March 31, 2025 -- Issue #334

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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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Conferences and Other Events

◾ Here's a link to a LinkedIn post from LTSF community member, Jobst Elster. I love a good word cloud!!

"What's Legalweek without a proper word cloud of all the sessions, panels and keynotes?! Many of us still call it LegalTech but it's definitely no longer your grandma's ho-hum legal tech and eDiscovery gig."https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jobstelster_legalweek-activity-7309648795288424449-Adqo?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAACjKkUBuYvfoBWwBGd7KKABZw3jrdiBcc0​

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Exit/M&A

◾ From the Rev press release from March 24, 2025:
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“AUSTIN, Texas, Mar. 24, 2025 – Rev, the world’s most accurate speech-to-text technology company, today announced it has acquired SmartDepo, the legal industry’s most trusted and comprehensive solution for AI-powered deposition summaries.”
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The entire press release can be accessed at the LawSites blog from this link: https://www.lawnext.com/2025/03/revs-smartdepo-acquisition-powers-next-generation-ai-for-testimony-analysis.html​

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◾ From Axios’ “Pro Rata” newsletter today, March 28, 2025:
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“Angeion Group and Case Works, both litigation-focused portfolio companies of Renovus Capital Partners, are merging. axios.”https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/angeion-group-expands-mass-tort-litigation-management-capabilities-through-merger-with-case-works-302410643.html​

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Fundraising

◾ From the Axios “Pro Rata” newsletter:
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“DeepIP, an AI platform for patent pros, raised $15m in Series A funding. Resonance led, joined by Headline, Serena Capital, and Balderton Capital. [https://www.deepip.ai/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosprorata&stream=top]”​
Delighted to note that DeepIP’s CEO, FX Leduc, was a guest on a soon-to-be-published episode of the Legal Tech StartUp Focus Podcast. Stay tuned for the release of the episode.

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Honors and Awards

◾ “The winners of the fifth annual Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law Awards are here!
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“These awards recognize those who have made significant contributions to legal innovation from law firms, corporate legal departments and legal tech providers.”
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Congratulations to each of the winners!!
​https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/03/24/announcing-the-2025-legalweek-leaders-in-tech-law-awards-winners/​

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◾ Readers may recall that I frequently cite articles from the newsletter put out by Sifted, the Europe-focused publisher of news about the startup scene. Well, this morning I was delighted to read in Sifted’s Startup Life newsletter that UK-based legal tech startup Robin AI has landed in the number two slot on the “Sifted 100-UK & Ireland,” a list of the fastest growing startups in that region so far in 2025.
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Congratulations to the Robin AI team!!
​https://www.datocms-assets.com/60124/1742920798-uk-ireland-2025-leaderboard.pdf​

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Investing

◾ From VC Tom Tunguz’s newsletter today, March 28, 2025:
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“71% of exit dollars in 2024 came from a new avenue : secondaries.
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“Historically, IPOs and M&A have been the dominant exit paths for venture backed companies. Some years IPOs dominate, other M&A dominates, but in 2024 secondaries captured the super majority.”
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More valuable insight from the rest of the article can be found here: https://tomtunguz.com/the-exit-path-of-2024/​

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JusticeTech/A2J

◾ As I wrote last week: "The incomparable Justice Technology Association emailed me explaining: 'A new documentary, JUSTICE: JUST A PROMISE?, is in the works to expose the crisis of self-representation in our justice system and the people fighting to change it. Millions of Americans face life-altering legal issues - evictions, custody battles, job loss - without a lawyer to help. This film will shine a light on the problem and the innovators working toward solutions, but it needs funding to be made.'"

Over the next several weeks I will continue to post to the community about the production of this much-needed documentary and its need for funding. Here's the second of several such posts:

The Justice Gap (Impact & Urgency)

Millions Face the Legal System Alone – This Film Tells Their Story

Did you know? 86% of low-income Americans receive little or no legal help when facing major legal issues. JUSTICE: JUST A PROMISE? will shine a light on this crisis—but only if it gets funded. Join the movement to make this documentary a reality. Every share, every dollar counts.

