April 21, 2025 -- Issue #337

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Hi, Charlie Uniman here, host of Legal Tech StartUp Focus ("LTSF"), the online community for everyone involved with legal tech startups. You're reading the latest digest of articles, opinion pieces, and other thoughts posted during the past week at the community.
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If you enjoy reading this digest, please forward it to others with an interest in legal tech startups. Readers who aren't already members of the LTSF community and who wish to join can do so here. Please do send me feedback here with any questions, comments or other ideas for this digest . If you're not already a subscriber to this newsletter and would like to subscribe, please email me here to join the subscriber list.
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Y.A.R.

(Yet Another Reminder)

🍹🍻 NEW YORK CITY HAPPY HOUR EVENT 🍻🍹

To all our community's legal tech startup founders and their colleagues:​
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​You're invited to a very special Legal Tech StartUp Focus "Startup Leaders Happy Hour" from 6:00 pm to 8 pm on Thursday, May 8, at Jack Doyle's in New York City (located at 240 West 35th Street, at the upstairs bar).​
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​Joining us at the Happy Hour will be SF-based venture investor Yousuf Khan, a partner at Ridge Ventures, our sponsor for this event. Thank you, Yousuf and Ridge Ventures!!​
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​So, if you're in NYC on May 8, come by to hoist a drink (or two or three), meet your fellow legal tech startup leaders, and, most importantly, get to know Yousuf and his thoughts on legal tech investing.​
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​RSVP at the Eventbrite link here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/legal-tech-startup-focus-startup-leaders-happy-hour-tickets-1308517433869?aff=oddtdtcreator​

See you at the Happy Hour!!

Charlie

Exit/M&A

◾ “Intapp, a leading global provider of AI-based solutions for professionals at advisory, capital markets, and legal firms, has signed an agreement to buy TermSheet, a software provider for real estate teams. TermSheet is an affiliate of Kansas City-based investment firm Platform Ventures. The deal is subject to regular and customary closing conditions and is expected to close within the next 45 days.”
​https://pulse2.com/intapp-to-buy-real-estate-software-provider-termsheet/​

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◾ More hiring (actually promotion) news today, April 15, 2025, with Aderant announcing that it is expanding its C-level executive team by naming Josiah Chaves to the new position of Chief Client Officer. Josiah previously served as Aderant’s General Manager of Business of Law Solutions and played a pivotal role in spearheading the company’s cloud strategy
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The entirety of Aderant’s press release announcement can be found at the following link: https://network-295075.mn.co/posts/83072271?utm_source=manual​

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Fundraising

◾ From Axios’ “Pro Rata” newsletter: “Teranet, an OMERS Infrastructure portfolio company, acquired a stake in ReadyWhen Tech (dba GoVeyance), a Canadian provider of software for real estate legal professionals. goveyance.com”

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Hiring/New Hires​
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◾ We link to a post on LinkedIn from Richard Tromans:
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“Congrats mate, nice to see Alistair Wye, LLB, MBA join up with Isabel Parker at White & Case. What a great team!
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“W&C told AL: 'Alistair Wye is joining White & Case as Director, Innovation and AI effective Tuesday 22 April 2025. He reports to Isabel Parker, Chief Innovation Officer. In his role at White & Case, Alistair will play a key role advancing the Firm’s innovation and AI strategy, supporting innovation across White & Case with a particular focus on leveraging established and emerging AI technologies for the transformation of client service delivery.’”
​https://www.linkedin.com/posts/artificiallawyer_legaltech-activity-7317842044662480898-0to5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAACjKkUBuYvfoBWwBGd7KKABZw3jrdiBcc0​

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◾ “On Tuesday, Denver-based contract certification platform TermScout announced Olga V. Mack has joined the company as CEO.”
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More from Legaltech News here:
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And, of course, congratulations to both TermScout and Olga on this match.
​https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/04/15/contract-startup-termscout-announces-olga-v-mack-as-new-ceo/​

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◾ "Fisher & Phillips is developing custom-made artificial intelligence tools for both clients and its lawyers for use in everyday workplace management, a firm leader said.
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"The firm recently hired its first staff member devoted solely to use of AI, Pritesh Patel, who will “develop and implement a unified AI strategy” for the Am Law 200 firm that represents management in labor and employment issues."
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Read the entire article from Legaltech News here: https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2025/04/15/creating-solutions-on-the-fly-fisher-phillips-brings-on-first-ai-director/​

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◾ Legaltech News' latest legal tech rundown, featuring hiring and product development news.https://bit.ly/4jkxOED​
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LegalEd

◾ From Joel Bijlmer: "Today this is no longer a question of the future, it is a question of architecture. The issue is not whether AI will replace judges but what foundation such a system will be built upon. While most LegalTech startups are focused on optimizing routine tasks for lawyers, true automation of justice requires a different discipline. It is not about interfaces, chatbots, or precedent search engines. It is a formalized system of reasoning, logical, computational, and structurally open to verification.

