Sponsored briefing: Legal tech – Too much of a good thing?

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Sponsored briefing: Legal tech – Too much of a good thing?

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Neota Logic

Nearly $1bn was invested in legal technology and New Law disruptors in 2018. That was across more than 50 funding rounds and included start-ups through to more established players, according to research from Investec. Venture capital, private equity, non-legal companies and trade buyers are increasingly interested in what they see as a highly-lucrative legal sector.

The frequency and scope of legal tech funding has also jumped markedly: a Thomson Reuters report in mid-2017 put investment into UK legal tech start-ups at just £16m in the previous 18 months. Hundreds of legal tech companies have subsequently popped up. Every law firm is quick to tout its latest innovation or partnership with a technology provider, while some even have incubators where they work with start-ups over several months, honing products. Continue reading “Sponsored briefing: Legal tech – Too much of a good thing?”

Enhance your contract negotiation process with a data and process-driven approach

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Enhance your contract negotiation process with a data and process-driven approach

At most organisations, the contract negotiation process is highly manual, inconsistent and reliant on the institutional knowledge of the attorneys involved. Companies lack well-documented clause-level risk standards to advise on contract issues, and have no clear and consistent process for entering into agreements. The implications are unnecessary risk, inefficiency, cost and delays.

Taking a data and process-driven approach to enhancing the contract negotiation process can unlock hidden value that leads to a simplified contracting process, less risk, improved insights, higher productivity and a better bottom line. Continue reading “Enhance your contract negotiation process with a data and process-driven approach”

Can law tech’s big beasts Lexis and Thomson stay on top in a changing industry?

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Can law tech’s big beasts Lexis and Thomson stay on top in a changing industry?

So ubiquitous have two companies become in legal tech circles that they are rarely discussed directly, just accepted as facts of life, like gravity or air. Those two are, of course, LexisNexis and the legal division of Thomson Reuters, which have over the last 30 years positioned themselves as the dominant providers of the informational ‘plumbing’ law firms require to ply their trade.

For LexisNexis that key moment came in the 1970s when an arm of the Ohio State Bar Association commissioned a project to deliver an information service exclusively aimed at legal research, named Lexis. During the same decade West Publishing was Lexis’ main competitor, using a computer-assisted legal research project that would later be branded Westlaw. Continue reading “Can law tech’s big beasts Lexis and Thomson stay on top in a changing industry?”

Prestige meets hustle – Slaughters sends jolt through start-up community with launch of tech incubator

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Prestige meets hustle – Slaughters sends jolt through start-up community with launch of tech incubator

For years Slaughters epitomised City conservativism but, reports Thomas Alan, marquee clients and a clear structure mean its new law tech incubator is being closely watched

The value of legal tech incubators is much debated in the industry. The jaded in the tech community often decry such initiatives as marketing opportunities and even many start-ups themselves are sceptical, comparing some law firm incubators to ‘fish bowls’. Continue reading “Prestige meets hustle – Slaughters sends jolt through start-up community with launch of tech incubator”