Today sees the launch of a new legal tech marketplace called the Legal Tech Store, which provides ‘customers’ with a range of applications, from contract management to data analysis to privacy tools.
Is this straight out of California, New York, or London? Nope. It’s from the City of Lights, Paris.
You could call this a French version of a combination of Reynen Court and an App Store. The solutions offered are selected by a committee of experts. An audit of the security of the information systems of each application is conducted by the platform. In addition, compliance with the GDPR and intellectual property rights of third parties is also assessed.
The customer has access to centralised information, ‘allowing comparison of a myriad of available products’, said the Store.
‘Guided by a virtual assistant, they will be able to equip themselves with a bespoke ensemble of Legal Tech solutions adapted especially to their needs,’ they added.
Check out the pic below for an example of how it works:
Above, you see at the top of the pic, a list of categories, covering: contract management, enterprise management, IP/IT, legal bots, legal data, disputes and more.
Each category provides you with a selection of primarily French legal tech companies to have a look at. In the contract management group there are six systems available, including companies such as Legal Pilot and Softlaw. (And who knew that there were six different French-made contract management systems….?)
You click on one, and it provides you with an overview of the product, including demo and licence prices.
Artificial Lawyer really likes the fact that there is an effort to provide pricing transparency. It also looks like users can leave feedback on the product for other buyers to read – taking a leaf out of the Amazon approach to retail. You also have a basket, or ‘panier’ and can purchase the application via the site directly.
The store allows you to purchase a demo agreement, so you can set up a pilot on the spot – which is a very neat idea.
All in all it’s a great initiative, backed by serval French groups, including Seraphin, which Artificial Lawyer covered previously.
It’s also another example of the richness of the many legal tech ecosystems around the world, especially beyond the Anglo-sphere. As you will see if you explore the Legal Tech Store, the vast majority of applications are French language and homegrown.
Moreover, one can safely bet that most people in New York and London have not heard of most of the applications on offer – and yet – many of the largest law firms and corporate legal teams in the world will have offices in France…which, guess what….have French lawyers in them, who no doubt would like to use French language legal tech applications and platforms.
To conclude: this is further proof that technology knows no boundaries, and that each market is capable of producing a broad range of homegrown legal tech companies and applications. The marketplace approach is also welcome and seeks to increase transparency into the legal tech buying process, which has to be a good thing. Vive le Legal Tech!
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