Legal AI is reaching deep into the workplace

Technology allows companies to automate the drafting of many contracts rather than having to rely on lawyers.

- John Gapper

Few industries appear to have more potential for disruption by artificial intelligence (AI) than the law.

Like games such as Go, which DeepMind took on to demonstrate the power of neural networks, legal systems have sets of rules and precedents. Give an AI model enough data and it can pass its bar examination.

So the law has become the target of many AI start-ups, such as Harvey, a US venture that in July raised US$100 million (S$135 million) at a US$1.5 billion valuation from investors including Google Ventures and OpenAI.

There has been a parallel rush of activity in Britain, with three legal AI start-ups - Genie AI, Luminance and Robin AI - raising more than US$100 million in combined funding in 2024.

Britain's growth is a product of the overlay of two successful industries, one old and one new: the commercial law and the cluster of AI start-ups, particularly in London and Cambridge. "We have a rich heritage and some incredible talent. It is a great competitive advantage," says Ms Eleanor Lightbody, chief executive of Luminance. The start-up was founded in 2015 in Cambridge.

Law firm Slaughter and May was among Luminance's early investors, along with the late Mike Lynch's Invoke Capital, and it initially focused on reforming how corporate law firms operate.