LegalTech + AI The New Focus
Slaughter and May’s next cohort of legal tech companies for their Collaborate program has been announced.
Collaborate was started by Slaughter and May as a platform for legal tech startups to test their work in a real world setting, using the firm’s lawyers and business service personnel to develop their innovations.
The initiative also leverages the Slaughter and May Client Innovation Network, which encompasses over 70 client organizations.
The fourth cohort has seen a particular emphasis on startups leveraging generative AI technology, a focus that garnered an unprecedented number of applications. The refreshed 2024 program introduces a variety of new advisory sessions, such as ‘Architecture of a Law Firm’ and ‘Knowing your Audience,’ designed to broaden the educational scope offered to participants.
The firm has also developed a partnership with the Legal Tech Collective, a consultancy that has joined the Collaborate Advisory Network.
The 2024 Collaborate cohort includes six innovative companies:
- Associo: This tool uses AI to enhance lawyers’ ability to analyze arguments, predict legal outcomes, and verify factual statements efficiently and accurately.
- Atria AI: Atria AI provides a generative AI assistant designed for specific legal tasks such as building chronologies, assessing impacts, generating reports, extracting data, and monitoring regulations.
- LegalFly: Tailored for legal teams, LegalFly streamlines processes such as contract review, drafting, and discovery with a generative AI model that adapts to a firm’s specific style.
- Notarist: Utilizing AI to process emails and meeting notes, Notarist helps categorize tasks, track progress, identify bottlenecks, and prioritize follow-ups, facilitating better project management.
- Visual Contracts: Dubbed the ‘Canva for Contracts,’ this platform empowers users to create clearer contracts with AI-driven suggestions on visuals, plain language, and document structure.
- Virtual Pricing Director: This tool aids in the creation of pricing proposals and engagement letters through AI-driven templates and structured logic.
Additionally, these startups will have the opportunity to pitch for equity investment through Slaughter and May Ventures, a platform launched in 2022.
Sally Wokes, Innovation Partner at Slaughter and May, expressed her enthusiasm about the high quality of applicants and the innovative potential of this year’s cohort, especially with the inclusion of generative AI technologies.
A number of big law firms such as Allen & Overy (soon to be A&OShearman) are eager to explore the transformative possibilities these new collaborations and using AI and other legal tech developments to alter the way legal services are provided.
