June 2nd: New Startups Join MDR Lab, and Casepoint Investigates Data Breach
Deloitte appoints Richard Punt to lead Deloitte Legal with a focus on multidisciplinary solutions and AI. Mishcon de Reya's MDR Lab partners with Ayora, Martello, and ApprentAI. Casepoint investigates a data breach.
Welcome to your daily briefing for June 2, 2023. Here's what happened in Legal Tech Yesterday.
TLDR; Listen instead:
Have less than a 1 min? Three takeaways from yesterday
- Embrace multidisciplinary solutions: Integrating legal expertise with other disciplines can deliver comprehensive and innovative services to meet evolving client needs.
- Accelerate AI adoption: Incorporate artificial intelligence tools into operations to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and unlock new possibilities in areas like property search and document review.
- Prioritize cybersecurity: The recent data breach underscores the ongoing security threats in the legal tech landscape. Implement robust security measures to protect sensitive information and maintain client trust.
Trends from yesterday
Yesterday brought us a flurry of exciting developments in the legal technology landscape. Deloitte appointed Richard Punt, an experienced legal strategist, as the new global leader for Deloitte Legal. Mishcon de Reya's MDR Lab program also made headlines, welcoming three promising startups—Ayora, Martello, and ApprentAI—to collaborate with their lawyers and stakeholders. Additionally, e-discovery company Casepoint is currently investigating a data breach after a ransomware gang claimed to possess sensitive information from various organizations, including attorney files and government data.
Trends
- Embracing Multidisciplinary Solutions: Deloitte Legal's new global leader, Richard Punt, plans to revolutionize the legal industry by offering integrated, multidisciplinary solutions. This approach acknowledges the importance of combining legal expertise with other disciplines to deliver comprehensive and innovative services that meet the evolving needs of clients.
- AI Adoption Accelerates: Both Mishcon de Reya's MDR Lab and Deloitte Legal are actively incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations. Mishcon de Reya's MDR Lab is collaborating with startups like Martello and ApprentAI to leverage AI-powered tools in areas such as property search and document review. Deloitte Legal aims to drive AI adoption among general counsel, recognizing it as a defining moment for the legal industry.
- Security Challenges Persist: The recent data breach faced by Casepoint highlights the ongoing cybersecurity threats that legal tech companies and law firms face. With sensitive information at stake, organizations must remain vigilant and prioritize robust security measures to protect their clients' data and maintain trust.
Analysis
Yesterday's developments underscore the growing importance of multidisciplinary solutions and AI adoption in the legal industry. The appointment of Richard Punt at Deloitte Legal signifies a strategic shift towards integrating various disciplines and harnessing the power of AI to deliver enhanced value to clients. This trend aligns with the industry's current transformation, where legal professionals are no longer confined to traditional legal roles but are encouraged to embrace technology and collaborate across domains.
Furthermore, including AI in initiatives like Mishcon de Reya's MDR Lab demonstrates the recognition of AI's potential to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and unlock new possibilities. Startups like Martello, ApprentAI, and Legatics are leveraging AI to tackle challenges in property search, document review, and deal management, respectively. These partnerships showcase the legal industry's readiness to explore innovative solutions and integrate AI into everyday operations.
However, the data breach experienced by Casepoint serves as a reminder of the persistent security threats in the digital landscape. Legal tech companies and law firms must remain proactive in implementing robust security measures to safeguard sensitive information and protect client data from malicious actors.
Key stories
Adding three promising startups to Mishcon de Reya's MDR Lab program highlights the ongoing commitment to innovation in the legal industry. Ayora, Martello, and ApprentAI will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with lawyers and stakeholders to refine their products over the next 12 weeks.
Ayora's cash management platform aims to optimize cash flow and reduce lock-up periods for large enterprises, addressing a key challenge in professional services. Martello's digital platform focuses on building a live "property search" database to expedite the home buying process, addressing a long-standing issue in conveyancing. ApprentAI's GenAI document review platform offers litigators insights into their cases, enhancing their understanding and analysis capabilities.
These additions demonstrate the MDR Lab's continued efforts to bridge the gap between law and technology. By providing a supportive environment for startups to develop innovative solutions, Mishcon de Reya contributes to the evolution of the legal industry. The collaborative approach between startups and legal professionals fosters the integration of technology into legal practice and improves the delivery of legal services.
