#legal-technology

#legal-technology

Lluis Faus will serve as strategic advisor and interim chief content officer. As the former CEO of vLex, which he and his brother founded in 2000, he brings decades of experience in legal research and content innovation to his new role overseeing Clio's content strategy. Ed Walters takes on the position of vice president, legal innovation and strategy. Walters was chief strategy officer at vLex and, before that, cofounder and CEO of Fastcase, which he founded in 1999.

The law has always been a deeply human affair: attorneys arguing, judges deliberating, juries weighing credibility, precedent, and plain old common sense. But now, something new has entered the courtroom - and it doesn't bill by the hour or even need a coffee break. Artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived, and it's quietly moving closer to the bench. AI is no longer just lurking in the background.

For years, law firms have long relied on in-house IT infrastructure to keep sensitive information secure and maintain operational control, but it's incredibly unsustainable. Legacy systems now constrain growth, limit innovation, and make it harder to adopt modern tools that enhance client service and efficiency. Today, the question isn't to move to the cloud-but to do it strategically. Success requires more than technology adoption; it demands disciplined execution, governance, and cultural readiness.

Two people told me they literally teared up during his talk. Others said they felt chills down their spines. While Newton's past keynotes have typically been punctuated by whoops and cheers as he laid out new products and features, this year's audience was so quiet during most of the talk you could hear a pin drop. Their faces conveyed rapt attention, fixated on Newton and the giant images illustrating his words.

Last week, Suffolk Law School became the latest venue for the American Legal Tech Awards ceremony, an event informally called "Legal Tech Prom" as the legal technology world's best and brightest trade the corporate-branded quarter zips for evening formal wear. While the red carpet may lack custom Versace gowns, it does feature a bunch of people who just spent 45 minutes watching YouTubers explain how to tie a bow tie. For what it's worth, this is a good one and only required two viewings.

Every startup lives with the same tension: a large incumbent can copy or crush it at any time. For Harvey, an artificial intelligence startup that builds tools for law firms and enterprises, the model-maker that powers its tech also has the power to destroy it. From Harvey's Manhattan office on Friday afternoon, cofounders Winston Weinberg and Gabe Pereyra put it bluntly. Harvey's toughest competitor isn't another niche startup; it's OpenAI.

In the ever-evolving sphere of legal practice, the confluence of law and technology has become not merely advantageous but indispensable. The modern barrister or solicitor must now operate in an environment that demands both forensic precision and administrative efficiency, where the capacity to manage, store, and retrieve information with accuracy and speed has become central to the art of advocacy and the conduct of legal affairs.

While OpenAI and Anthropic continue begging for more and more investor cash in the face of consistently lackluster earnings, some vendors delivering advanced AI to the legal industry dropped hints about growing interest in small models. It's not that large language models don't work - though they often don't - but they're overbloated science experiments that, as Goldman Sachs observed, require exponentially increased resources to achieve tiny linear gains.

BigHand, a legal tech software provider, recently released a Survey and Report entitled Navigating the Million Dollar Problem, Resource management for Profitability, Client and Talent Retention. The report is based on responses from over 800 law firm leaders and professionals across firms with 50 or more lawyers. The report confirms what I have heard over and over again from lawyers, particularly at smaller and midsize law firms: they simply can't find good quality associates, and when they do, they frequently leave for perceived greener pastures.

As a planner, we typically come up with a strategy, and we use attorneys to actually draft the documents. In 2012, my wife's grandmother passed away, and I was nominated as the executor. And as anybody that's been in that role can attest, it's one of the worst things that can happen to you. When you are the administrator, trustee, you're never asked your opinion when the document is being drafted.

They're no longer alone among legal technology providers, with Filevine announcing a helmet sponsor deal with the newly minted Utah Mammoth. As Utah Mammoth branding decisions go, not to denigrate the Filevine partnership, but it's a distant second behind changing the name to Mammoth after playing its first season with the very I-forgot-my-homework-was-due-today name of "Utah Hockey Club." Filevine, who showed off one of the coolest products I saw last year with its Depo Copilot, will appear on both Utah's home and away helmets.

GAIA is revolutionising the legal industry with AI that automates legal work and empowers legal professionals to work more efficiently and effectively.

The Deep Dive Tool is an enhancement that allows users to query a data set using natural language, enabling them to obtain specific answers related to class action cases.

Across the globe, legal professionals face increasing pressure to deliver high-quality work quickly, struggling with silos of applications that hinder workflow efficiency.

Opus 2 transforms how legal professionals work by offering an AI-enhanced, collaborative solution for case management, preparation, and strategy, streamlining processes to empower legal teams.

"Offices & Dragons uses generative AI and automation to help its users power through hundreds of legal documents, as well as generate, edit, and redline bespoke projects and templates."

"Legal Geek follows a fast-paced format: short, punchy talks of 10 minutes in length... It forced speakers to have a point, get to it quickly, and stick to it."