Braegen AI, a new legal tech startup, is launching Virtual Litigator, which is a combination of ‘interactive database, in-take and triage platform’, and most importantly a ‘predictive engine’ for disputes. It will be available end of Q1 this year.
The company said that the new tool can ‘cost-effectively, accurately and unbiasedly predict the outcome of anticipated or pending litigation, even if the case has not yet been filed’. This covers the ‘prediction of certain key metrics accurately and objectively in litigation cases, such as outcome, cost, quantum and duration’.
And of course, we have been here before. But, Artificial Lawyer is always happy to see someone else try to crack case prediction. As explored in previous articles, disputes are very human affairs and so have plenty of unpredictable elements. That said, for more simple disputes, where there is a ton of past data from very similar cases, then you are on much more solid ground.
Fundamentally, this rests upon two things. One is data – i.e. so you can model with some confidence, and the other thing it depends on is people – and they can never be totally predictable. People settle. People go nuts and keep a dispute going long after it’s already been decided by most others involved in the matter. Witnesses recant. Judges change their minds. The management of an insurance company suddenly has a different approach to risk. And so on.
But, kudos to Braegen for taking this on. Perhaps with sufficient data, and the improved abilities of genAI, much more can be done now? We’ll see.
And on that point, the company states that they focus on: ‘Data-backed litigation and settlement strategies [with a] comprehensive library of data points available about a case to allow lawyers and clients to approach litigation and settlement armed with precise knowledge about the value of a claim leading to faster and/or larger settlements.’
Interestingly, they add that with better outcome prediction, legal business models may also change: ‘As users become more comfortable with the accurate predictions provided by the Virtual Litigator, they may elect to move from traditional hourly-based billing models to hybrid or contingency fee billing paradigms, where they share more lucrative upside without any increased risk.’
Christopher DeLise, Braegen AI’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: ‘It has taken us nearly eight years to build the Virtual Litigator [and is] the first of a series of transformative products that will be launched over the next 18 months which will revolutionize legal tech, commercial intelligence and investigations, and threat assessment.’
Good luck to them. Maybe this time legal tech can really crack this problem. And if they can do this, then they are onto something truly transformative for the world of disputes.
Their website is here – although for now they are keeping things mostly under wraps.