Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) has continued its spate of innovation launches, combining parts of its transatlantic innovation teams to create an in-house consultancy, Cantilever.
Cantilever will aim to provide an operational and technology sounding board for clients, while also offering practical technology solutions across areas including contract, matter and litigation management.
‘We’re going to work with clients to tell them what technology solutions are out there and what works best, that’s the consultancy side,’ Bruce Braude, director of legal operations and solutions at BCLP told Legal Business. ‘But also we have our own technology with CrossLite, our data management and analytics tool, which was developed in the US but now as part of the merger [of Bryan Cave and Berwin Leighton Paisner] and the Cantilever launch will be offered to clients on the UK side of the business.’
Cantilever will be led by BCLP chief innovation officer Katie DeBord and the firm’s chief of legal operation solutions, Chris Emerson. Braude, meanwhile, will be part of a wider team that consists of 20 process engineers and data scientists, as well as other legal technologists.
The announcement follows a string of innovation launches from BCLP, the most recent of which was disputes evaluation service Clear/Cut, while in May the firm launched its homegrown legal tech start up Swiftagree.
BCLP aims to make the new consultancy and technology arm a revenue generator for the firm, with in-house legal teams increasingly looking to adopt technology and revise their legal processes.
‘There aren’t many similar things out there,’ Braude added. ‘Cantilever will have a deep understanding of in-house teams and extensive sector knowledge, it’s not just a generic consultancy, and we also have our own technology to bring to bear.’
thomas.alan@legalbusiness