GOlegal’s Post

Ever been in a meeting where opposing lawyers are arguing as to what is “market standard” for specific contract provisions. This is often a conversation without an end because… neither of them can provide actual evidence of what “market” is as there is no universal database of deals to reference. Each is relying on their own experience. This happens all the time. But there may be a solution. Spellbook a legal genAI provider has launched Benchmarks, a tool which identifies where a commercial contract may have provisions which are not “market.” According to Scott Stevenson, CEO at Spellbook, this will help lawyers move into “an era of data-driven negotiation.” This is great news for clients as I think many clients in commercial negotiations are just looking to get a legal outcome which is fair and “market” for both sides. However, might be a problem for commercial lawyers who have as one of their core selling points, the fact that they have done a lot of deals and know “market.” Now the machine knows “market” too - and can back it up with data. Great work Scott Stevenson Matt Mayers and team. Great article on this development in Artificial Lawyer. Link in comments.

Only a week left to our insightful workshop on 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 🥑 at FutureLaw Conference Join Avokaado's Founder & CEO Mariana Hagström and Jean Mauris, Co-founder and Head of Product and AI at Avokaado for a workshop on 📅 May 17th to uncover invaluable insights and opportunities in handling data, crafting robust data structures, and ensuring accurate results retrieval. Seamlessly integrating theory with practical applications, this workshop empowers participants to understand the criticality of structuring data effectively for various purposes, including revenue analysis, compliance, and risk assessment. By joining our workshop you will explore the following key points: ✅ Understand the significance of document types and why they matter for data structuring. ✅ Learn to create data structures based on document types, empowering you to tailor your data management approach. ✅ Create insights based on different categories, such as revenue generation, risk management, compliance, etc. ✅ Learn the art of prompting to ensure accurate and relevant results retrieval. ✅ Develop a new mindset for interpreting legal document data in alignment with business objectives, discerning the true significance of each data point.

Deal Intelligence platform Centari earns our Thursday spot in this pre-ILTACON Product Briefing spree! This one is close to my heart because I know from experience how difficult it is to get lawyers to manually profile deals after they've closed - and how painful it is for lawyers to do this well, especially when that time is almost always non-billable, Centari allows law firms and lawyers to quickly and accurately extract and structure information from complex agreements at scale, empowering lawyers and their clients to make informed decisions based on robust, data-driven insights, and allowing firms to rapidly enrich their deal databases and what's market dashboards with useful data. Want to be able to find similar historical matters easily? Seeking to improve your firm's ability to rapidly put together pitch materials? Interested in using past deal points to understand market positions in real time? Centari may be the solution for you. Watch the product briefing based on our interview with Centari CEO Kevin Walker, and watch the accompanying product demo video (scroll down to the bottom of the article, also linked in comments below). #legaltech #dealintelligence #GenAI #AI Bryan Gilbert Davis

As we continue to read through the very detailed pwc 2024 law firms survey, one section gave us at LINAR particular cheer:    "The key organic strategies Top 10 firms are actively pursuing are ‘commercial training for partners and fee earners’ and ‘innovative legal services solutions’ (100% for both)"   This is exactly the work that we do. Help lawyers and BD teams to improve their sales fundamentals (from business planning to upselling) at the same time as generating new revenue streams and attracting new clients.    For us, the trick to making the underlying behaviour changes here possible, is using new technology (naturally like GenAI) to create the time and the space to do the more human work involved in sales and innovation.

10 years in “BigLaw”: the intellectual satisfaction was there, but something was missing 👇 I spent 10 wonderful years in 2 “BigLaw” firms in Europe and loved working on extremely intricate and technical issues. A real intellectual challenge! I have now switched to another system. I really enjoyed the substance of my work, but the business model didn’t sound right to me 👇 1️⃣ The hourly billing model is inefficient. It encourages law firms to push for ever more billable hours per year: the more you work, the more money the firm makes. 😬 Ultimately, what we deliver is disconnected from the perceived value. We can exhaust ourselves on something useless for the client. 🤦🏻♀️ 2️⃣ No right to error In BigLaw, at sky-high hourly rates, making mistakes is not an option. You become obsessed with triple checking commas and tiny details, sometimes at the expense of the bigger picture. Yet, trial and error is indispensable to learn, grow, and invent new solutions. Having a safe space to try is invaluable. 3️⃣ This working method does not encourage taking a step back. Everything that is not billable is seen as wasted time. However, it's very important to think about improvement methods. This reflection time is essential in the design methodology to understand: 👉 What is not working well enough yet 👉 How to constantly improve it That was not exactly the spirit back then in BigLaw! I did not align with the values, nor with the lack of continuous improvement that is so important to me. I preferred to create my own model: Amurabi and Fairpatterns, both inspired by design methods, centered on users, creativity, embracing humanity and neurosciences, and where we take the time to try, accept to fail sometimes, and iterate to always improve our deliverables. 🔄 Our latest idea? An AI sandbox: a safe space to try solutions that could benefit our clients. Huge thanks to Sahaj Vaidya for taking up the challenge! It’s a true success : today, I feel much more in tune with my working methods. 😊 It’s like being able to “bring your whole self” to work. What about you ? Tell me, how have you reinvented your work? 💫 Regain your freedom online #humancenteredai #ai #legalinnovation #aitransparency #amurabi

