Transforming Legal Workflows: From AI-Powered Contract Management to Automation Magic
The legal tech world surged with innovation as Supio secured $25M, Harvey partnered with Icertis, and Allens adopted iManage. Discover the latest advancements here!
Welcome to your Law Tech briefing for 28th August 2024, covering what happened in legal tech recently.
Briefing
Here's what happened in legal tech recently...
In the continuing evolving legal tech landscape, new developments signal critical shifts for law firms globally. First and foremost, Lexlegis.AI has introduced a legal-specific small language model (L-SLM) designed to tackle India's judicial backlog and aid in case search, document analysis, and drafting (India Joins Legal-Specific LLM Movement With Lexlegis.AI - Artificial Lawyer). This move is part of a broader debate over whether specialized LLMs or general models like the eventual GPT-5 will better serve the legal profession.
The discussion on professional equity continues with a thought-provoking critique from Adam Smith, Esq. The piece argues that "equity" in law firms often holds no real market value while imposing financial liabilities on partners. Instead, the article calls for practical negotiation on compensation and benefits (The Myth of the “Equity” Partner - Adam Smith, Esq.).
On the startup front, Supio, a generative AI platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding. This platform, praised for its error-free data collection and case summarization capabilities, notably contributed to TorHoerman Law's significant $495 million case against Abbott Labs (Personal injury and mass tort gen AI startup Supio raises $25m Series A - Legal IT Insider).
Integration and efficiency in contract management are set to improve with Harvey unveiling its new integration with Icertis' Contract Lifecycle Management platform, allowing users to extract and analyze key terms efficiently (Harvey unveils new integration with Icertis in CLM first - Legal IT Insider). Additionally, the Australian firm Allens is implementing the iManage Co-authoring tool to boost document management efficiency and data security (Exclusive: Allens set to roll out iManage Co-authoring - Legal IT Insider).
Key stories
India Joins Legal-Specific LLM Movement With Lexlegis.AI (Artificial Lawyer)
Lexlegis.AI's launch of a legal-specific Small Language Model (L-SLM) represents a significant step in leveraging AI for legal research in India. Trained on over 10 million Indian legal documents and 20 billion tokens, its potential lies in enhancing the efficiency of case searches, document insights, and drafting. However, its relatively small training set compared to models like GPT-4 might limit its scope. Still, its tailored focus on Indian law could offer immediate benefits for lawyers handling cases in this jurisdiction. The move towards integrating AI in India's judicial system, which currently faces 44.9 million pending cases, is commendable. AI's ability to streamline research and flag inconsistencies can save time and improve accuracy, though systemic issues will require more comprehensive solutions. Lexlegis.AI’s ambition to expand internationally highlights the growing trend of legal-specific AI models. Despite debates on the efficacy of niche models versus general LLMs, a hybrid approach could offer pragmatic solutions for the legal industry. The choice boils down to whether to await more advanced general models or to innovate with existing specialized tools.
The Myth of the “Equity” Partner (Adam Smith, Esq.)
Janet Stanton's column, "The Myth of the ‘Equity’ Partner," provides a critical analysis of the equity partnership model prevalent in law firms. Stanton argues that the concept of "equity" in law firms is largely illusory. Unlike typical equity in other sectors, law firm equity has no market value, cannot be traded or sold, and does not provide traditional owner benefits. Equity partners are essentially high-performing workers whose compensation is tied to their financial contributions, not profits. Additionally, they face unfavorable tax treatment and significant financial risks if their firms encounter difficulties. Despite the drawbacks, the prestige of being an equity partner remains influential in the legal industry. Stanton suggests a shift in perspective, advocating for more practical, mutually beneficial agreements that reflect the true nature of these roles. This critique challenges deeply held notions and calls for a more realistic approach to law firm partnerships.
All stories
Personal injury and mass tort gen AI startup Supio raises $25m Series A (Legal IT Insider)
Supio, a generative AI platform for personal injury and mass tort plaintiff law firms, raised $25 million in Series A funding from Sapphire Ventures. Founded by ex-Microsoft employees, Supio automates data collection and case summarization without errors. TorHoerman Law praised Supio for its crucial role in their $495 million case against Abbott Labs.
Harvey unveils new integration with Icertis in CLM first (Legal IT Insider)
Harvey has integrated its AI models with Icertis' contract management platform. This partnership enables Icertis users to extract and analyze key contract terms using Harvey's technology. Initially for select customers, the integration aims for wider availability by year-end.
Exclusive: Allens set to roll out iManage Co-authoring (Legal IT Insider)
Allens, a top Australian law firm, is implementing iManage Co-authoring to boost efficiency and data security by allowing multiple lawyers to edit documents simultaneously. This tool, developed in collaboration with Microsoft, integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 for streamlined document management. The firm-wide rollout is underway, with iOS compatibility expected by year-end.
Harvey and Icertis Partner for CLM (Artificial Lawyer)
Harvey and Icertis have teamed up to integrate AI into Icertis' Contract Lifecycle Management platform. This partnership aims to boost contract management efficiency and precision. The feature will first be available to select customers, with wider availability planned by year-end.
GenAI Is Helping Office & Dragons to Democratise Automation (Artificial Lawyer)
Office & Dragons, a legal tech startup, leverages generative AI to automate repetitive legal tasks, enhancing its document platform for bulk edits. CEO Sam Smolkin highlights that genAI's plain language commands democratize automation and improve user accessibility. The company plans to integrate with other firms and focus on various legal sectors, with genAI as a core component of its strategy.
MacroAgility will host a webinar on September 5 to showcase their iReports tool for iManage Cloud. iReports improves document management, data analysis, and security in iManage systems. The webinar will highlight SQL scripting for cloud environments.
Evisort has upgraded its AI engine to enhance contract intelligence, making it user-friendly for non-technical users. The new Document X-Ray feature allows efficient extraction, summarization, and tracking of contract details. This advancement sets a new standard in contract lifecycle management (CLM) with improved speed, security, and flexibility for legal and business teams.
Bundledocs has promoted Co-Founder Lisa Walsh to Chief Operating Officer. Walsh has driven significant growth since 2019, expanding the company's reach to over 1,600 customers in 35 countries. The company now serves more than half of the UK's Top 200 Law Firms.
