Welcome to your daily briefing for May 25, 2023. Here's what happened in Legal Tech Yesterday.

Get the full details at https://www.lawtechdaily.com/

Trends from yesterday

Overview

Hogan Lovells, a global law firm, has introduced a new brand called ELTEMATE. The offering will unify the law firm's legal technology solutions under a single global team. ELTEMATE will provide clients with a high-end digital solution to tackle challenges in all areas of law, including Legal Tech and AI solutions. The brand will also develop proprietary software, such as an AI tool streamlining review and processing of regulatory developments. The move comes as Generative AI, like ChatGPT, will become more useful in the future and the legal industry started adopting AI.

Trends

The ongoing integration of technology tools such as generative AI and natural language processing have caused major developments in the services that law firms are offering. ELTEMATE indicates the continued drive towards creating custom software instead of relying solely on third-party solutions. The proprietary AI tool developed by ELTEMATE showcases the potential of customized AI-based tools for law firms to streamline processes, such as regulatory review. In times when data holds immense utility, it is not surprising that a global law firm is taking steps to develop its digital solutions.

Analysis

ELTEMATE is a modern offer that brings forth a valuable solution for the legal profession. The service is built on the core AI technologies and is expected to overcome some of the challenges in the legal profession. The fact that Hogan Lovells plans on not only bundling third-party solutions but also developing its own proprietary software, gives them a competitive edge. This move could crown ELTEMATE's reputation and drive customer confidence through developing its solution from the ground up rather than relying on third-party solutions. By providing greater digital solutions, such as an AI tool, regulatory developments will become more accessible and allow the legal profession better tools to handle the abundance of legal data.

Thomson Reuters is investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI), with plans to integrate new generative AI capabilities across its product suite, including Westlaw Precision, Practical Law, Checkpoint Edge, Legal Document Review and Summary, and Legal Drafting. The company is partnering with Microsoft to develop a contract drafting solution, powered by its legal products and content, and Copilot for Word. Thomson Reuters has also announced a new plugin with Microsoft 365 Copilot to bolster its efforts for redefined professional work, starting with legal research, drafting and client collaboration. The legal drafting solution, integrated with Copilot for Microsoft 365, will be available for legal professionals in beta alongside the Microsoft Copilot release schedule.

The article by Bill Bice, CEO of nQ Zebraworks, provides a thorough explanation of generative AI, specifically focusing on ChatGPT, and its potential in the legal industry. Bice notes that while there has been peak hype and severe backlash, understanding the utility and limitations of generative AI is crucial. The technology is essentially a sophisticated auto-complete which can create entire essays by predicting subsequent words and phrases. However, there are challenges to using generative AI in the legal industry. For instance, the inability to cite how the AI got to its answers presents a problem in a precedence-based profession. Additionally, the privacy concerns around proprietary information and the potential for generative AI to obscure precision are significant issues. Despite these challenges, Bice believes that generative AI will continue to improve with better data management, fact-checking, and improved governance and guidelines. He predicts that generative AI will become an ingredient in more complete solutions used by attorneys, with the hype surrounding the technology overplaying its impact today. Overall, the article provides a valuable overview of generative AI and its application in the legal industry, presenting both its potential and limitations.

The launch of Hogan Lovells' new legal tech brand, ELTEMATE, shows the firm's commitment to addressing the needs of clients through digital solutions. The move to unify the firm's legal technology offerings under one core global team reflects their aim to provide high-end digital solutions to clients in all areas of law. This consolidation could lead to a more efficient and flexible service for clients, as the new entity will enable the development, management and marketing of legal tech products and consulting services in a more unified way. ELTEMATE's offerings include a range of Legal Tech and AI solutions, such as smart databases, e-discovery tools, deal rooms, apps, and legal tech consulting services. The company is set to bundle third-party solutions and develop proprietary software, such as the cutting-edge AI tool that streamlines the review and processing of regulatory updates. The team will work alongside legal teams and be home to AI experts and software engineers. Miguel Zaldivar, CEO of Hogan Lovells, expressed his excitement about the next level of legal technology offering, noting how the new entity will enable the company to service their clients better by being more flexible, efficient and faster to innovation. This move underscores Hogan Lovells' commitment to leveraging technology to improve their services and meet the changing needs of clients in a fast-paced technological landscape. It also shows the firm's proactivity in the legal tech market, which is becoming increasingly important due to the demand for cost-effective, efficient and innovative solutions in the delivery of legal services.

Thomson Reuters, a global content and technology company, has announced its vision to redefine the future of its professional customers through generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The company is committed to investing over $100 million annually in AI capabilities and has partnered with Microsoft to bolster efforts to redefine professional work. Thomson Reuters intends to incorporate new generative AI capabilities across its product suite, empowering customers to find answers to complex legal questions in seconds, provide smarter and faster access to expertise, provide reliable answers to complex tax and accounting questions, and read through hundreds or thousands of documents to spot key risks, execute tasks, and generate powerful work product. Additionally, the company has released a contract drafting solution, powered by its legal products and content, and Copilot for Word, providing users with a draft working document and access to trusted content right in Microsoft Word. Thomson Reuters strives to build, buy, and partner its way towards integrating generative AI into solutions and remains committed to augmenting professional knowledge and workflows with AI and building trustworthy, practical, and beneficial AI for its customers. Generative AI capabilities will be available in its native platforms in the second half of 2023, while Tax and Compliance, Risk and Fraud generative AI solutions will follow in 2024.