Support the campaign today: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/justice-just-a-promise#/​

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◾ Two long-time members of the Legal Tech StartUp Focus community, Maya Markovich and Gabe Teninbaum, will be speaking at the inaugural of St. Thomas School of Law's AI Summit on AI and A2J. The event takes place on Thursday, April 10, 2025, from 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. More detail below:

"The University of St. Thomas School of Law begins its AI Summit series with an inaugural Summit with the St. Thomas Law Journal’s Editor in Chief Symposium lecture “AI and Access to Justice”.
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"Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the legal landscape, offering both unprecedented opportunities and significant risks for access to justice. This presentation will delve into the critical challenge of leveraging AI to address the access to justice crisis. Learn about real-world examples of how AI is being leveraged to reduce barriers, alongside an exploration of some of the key risks and challenges associated with AI. Attendees will leave with practical guidelines for ethical and effective use of AI, gaining a clearer understanding of AI’s role in improving access to justice.
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"The Summit will feature a lecture by J. Singleton, Program Manager at Legal Services State Support, Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. The lecture will be followed with a response from Gabriel Teninbaum, Assistant Dean of Innovation, Strategic Initiatives, & Distance Education and Professor of Legal Writing at Suffolk University Law School, and a response from Maya Markovich, Vice President at AAA-ICDR Institute and Executive Director at Justice Tech Association."
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RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3XCnO0y​

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◾ A post from Joel Bijlmer of The Legal Wire: "The Risk of Discrimination in AI-Powered Judicial Decision" https://thelegalwire.ai/the-risk-of-discrimination-in-ai-powered-judicial-decisio​

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Product Development

◾ LawSites reporting from Legalweek:

"At Legalweek today, Verbit, a company specializing in transcription technology for a variety of speech-intensive industries, is launching Legal Visor, a new AI-powered platform designed to provide litigators with real-time insights during depositions and other legal proceedings. The platform, which leverages Verbit’s expertise in speech recognition technology, aims to give attorneys a competitive edge by flagging inconsistencies and providing actionable intelligence during testimony."https://bit.ly/4iRH96J​

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◾ Further reporting from LawSites on Legalweek product releases:
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“Today kicks off Legalweek in New York, and LexisNexis Legal & Professional is kicking off the week’s flurry of product announcements with its launch in the U.S. of what it says is the legal industry’s first personalized voice AI assistant in LexisNexis Protégé, its AI assistant for complex legal work.”
​https://www.lawnext.com/2025/03/as-legalweek-kicks-off-in-nyc-lexisnexis-unveils-legal-industrys-first-voice-ai-assistant-in-protege.html​

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◾ Legltech Hub gets us up-to-date on Legalweek announcements:

"Legalweek 2025 is upon us and, as always, it has brought with it big announcements from several legal tech companies.

"From new product releases and partnerships to acquisitions, company rebrands, and more, the following is a rundown of the news announcement that have caught our attention leading up to the conference so far."https://bit.ly/4hGMmgc​

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◾ “Legal technology platform Law Insider announced today the launch of its AI-powered contract drafting, review and redlining tools for its global community of 1.2 million registered legal users.
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“The new AI suite will be integrated directly into Microsoft Word and Law Insider’s web-based platform, making it accessible across multiple workspaces for attorneys and legal professionals.”
​https://www.lawnext.com/2025/03/law-insider-announces-low-cost-and-free-ai-powered-contract-tools-for-1-2-million-legal-users.html​

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◾ “With Legalweek 2025 officially over, there’s likely some news you have missed in the whirlwind of sessions, meetings, get-togethers, dinners and after parties.”
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So, by reading this legal tech rundown from Legaltech News, be sure you don’t miss the important news about legal tech that was announced during Legalweek.
​https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/03/28/-legalweek-2025-post-show-news-rundown-deepip-announces-15-million-in-funding-elevate-launches-gen-ai-contract-negotiation-tool-and-more/​

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Purchasing/Using Legal Tech

◾ From Legal IT Insider:

"Swedish-founded generative AI platform Legora announced today (24 March) that it has launched in the United States with the opening of an office in New York, and also signed up US law firm Goodwin as a client. This announcement follows Legora’s recent rebrandingand release of new product features aimed at serving global tier one firms like Goodwin."https://legaltechnology.com/2025/03/24/legora-launches-in-the-us-and-signs-goodwin/​

