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ROI calculator

Estimate your return on Visalaw AI, with every assumption shown

Answer eight questions about your caseload and team. You'll see the hours you get back in your first year, what that time is worth, and what it costs. Every benchmark and discount behind the number is on this page.

Start the Calculator How we calculate
  • 33immigration case types, each benchmarked at four levels of complexity
  • 3discounts for attorney review, real demand and first-year adoption
  • 0contact details needed to see your estimate

Why run the numbers

In immigration, the return on AI is easier to see

Most practice areas have to guess at the value of saved time. Immigration's fee structure and volume make the math more direct. Three principles from our buyer's guide shape how the calculator works.

Flat fees turn saved time into capacity

An hourly practice worries that AI reduces billable hours. Most immigration work is billed flat, so the effect runs the other way. An hour saved on a petition is an hour for another case at the same price, or for better service on the case in front of you.

The break-even point is low

At typical immigration billing rates, two to three hours of attorney time saved a month covers the cost of most platforms. Anything beyond that is return. The question is how far beyond.

A number only helps if it's specific

“Increased efficiency” isn’t a goal. “Reducing drafting time for complex employment-based memos from six hours to two” is. Pick the workflows, estimate the time on each, and time them again after go-live. Without time tracking, a periodic audit of one workflow is enough.

“A first draft that takes two hours to fix is not necessarily faster than writing from scratch. A first draft that takes 20 minutes to polish is a different matter.”

That’s why the calculator gives back a quarter of all drafting time saved for attorney review. Time saved only counts once the work is ready to file.

From the Immigration Law Firm AI Buyer's Guide 2026.

In practice

“It’s like having a support paralegal and a researcher all in your back pocket.”

Ken Robinson

Attorney at Law, Law Firm of Ken Robinson · Solo business immigration practice, Bexley, Ohio

Ken used Visalaw AI at a large firm to move faster on research and to check he was on the right track. When he went solo, there was no team down the hall. Visalaw AI filled that gap. He uses it for practical, repeatable tasks, and says he probably wouldn't have gone solo without it.

Read Ken's Story
4 to 6 hours saved each week on practical, repeatable tasks. He expects more as his systems mature.
$300 an hour lower rate for his clients, and he still comes out ahead. My clients love it. I reduced my hourly rate by three hundred dollars.
One attorney doing the research and drafting a large firm once shared across a team. I don't know if I would have the confidence to go out on my own, as I'm doing now, without Visalaw AI.

Getting started

Who is this estimate for?

We size the estimate to your caseload and team.

About you

What is your role?

So we know who we are talking with.

Your caseload

Which case types do you handle?

Select all that apply. You will set monthly volume next.

Your caseload

About how many of each do you file a month?

Your caseload

How complex is a typical matter?

This scales hours, page counts and fee benchmarks for every case type you picked.

Your team

Who would use Visalaw AI?

Each person who signs in needs a license. Count the people who would use it, not your whole staff.

AttorneysIncluding you, if you are one
Paralegals and legal assistantsCase preparation and support staff

Your pricing

How do you price most matters?

We value recovered time the way you bill it.

100% is the industry benchmark fee for each case type. Move it down if you charge less, up if you charge more.

Your estimate is ready

Where should we send a copy?

We will follow up with your numbers and can walk through the assumptions with you.

By continuing you agree that Visalaw AI may contact you about this estimate. See our privacy policy.

Your estimate

Net annual value

After the estimated cost of Visalaw AI

Hours recovered

Return

Recommended setup

Case typePer monthHours saved eachFirst-year hours
How we calculate this

Each case type uses workbook benchmarks for drafting hours, other attorney hours and support hours at the complexity you chose. We apply separate savings rates to each, so only the parts of a matter Visalaw AI can compress are counted: drafting, research, translation, summarization and some exhibit review. Client communication, filing administration and case strategy are assumed to stay the same.

We then apply three discounts, so the estimate reflects day-to-day practice rather than a best case:

  • Review time. Attorneys review every draft, so we give back a quarter of the drafting time saved.
  • Realization. Not every freed hour becomes paid work, so we count half of the freed time as new revenue.
  • First-year adoption. Teams take a few months to reach full use, so first-year savings are set at 75% of full use.

We also cap hours saved at 6 a week per attorney and 4 per paralegal, in line with the 4 to 6 hours a week users report. If your caseload is more than your team could carry at benchmark hours, the results say so.

Return is net value divided by cost. Cost is one Core license per user at $220 a month plus one Drafts package ($260 a month, 10 drafts) per 10 petitions or briefs. Reference letters do not count toward drafts. Some case types use proxy benchmarks scaled from a related process until internal data exists.

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Methodology

How the calculator gets to a number

Four steps, each using figures you can check. We'd rather you understand a smaller number than distrust a larger one.

  1. Step 1

    Benchmark the work

    Each of 33 case types has benchmarks at four levels of complexity: drafting hours, other attorney hours, support hours and a typical flat fee. Your answers set the case mix, volume and complexity.

