$897C$878 a month

  • Pays for itselfIn a few days

  • Sign up and configure; no technical skills neededEasy to set up

Figures come from the worked example below, using its stated assumptions. Tool prices checked . How we check prices

The problem

Business owners want to know what a job will cost before they instruct you, and a clear scope letter takes time to write for each inquiry. If a firm answers 20 inquiries a month and each scope and fee estimate takes 35 minutes, that's 700 minutes, about 11.7 hours a month.

What the AI does

You give ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini your firm's template, your fee scales and a general description of the job with no client names (for example: review of a supplier's standard terms, up to 20 pages, one round of comments), and ask for a short, plain-English letter setting out what is included, what isn't, the estimated fee and what would change it. You check the scope and fee against your own pricing, add the client's details in your case system and send it under your normal sign-off. The SRA Code of Conduct requires clients to get the best possible information about how their matter will be priced, so the solicitor owns every figure.

A worked example

A two-solicitor commercial firm in Swindon answers about 20 new inquiries a month. A solicitor keeps the firm's template and fee scales in a saved instruction, drafts each letter from an anonymised description and checks the figures before sending.

Before

35 minutes to write each scope and fee estimate: about 11.7 hours a month

After

About 15 minutes to prompt and check each: 5 hours a month

What it's worth

About $621£467€556A$897C$878 a month of solicitor time, if it is worth $93£70€83A$134C$132 an hour: 20 minutes saved on each of 20 letters is 400 minutes, about 6.7 hours. Plans run from free to about $27£20€24A$38C$38 a month for one person.

How to set it up

  1. Write a standing instruction with your template and fee scales, and the rule that no fee or assumption appears unless you supplied it.
  2. Describe each job in general terms. Leave out client names, the other party and any confidential commercial details.
  3. Check every inclusion, exclusion and figure against your own pricing and the work actually involved.
  4. Add the client's details in your case system and send the letter under the solicitor's sign-off.
  5. Every few months, compare your estimates with what you actually billed and update the template.

What goes wrong

  • An assistant can invent a fee or promise work you don't do. Every figure must come from your own pricing.
  • Too narrow a scope leads to disputes and write-offs when the job grows. State clearly what would change the estimate.
  • Consumer AI plans are not suitable for confidential client information. Describe the job in general terms only.
  • Free plans have usage limits, so keep your approved templates saved elsewhere.

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Last updated October 17, 2026.