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◾ "At Legaltech Hub, we’re constantly tracking the evolution of legal tech tools and updating our directory accordingly. This includes tracking all offerings that incorporate generative AI. The interactive snapshot [at the link] below shows the results of our research as of March 22, 2025. It features 505 GenAI products across 18 different categories."https://bit.ly/4hMrxjn​

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◾ Streamlining Legal Research for the Modern Lawyer

Legal research is fundamental to the profession, yet it remains one of the most time-consuming tasks for lawyers. The process of sifting through case law, legislation, and legal commentary can take hours, sometimes days, depending on the complexity of the issue. Lexroom, an AI-driven legal research platform which recently secured a EUR 2 million seed round, aims to change that by offering rapid and reliable results tailored to the needs of legal professionals.
​https://thelegalwire.ai/lexroom-ai-powered-legal-research-in-seconds/​

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◾ From the Everlaw March 25, 2025 press release:
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“Everlaw, the leading cloud-native investigation and litigation platform, is proud to announce that it has been selected by Barnes & Thornburg LLP, the distinguished Am Law 100 firm, to expand the firm’s ediscovery capabilities in support of clients worldwide in a multi-year agreement.”
​https://www.lawnext.com/2025/03/barnes-thornburg-chooses-everlaw-as-strategic-technology-partner-for-ediscovery.html​

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◾ From the Theorem press release this month:
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“March 2025 – Theorem Legal Tech Marketplace is proud to announce the launch of its AI-powered RFP tool, bringing seamless legal procurement to legal departments and law firms.
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“Built with AI-enhanced matchmaking driven by Theorem’s rich legal marketplace and tech stack data, the new tool offers legal teams a seamless and efficient way to procure legal products and services. Whether you’re looking for new legal tech, replacing existing tools, or seeking a law firm or support for a project, Theorem delivers tailored recommendations with precision.”
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The entire press release is here:
​https://www.lawnext.com/2025/03/theorem-launches-private-offer-rfp-tool-for-legal-tech-and-legal-services-providers.html​

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◾ Now that Legalweek 2025 has concluded, Legaltech News publishes excerpts from interviews conducted during that week with legal tech industry leaders about AI’s (particularly, agentic AI’s) use in legal: https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/03/28/overheard-at-legalweek-2025-navigating-a-new-ai-and-regulatory-future/​
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Startup Management

◾ Below is a link to a superb piece by Andrew Chen, a partner at a16z. In the piece Andrew asks if it's still a good idea for early-stage tech startups to approach product building by following the MVP approach. Hint, Andrew answers, "Yes, however . . ." Read the piece to get an understanding of that all-important "however."https://bit.ly/4iWVCxJ​

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◾ “An event yesterday adjacent to Legalweek in New York marked the official launch of the Association for AI in Legal (A4L), a membership organization that aims to bring together legal professionals, technologists, and policymakers to responsibly navigate the complexities and leverage the power of artificial intelligence.”
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Read on in the linked article (below) for more from the LawSites blog about A4L’s initiatives and about information on how to become an A4L member.
​https://www.lawnext.com/2025/03/association-launches-to-guide-legal-industry-in-responsible-use-of-ai.html​

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◾ The Legalweek précis begin. Legaltech News is first up with a piece that has one interviewee at the conference explaining how even some Gen AI skeptics are coming g around. Another part of the piece touches on the significance of nation-by-nation data localization.

$$Quote:

“‘Given the current relations with certain countries in the world, we have seen a lot of clients moving toward localization of their data to make sure that they can get it when they need it and doing risk assessments in terms of what would you potentially need in a short amount of time, what's most at risk,’ Duane Morris LLP partner Jessica Priselac said."https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/03/26/legalweek-2025-day-1-gen-ai-impact-and-the-future-of-global-data-storage/​

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◾ “What’s old is new again: end-to-end legal tech solutions are back (not that they ever really left).” Or so says a few of the larger legal tech vendors.
​https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2025/03/25/legalweek-2025-day-1-will-gen-ai-finally-enable-legal-tech-one-stop-shops/​

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◾ “Hard truth” startup advice.
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Read “10 Rapid-Fire Startup Questions Answered (Shocking Truths You Need to Hear)“ by Rachel Greenberg on Medium: https://ehandbook.com/10-rapid-fire-startup-questions-answered-shocking-truths-you-need-to-hear-5808f2327b82​