CourtQuant, the AI-driven litigation analysis and prediction company, has partnered with its second litigation finance-related business, this time in the shape of Sentry Funding, a platform that helps to connect lawyers and litigation funders. The move follows an earlier deal with Apex Litigation Finance in April.
Sentry does not provide funds itself to claimants, but offers a platform to users that ‘works by capturing data about the case and comparing it against funders’ criteria to then find a match. It also analyses the opponent’s financial standing by bringing in third party financial data,’ the company told Artificial Lawyer.
‘[We] believe we are the second company operating in the litigation funding space that is working with CourtQuant. Apex is a funder on our panel, but we are unrelated companies,’ they added.
In terms of how closely they are working with the UK-based AI company, a spokesperson said: ‘We are working with CourtQuant, but we are not utilising their data initially. [For] the next phase…..we are hoping to combine with CourtQuant’s data. This will allow the [Sentry] algorithm to place a case [in relation to] historic data, matched with the case’s merits, to select the funder(s).’
Sentry works across the litigation funding sector, helping with searches for finance ranging from ‘£10k to millions’ they say.
The earlier deal between CourtQuant and Apex was unusual as it was especially focused on handling the analysis of small to medium size disputes. The logic is that nearly the same amount of research and analysis work needs to be done for a small dispute as a large one to decide if it’s a good investment for a funder. The automation of some of the research tasks by CourtQuant therefore allows Apex to scale up the volume of matters it can handle, while hopefully reducing the cost of triaging the cases that come to them.
For its part Sentry is calling its offering ‘the UK’s first litigation funding SaaS portal’. The system called CLAS, will help lawyers to ‘navigate sourcing, compliance, processing and case management for their clients that are seeking litigation funding and/or ATE insurance’ they added.
Thomas Webster, Sentry Marketing Director, added: ‘Solicitors have a duty to justify why they placed a case with a particular funder. It is no longer acceptable to just approach one funder because the solicitor has a relationship with them. However, for a solicitor to try and approach a number of funders directly is practically impossible.
‘By using CLAS the solicitor can now demonstrate that they have completed a full industry search enabling them to recommend a funder which best fits the needs of their client. This is a huge change to the way the market operates today.’