First AML and Silks join forces to close the loop on Actionstep-powered client onboarding

London, United Kingdom, 1 July, 2026 - Silks, the legal-grade AI client onboarding platform for mid-market law firms, today announced a partnership with First AML, the specialist anti-money laundering (AML) compliance platform. The partnership extends First AML's existing integration with mutual partner, Actionstep, the practice management platform. The three-way integration brings optimised client/matter intake with AI-powered engagement letters and AML compliance into a single workflow.

Law firms spend an average of 40 hours on the full matter-opening process, before a file can be opened. While most firms on-charge the cost, the time is gone either way. That's 40 hours of fee-earner and admin capacity spent on process, not legal work.

Silks and First AML, both running on Actionstep, have cut that window to just over two hours. Silks handles intake and engagement letter drafting. First AML manages identity verification and AML checks, the compliance gate that every matter has to pass before it can open. It all runs in one legal-grade AI layer that sits on top of Actionstep, reading the live matter through Silks' purpose-built Actionstep MCP, inside the firm's own Microsoft 365 tenant.

"Our mission at Silks is to help mid-market firms move faster and work smarter without cutting corners on security or compliance. Bringing First AML's verification and AML checks directly into the workflow firms already use means the speed we've built for firms doesn't come at the expense of the compliance record behind it."

Mel Kang, Founder and CEO, Silks

Actionstep runs the matter. Silks runs intake, offers matter intelligence and engagement letter drafting, grounded in the live matter through its purpose-built Actionstep MCP. First AML runs identity verification and AML/CTF checks against sanctions, PEP and watchlist data. Firms already using First AML's Actionstep integration can now add Silks intake layer on top, so verification happens inside the same workflow rather than a separate one.

For firms, the native integration means the onboarding sequence progresses on its own; intake, drafting, verification, all without a fee earner having to drive each step, while every part of it is still done to the standard the firm and the regulator expect. Every step across the three platforms is also captured the same way each time, so when a regulator or auditor asks how a file was opened, the firm can show them.

"Silks and Actionstep have solved the speed problem in legal onboarding. Our job is to make sure the compliance behind that speed holds up when a regulator or auditor asks for it. This partnership puts identity verification and AML checks directly into the workflow firms already use, instead of bolting them on afterwards."

Bion Behdin, Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer, First AML

The integration is available now. Firms running Actionstep, with or without Silks already in place, can get in touch with First AML to see how the combined workflow can work for their practice.  Contact partnerships@firstaml.com for more information.

About Silks
Silks is a legal-grade AI built on Actionstep and Microsoft 365 for mid-market law firms, running the new-matter workflow, including intake, engagement letter drafting and matter intelligence. Founded by Mel Kang, Silks is backed by Force Over Mass Capital. silks.net [flag: their site lists a London HQ, but a press release for a separate Silks integration used a Cardiff, Wales dateline - worth confirming which is correct before publishing]