"Attempts to create judicial intelligence based on language models are doomed to fail. Law is not just text, and it is not opinion. It is a structure of reasoning at the intersection of logic, behavioral economics, and institutional norms. This structure is not only open to interpretation, it can be reconstructed mathematically. And that is precisely where DeepTech comes in.
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"Read the full article: https://thelegalwire.ai/from-legal-text-to-legal-code-the-deeptech-path-to-judicial-automation/"

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Member Introductions/Questions

◾ New LTSF community member, Kirti Sharma, introduces herself: "Hello everyone.
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"Delighted to be part of this!
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"I'm Kirti Sharma, a Legal Knowledge Engineer based in Gurgaon, India. Currently, I work at Jaggaer Inc., where I specialize in contract lifecycle management, legal AI implementation, and process automation.
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"My experience includes:
-Reviewing and negotiating cross-border contracts. (US, UK, EU) -Developing legal prompts for AI tools.
-Leading initiatives that significantly reduced contract review errors.
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"Previous Experience:
At UnitedLex, I focused on: Contract Abstraction, Utilizing AI tools like DocuSign CLM to enhance data extraction processes.
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"I'm passionate about leveraging AI to transform legal processes and am committed to continuous learning and pushing the boundaries of what's possible in legal tech.
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"I'm excited to be part of this community and look forward to engaging in insightful discussions, sharing experiences, and exploring opportunities for collaboration.
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If anyone is working on innovative projects or has insights into the evolving landscape of legal tech, I’d love to connect and learn more. (kirtisharma04999@gmail.com)"

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Product Development

◾ "DLA Piper has created a training programme for lawyers using generative AI which the firm plans to roll out across its global offices following a trial last year.
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"The programme, called 'advanced negotiations and structuring academy (ANSAi), comprises six weeks of negotiation training, in which participants negotiate a high-stakes sustainable fuel project in Greenland."
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Read the entire Legaltech News article here: https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/04/16/dla-piper-rolls-out-gen-ai-lawyer-negotiation-training-program/​

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Purchasing/Using Legal Tech

◾ At his LawSites blog, Bob Ambrogi reports:
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"Thomson Reuters today released its 2025 Generative AI in Professional Services Report, and it reveals that legal professionals have become increasingly optimistic about generative AI, with adoption rates nearly doubling over the past year and a growing belief that the technology should be incorporated into legal work."
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In the full blog post (at the link below), Bob compares the TR report with other recent industry surveys and also comments on some of the report's results:
​https://www.lawnext.com/2025/04/thomson-reuters-survey-over-95-of-legal-professionals-expect-gen-ai-to-become-central-to-workflow-within-five-years.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=LawSitesBlog-2025-04-15-49566​

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◾ AI-Powered Patent Drafting with DeepIP - When you're a patent attorney facing the challenge of creating high-quality patents in half the time you once had, technology isn't just a luxury—it's survival. FX Leduc, co-founder and CEO of DeepIP (https://www.deepip.ai), joins Charlie Uniman on an episdoe of the Legal Tech StartUp Focus Podcast to reveal how artificial intelligence transforms intellectual property practice from the ground up.

Link to this episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2454829/episodes/16922140-ai-powered-patent-drafting-with-deep-ip.mp3?download=true

Complete show notes here: https://network-295075.mn.co/posts/83073845?utm_source=manual​

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◾ In this article, Bob Ambrogi asks ChatGPT 4.5 to analyze four recently published surveys about lawyer AI adoption and use. The surveys covered: (1) the 2024 ABA Legal Technology Survey Report, (2) the 2025 Legal Industry Report published by AffiniPay, (3) the 2025 State of Law Report from law practice management company Smokeball, and (4) Thomson Reuters' 2025 Generative AI in Professional Services Report. https://www.lawnext.com/2025/04/an-ai-assisted-look-at-four-new-surveys-on-ai-adoption-in-law-how-do-they-compare-differ.html​

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◾ A further post from Joel Bijlmer: "Not every contract needs a lawyer at the helm. That’s the working assumption behind Juro, a platform built around a simple but often overlooked reality: a huge part of contract work is administrative, not legal. Pricing terms, contact details, timelines – these are not legal puzzles, they’re business logistics. So why funnel every draft and update through legal?Read the full article here: https://thelegalwire.ai/how-juro-rewires-contracts-letting-business-teams-take-the-wheel/​

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◾ This piece from Artificial Lawyer elaborates on seven questions legal AI buyers who ask when investing in AI solutions. Good read!! https://bit.ly/443HNtg​
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Startup Management

◾ Legaltech News reports:
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“Less than one-third of in-house legal departments are implementing generative AI in their legal work for specific use cases, according to an EY Law survey published last week.” https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/04/14/for-most-in-house-legal-teams-gen-ai-adoption-is-still-on-the-backburner/​

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◾ Say it ain't so (I'm referring to the following headline from a Legaltech News article published today):

"Will Legal Tech Face an ‘AI Tax’ in Burgeoning Trade War?" Read what the article has to say here: https://bit.ly/4cDSvc6​

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Teaching/Learning Legal Tech

◾ An essay from Bob Ambrogi on how best to bring instruction in legal technology to law schools.
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“These three Cs — Competence, Curiosity and Capability — offer a common-sense, practical approach by which legal educators can ensure their graduates not only meet ethical obligations regarding technology, but are positioned to lead legal innovation. The goal isn’t to turn lawyers into technologists, but to create technology-savvy lawyers who understand how to leverage digital tools to better serve their clients and society.” https://www.lawnext.com/2025/04/the-three-cs-of-teaching-technology-to-law-students.html​

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◾ "In March, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) unveiled their continuing education course: “Building a Law Firm AI Strategy: Lessons from the American Arbitration Association’s Transformation.”
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"The course aims to teach law firm leaders how to introduce generative AI and management strategies into their organization throughout six modules. AAA has partnered with Creative Lawyers to develop the curriculum as well as the Practising Law Institute (PLI) for distribution."
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The entire Legaltech News piece is well worth a read: https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/04/17/american-arbitration-association-president-discusses-organizations-new-course-on-change-management-gen-ai-transformation/​