LegalTech’s “Open Source” Moment!
With AI usage for legal approaching “near-universal” adoption, the sector continues to evolve at an astounding pace.
Directly on the heels of the debut of Anthropic’s “Claude for Legal,” which it debuted just shortly before filing for IPO this week, The Information reported last week on a “fresh assault” on LegalTech’s major players: “Some law firms now want to develop their own AI apps with frontier model companies like Anthropic or OpenAI rather than just purchase apps from smaller legal startups.”
The article cited the announcement by Kirkland & Ellis, the largest law firm by gross revenue last year, that it plans to spend $500 million to develop its own AI apps, as well as Freshfields collaboration with Anthropic to develop a legal AI tool for its 4,000 attorneys, in exchange for early access to the company’s models.
Amid these big moves towards in-house building by major firms, there was also big news on another front: open source is also gaining traction in LegalTech.
Monica Zent is a LegalTech pioneer, entrepreneur, investor, and founder of ZentLaw, one of the first Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs) in the United States. She writes about LegalTech, artificial intelligence, legal operations, venture capital, enterprise innovation, and the future of legal services. Through her thought leadership, speaking engagements, and advisory work, Monica helps organizations and investors navigate emerging technologies and the evolving legal landscape. Learn more about Monica, her work, and her latest insights at MonicaZent.com.
-
5 LegalTech VC Trends to Watch
It seems that almost every week brings headlines of another multimillion-dollar LegalTech funding round. Supio, a Seattle-based AI platform designed for personal injury and mass tort plaintiff law firms, announced it had raised $60 million in Series B funding led by Sapphire Ventures, with participation from Mayfield and Thomson Reuters Ventures. This latest round brought the…
-
LegalTech and the IPO Market-RIP or Activity Ahead?
Business Insider wrote that the much-anticipated IPO comeback may not materialize as expected. Despite optimism that 2025 would bring new momentum, the first quarter told a different story, with both Klarna and StubHub delaying their IPO plans. Against this backdrop of market uncertainty, I wanted to examine the potential for IPOs in the LegalTech sector and consider…
-
Thinking Outside the “LegalTech” Box
What do FinTech, DefenseTech, Procurement, and Cybersecurity have in common? These areas can all be viewed as part of a wider LegalTech ecosystem, where legal teams increasingly intersect with multiple functions. Corporate legal departments are expected to interact with IT, marketing, procurement, human resources, finance, and more. This level of cross-functional collaboration is becoming essential…
