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.
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