E-Discovery Company Casepoint Investigates Data Breach After Files Found On Dark Web (LawSites)
E-discovery company Casepoint is investigating a data breach after a ransomware gang claimed to have over two terabytes of its data, including attorney files, visa details, information from the U.S. government, and other sensitive information. The Russia-linked ALPHV ransomware gang, also known as BlackCat, claimed Casepoint as a victim and posted files on the dark web as a sample of the compromised data. Casepoint's clients include the U.S. Courts, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Marriott hotel chain, and the Mayo Clinic.
All stories
Richard Punt returns to Deloitte as global head of Deloitte Legal (Legal IT Insider)
Deloitte has appointed Richard Punt, former chief strategy head at Thomson Reuters, as the new global leader for Deloitte Legal. Punt will lead the implementation of Deloitte Legal's strategy across its global network of nearly 3,000 legal professionals in over 75 jurisdictions. His aim is to bring new business value to general counsel through integrated, multidisciplinary solutions and enable their uptake of AI in the legal industry.
Three startups join MDR Lab's summer programme (Legal IT Insider)
Mishcon de Reya has added three early-stage startups to its MDR Lab programme. Over the next 12 weeks, the companies will work with lawyers and other stakeholders across the law firm's finance, residential property, and dispute resolution teams. The three companies joining the programme are Ayora, Martello, and ApprentAI.
Ready to Scale? Add More SOPs Before You Add More People (Attorney at Work)
The "Ready, Set, Scale" series by Karen and David Skinner offers a five-step process for creating a library of effective standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prepare your practice for growth. Hiring more staff may not always be the solution for scaling your practice, as inefficient processes waste time and money, and new hires may struggle to complete work quickly and accurately without clear processes to follow. Creating a library of SOPs can help handle the increased workload with existing resources and make it easier to add new people to your practice when you grow even more.
Measuring Against Nothing (Or, Budgets Without Scope Aren't Really Budgets) (3 Geeks and a Law Blog)
The legal industry struggles to measure value, despite attempts to use task codes and collect data. The author argues that the key to measuring value is defining the scope and creating a comprehensive work plan at the beginning of each matter. Lawyers must enhance their legal project management (LPM) skills to manage outside counsel and deliver real value to clients effectively.
Legal technology has upended many lawyer tropes, including those perpetuated by cultural staples. Remote litigation has sufficiently upended so many lawyers tropes that it deserves its own list. The article lists four lawyer tropes that have been upended by remote litigation: Settlement Water, The Gladiator Deposition, Impromptu Experts, and Technical Ineptitude.
Law firms are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist with legal research, but there are concerns about the quality of the results and the security of the data. Lega, founded by former Reynen Court president and COO Christian Lang, offers a secure environment for law firms to experiment with AI models and build API-driven applications while setting firm-wide policies for AI. The Lega model allows firms to test generative AI offerings, analyze results, and introduce the technology to the workflow, with the aim of leveraging the wisdom of the attorney crowd.
Legal platform Filevine has launched AI Fields, a feature that allows legal professionals to upload documents and receive real-time AI-generated insights. The technology can extract and organize information from project documents and other files, including handwritten notes and text within digital images. The feature will be available to Docs+ users who adopt a consumption-based payment model.
CCOs see pay rise 10%, with some making upwards of $500,000 (Legal Dive - Latest News)
Chief compliance officers (CCOs) of public companies with $1 billion to $5 billion in revenue earn an average compensation package of $520,000, while private company CCOs of similar size earn an average of $345,000, according to a survey by executive search firm BarkerGilmore. Overall, CCOs saw their total compensation rise 10% from the previous year. The increase in compensation for compliance professionals comes as companies face stepped-up regulatory demands, driven in part by data privacy and cyber security laws across the United States and outside the country.
Federal judge seeks to prevent generative AI mistakes in briefs (Legal Dive - Latest News)
A federal judge in Texas has ordered attorneys appearing in his court to certify that they did not use generative AI to draft any portion of their filings or that any language drafted by such AI-powered technology was checked for accuracy by a human being. The order comes amid concerns about the potential for AI to fabricate information and perpetuate bias. The judge's directive has already prompted at least one other federal jurist to put forward a similar requirement.