  2. Step 2

    Apply savings by type of work

    Each kind of time gets its own savings rate, set by the kind of filing. Client communication, filing administration and case strategy stay as they are.

  3. Step 3

    Discount for practice

    Three adjustments and a ceiling, so the estimate reflects day-to-day practice rather than a best case.

    • 25%Review timeAttorneys review every draft, so we give back a quarter of the drafting time saved.
    • 50%RealizationNot every freed hour becomes paid work, so we count half of the freed time as new revenue.
    • 75%First-year adoptionTeams take a few months to reach full use, so first-year savings are set at 75% of full use.

    Ceiling

    6 hrsa week per attorney4 hrsa week per paralegal

    We never credit more time saved than this, in line with the 4 to 6 hours a week users report. If your caseload is more than your team could carry at benchmark hours, the results tell you.

  4. Step 4

    Compare value with cost

    Cost uses list prices and the volume you entered. Enterprise plans are priced separately.

    $220a month for each user (Core license)
    $260a month for every 10 petitions or briefs

    Return = net value ÷ cost

Worked example

One O-1A petition, standard complexity

How a single matter moves from benchmark to the value we count. Flat-fee firms value each saved hour at the matter's fee per hour of work. Hourly firms use their own rate instead.

  • 19.5 hrsattorney time, 14 of it drafting
  • 9 hrssupport time
  • $10,125typical flat fee
  • $355fee per hour of work
  1. Time saved at full savings rates$2,874

    8.1 hours: 6.3 drafting, 1.4 support, 0.4 other attorney

  2. After attorney review$2,315

    6.5 hours. A quarter of drafting time goes back to review

  3. Counted as new revenue$1,157

    Half the freed time becomes paid work

  4. Counted in year one$868

    At 75% of full use while the team ramps up

Across a firm's whole caseload, the three discounts reduce the estimated value by about 70%. For the example firm in the hero, they turn a 16x return into 4.2x. That's the figure we'd expect a firm to reach.

What the estimate leaves out

Known limits, stated so you can weigh them.

  • Year two and afterWe show year one only, at 75% of full use. Later years would be higher. We don't promise them.
  • Training timeHours spent learning the platform aren't subtracted separately. The adoption discount covers part of this.
  • Quality and riskMore consistent evidence, faster turnaround and catching what might have been missed aren't priced. We'd rather understate.
  • Proxy benchmarks and list pricesA few case types use benchmarks scaled from a related process until we have internal data. Cost uses list prices; Enterprise plans are priced separately.

Setting expectations

What moves your number

The calculator uses middle-of-the-road settings. How your firm puts Visalaw AI to work decides whether you land above or below them. Each lever below is moved on its own, for the same example firm: 3 attorneys and 11 business-immigration matters a month.

How widely the firm uses it

First-year adoption. The biggest implementation risk is a good tool used by two attorneys and ignored by everyone else.

Lower2.5x50% of full useA few early adopters; everyone else works as before
Calculator default4.2x75% of full useA steady ramp to full use over about six months
Higher6.0xFull useBuilt into every relevant workflow from go-live

What the freed time turns into

Realization. Saved hours only become revenue if there's work to fill them.

Lower1.6x25% becomes revenueSteady demand; time goes to backlog and admin
Calculator default4.2x50% becomes revenueSome new matters, some better service on existing ones
Higher6.8x75% becomes revenueA waiting list, or growth the team couldn't take on before

How much editing drafts need

Review time. Drafts get faster to review as your team refines how it uses the platform.

Lower3.5x40% given backHeavy rework on most drafts
Calculator default4.2x25% given backA careful read and targeted edits
Higher5.0x10% given backEstablished prompts and review habits for each case type

The full range for the example firm

0.5xEvery lever at the lower setting
4.2xCalculator default
10.9xEvery lever at the higher setting

Even at the lower setting on every lever, the example firm covers its cost. In year one, most firms should plan near the middle. The higher end is reachable, but it takes the rollout described below.

How firms reach the higher end

Firms that benefit most build AI into their workflows systematically, rather than leaving it to a few early adopters. A rollout that works:

  1. Before go-liveSet a baselineName a point person. Time one specific workflow so you can compare later.
  2. Go-liveCover the basicsAn initial session for everyone who'll use it.
  3. Week 2Train by roleSessions once people have hands-on time. Tell support staff clearly what to use it for, and what not to.
  4. Day 60Check in and measureAnswer questions from practice. Time the same workflow again.

Plan below the default if

  • Adoption
    Only one or two people will use it in the first year.
  • Realization
    Freed time will mostly go to backlog rather than new matters.
  • Review time
    Drafts in your trial needed heavy rework before they could be filed.

Confidence in every case

Bring your numbers to a walkthrough

We'll go through your estimate case type by case type, show you the workflows behind each figure, and help you set a target you can measure after go-live.

Book a Demo
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