And the pre-ILTACON Product Briefing Bonanza continues!!! Are you a law firm trying to capture good information about your matters? Are you a lawyer trying to understand the market position in relation to a particular deal point? Would you like to be able to find similar matters or relevant precedent by searching across nuanced facets of all of your past deals? Centari has got you covered with its Deal Intelligence product! Centari provides a platform that quickly and accurately extracts and structures information from complex agreements at scale, allowing for: ⚡ Enriched matter information ⚡ Enhanced precedent search ⚡ Improved pitches and proposals ⚡ Market Intelligence easily accessible ⚡ Streamlined negotiation processes Read more about it and check out a demo video at the link below. #legaltech #data #AI #GenAI Kevin Walker Bryan Gilbert Davis

As we celebrate Dussehra, let’s win over the complexities of legal work with AI-powered tools from Legalbook. Simplify your contracts, boost efficiency, and stay ahead with ease. Happy Dussehra! www.legalbook.io #dussehra #dussehra2024 #happydussehra #dussehragreetings #legalbook

In knowledge work, the majority are "a dime a dozen." That is, they're expendable. In these cost-cutting/AI driven times the new game is: Carve out a niche in which you're irreplaceable. That extends from Big Law to public relations to management consulting. Remember when the meme was that a mind is a terrible thing to waste? Currently it is this: Raw intelligence and knowledge have abruptly lost value. https://lnkd.in/gfzpCwuy #KnowledgeWorkersAsExpendable #DangerousSlotsinBigLaw #BuildingandProtectingPersonalEmpire

LEAP Legal Software UK outlines 6 ways that law firms can optimize profitability and efficiency: 1️⃣ Automating low-value tasks to free lawyers for high-value work. 2️⃣ Leveraging cloud-based practice management systems. 3️⃣ Adopting AI-driven time tracking to boost billable hours and accuracy. 4️⃣ Moving from traditional hourly billing to value-based pricing models focusing on client outcomes. 5️⃣ Using legal-specific AI tools for reliable and precise operations. 6️⃣ Engaging potential clients 24/7 with AI-powered tools like chatbots. At VXT, we help law firms adopt 1️⃣ 2️⃣ 3️⃣ and 5️⃣. Our phone system integrates with practice management software like LEAP, automating tasks like call logging, transcription, and tracking billable time—ensuring efficient and personalized client communication. By helping law firms answer more calls and better understand client needs, VXT enables teams to focus on what matters most: delivering value to clients. Want to learn more about how AI is revolutionizing law firms? Check out the LEAP white paper—link in the comments! #LegalTech #LegalInnovation #LawFirmGrowth

Future Firm Forum 2024: imagining what lawyering looks like beyond today Simon Tupman did a fantastic job bringing together excellent presenters and has designed an incredible learning experience. Hayley Evans gave us the client perspective, by giving us insight into ourselves: “For lawyers to meet the diverse needs of clients, they first need to understand themselves.” Remember: law is not the product, understanding requires context and decisions need to be made. We got to see a premier product in Lighthouse by Gerard Molloy and Simon Vollmer Then we had Nigel Haddon talk all things value-based pricing. This session was as refreshing as it is needed. “There is always someone who will do it cheaper. This frees you from competing on price.” Nigel encourages firms to get to value-based pricing incrementally. Do this in steps: ✔️ Start from the top ✔️ Be supported by finance and technology infrastructure ✔️ Upskill the lawyers who are ultimately the sales force in those pricing discussions with clients As if serendipity with the mention of AI assistance, Terri Mottershead showcased how many resources are available to help firms be future ready with the Centre for Legal Innovation. The tech enabled lawyer, Fiona McLay took us through an interactive session literally proving to us how AI can be beneficial in getting us closer to personalised marketing and client services. “Maybe these AI technologies can help clients at scale” Getting the firm’s AI policy guidelines in place is essential to this mission. We heard Maria Masterantonio’s inspiring story of how she had predicted the future of women lawyers and the need for flexible lawyering back in 2006. That Maria bucked every trend for DigiMaster Limited to being a leading back office and process outsourcing supplier for NZ law firms. Finally, Renika Siciliano explored how to get performance culture in the law firm, sharing insights from the good people, great lawyers at McCaw Lewis Lawyers. I’m out of word count and if you find this inspiring, mark your diary to attend 2025’s future firm forum. It was delightful to speak on behalf of LEAP Legal Software APAC who are proud to sponsor the forum. Onwards and upwards! #legaltech #lawfuture #ai