January 6, 2024 -- Issue #322

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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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Exit/M&A

◾ Legaltech News surveys the biggest legal tech M&A in 2024.
​https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2024/12/30/continuing-consolidation-the-biggest-legal-tech-mas-of-2024-/​

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Investing

◾ A post from new LTSF community member, Nevin Kamath: "Howdy, I just found the community via Google. I'm an Austin-based attorney, angel investor, and activist. I'm looking to go deep on legaltech after having a rather pleasant conversation with a legaltech startup founder a few weeks ago.
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"In terms of next steps, I'm currently looking to establish a legaltech ecosystem in Austin by organizing a LegalTech meetup. Would anyone here have a suggestion for me in the way of legaltech speakers?

"As an investor, I'm also interested in learning about new startups who have achieved some measure of traction on their product/service with founders who have an integrity-focused approach that people feel confident enough to recommend. My angel group, of which I am solely a new member and not a decision-maker, is called Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN).
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"For startup founders, CTAN typically invests Central Texas-based companies raising $500K-$3M with a valuation of $5-15M via a Preferred Equity Note or Capped Convertible Note. Exceptions are sometimes made, I understand. The selectin mechanism is a 3 stage process with 6 cycles per year and funds are placed in a single-digit percentage of the applicant pool. The website is https://www.ctan.com/.
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"I hope to be a resource to this community."

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LegalEd

◾ From Artificial Lawyer: “In a New Year’s message Julian Taylor, Senior Partner of Simmons & Simmons, has outlined three key themes for the market to now focus on, including legal AI helping to shift the current pattern of pricing models.https://www.artificiallawyer.com/2025/01/06/simmons-simmons-ai-to-disrupt-pricing-models/​

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Partnerships/Business Development​
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◾ “Legal technology is a beast of an industry filled with lawsuits and drama. The industry demands precision, trust, and a deep understanding of attorney needs. Add to that a competitive landscape dominated by big players with established reputations, and it’s no wonder many startups fizzle out before they ever get traction. But there’s a way to stack the odds in your favour: partnerships with large organizations and legal tech companies. https://techbullion.com/why-breaking-into-legal-tech-feels-impossible/​

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Purchasing/Using Legal Tech

◾ Tech-forward Judge Scott Schlegel writes about VR’s use in the courtroom assessing, among other things, its psych impact and evidentiary challenges.
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Among several $$Quotes: “But beyond the psychological impact, we must grapple with the technical complexities. Creating accurate and unbiased VR reconstructions requires meticulous attention to detail and a deep understanding of the technology. How do we ensure the data used to create these environments is complete and untampered with? What expertise is needed to verify the accuracy of a VR recreation?”
​https://open.substack.com/pub/judgeschlegel/p/from-foam-board-to-virtual-reality?r=1cv2&utm_medium=ios​

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◾ Perhaps you’ll find this as interesting as I did: the top 10 legal tech solutions searched on Legaltech Hub in 2024.
​https://www.linkedin.com/posts/legal-tech-hub_year-legaltech-legaloperations-activity-7280956076290707457-4Qa2?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios​

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◾ Joel Bijlmer posts: "The legal world thrives on attention to detail, and nowhere is this more evident than in the meticulous review of contracts.

"That’s why one of the most well-known legal technology companies counts Kira, an AI-powered platform that identifies, extracts, and analyzes text in contracts and other documents, as one of its solutions. With its ability to save review time, improve accuracy, and foster collaboration, Kira’s 10+ years of leading AI contract review represents a major advancement in legal technology.

"Read the full article here: https://thelegalwire.ai/how-kira-by-litera-turns-contract-chaos-into-clarity/"

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◾ We move now from surveys of what happened in legal tech during the past twelve months to predictions from legal tech commentators of what will happen in the next twelve - as LegalTech News brings us “Legal Tech’s Predictions for the Business of Law 2025.”
​https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/01/03/legal-techs-predictions-for-the-business-of-law-in-2025/​
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Regulation

◾ From Legaltech News: “AI Laws To Keep An Eye On In 2025: “Jurisdictions around the world are developing and deploying policies to govern the use of AI.”
​https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2024/12/31/ai-laws-to-keep-an-eye-on-in-2025/​

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