UK law firm Addleshaw Goddard today confirmed that it had signed a long term deal with Canadian legal AI pioneer Kira Systems.
The deal will provide Addleshaws with AI-powered contract and document review capabilities across its Corporate, Banking and Real Estate transactional teams, according to a statement to Artificial Lawyer from the firm.
This is the latest in a series of long term deals signed with law firms around the world for Kira. Other recent client wins include: McCann Fitzgerald in Ireland, Fenwick in the US and Freshfields in the UK.
Addleshaws carried out an 18 month pilot of a range of AI systems, which was led by its Transaction Services Team (TST).
To carry out the pilot and the implementation of Kira, the TST worked in conjunction with lawyers from across the firm. The TST has a specialist technology team which was set up in early 2015 and works with the firm’s lawyers and clients to build technology solutions.
Mike Potter, Partner and Head of the TST, said: ‘We have been focusing on how to make the best use of AI for a long time and were determined to ensure we could use it broadly across our business for our clients.’
‘We haven’t looked at AI in isolation, but have built it into our overall integrated approach to people, process and technology to deliver legal work in a better way. There’s no point having great tools like Kira if you don’t use them properly.’
‘To do this, we drew on the TST’s technology expertise and knowledge of the legal work carried out across our firm and by our clients. We have 150+ people in our TST, many of whom are from a technology savvy generation, and that’s been very powerful for us,’ Potter concluded.
Kerry Westland, a Managing Associate in the TST, added: ‘We chose Kira because of the quality of the information it extracts and the flexibility of the Quick Study facility which enables us to build our own legal expertise into the system.’
Noah Waisberg, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based Kira, said: ‘We are quite pleased to have Addleshaw Goddard signed up. They are very thoughtful about delivering their clients quality and value, and ran a good, thorough evaluation process here.’
‘These are seriously considered decisions: several of our leading firm customers have noted their thorough evaluations in announcing their choosing Kira,’ he added.