Lander & Rogers has welcomed the seventh cohort to its globally celebrated LawTech Hub, with tech startups Ask Lexi, Mary Technology, and Vici by OCRT Consulting joining the 2024 program.
This year, the LawTech Hub is focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and aligned with the AI Lab by Lander & Rogers, which was launched in February.
The LawTech Hub, established in 2019, is known internationally for its transformative impact on the legal industry. Welcoming its seventh cohort is a significant milestone and one that is set to explore and reshape the intersection of AI and the law with three startups who were carefully chosen — from a record intake of applications — by the LawTech Hub Advisory Board.
2024 welcomes all-Australian cohort
Sydney-based Lext is the team behind Ask Lexi, its suite of legal productivity tools powered by large language models, that help lawyers get from blank page to first draft faster than ever in four key areas: legal research, document review, legal drafting, and dataset review.
The team at Lext said: "We’d like to achieve a pilot and more detailed feedback from specialist lawyers at Lander & Rogers and we'd love to explore use cases for our infrastructure with the firm, and if the need is there, their clients."
Mary Technology, also based in Sydney, harnesses AI to help law firms automate and improve the process of drafting chronologies — one of the most important, time-consuming tasks at the beginning of every matter. Mary ingests vast amounts of client documentation and creates dynamic, fully-formatted chronologies that lawyers can interact with to quickly comprehend matters and collaborate with colleagues.
On working with Lander & Rogers through the LawTech Hub, the team at Mary Technology said: "It gives our product the opportunity to be refined alongside one of the top Australian law firms, which will provide us with key insights and feedback to drive our product forward."
Vici by OCRT Consulting, based in Brisbane and Canberra, augments experts with an AI analytics tool that disrupts traditional investigation methods. Leveraging breakthrough AI, Vici rapidly interrogates datasets to find relevant facts via interactive visualisations.
Team Vici said of their participation in the 2024 LawTech Hub: "We recognised the vital need for collaboration with experts intimately acquainted with the industry’s intricacies and pain points. Participating in Lander & Roger’s LawTech Hub represents the ideal catalyst to evolve Vici from a sophisticated prototype to a widely adopted legal discovery solution fulfilling thus-far unmet efficiency needs. Their guidance is critical to our legal pivot after serving the public sector."
AI in legal technology is the future
Genevieve Collins, chief executive partner at Lander & Rogers, is excited about the focused direction of the LawTech Hub: “The integration of AI into legal technology is the future. Our 2024 LawTech Hub, running in tandem with our AI Lab, is a testament to our commitment in leading the innovation charge in Australia and supporting the legal tech ecosystem. Several platforms that have come out of the LawTech Hub have been integrated into the firm to enhance efficiency and better serve our clients. Many of our alumni have also gone on to be adopted by law firms all over the world. We look forward to seeing how cohort seven impacts the industry.”
The selected startups will embark on a six-month equity-free journey, refining their concepts and collaborating closely with Lander & Rogers’ legal and tech experts. The program culminates in a competitive global pitch night.
Courtney Blackman, head of partnerships and director of the LawTech Hub, commented on the selection: “The calibre of applicants this year was exceptional. Ask Lexi, Mary Technology, and Vici stood out for their AI-driven approaches to solving complex legal challenges. We’re looking forward to working with the new cohort over the coming months and pushing the technological boundaries of the legal industry even further.”
Testament to the influence of the LawTech Hub, Brisbane-based startup and 2023 LawTech Hub graduate Halisok, whose platform allows users to apply the latest natural language AI engines to unlock and utilise information trapped in unstructured data, said: "We wouldn’t have a legal tech product without the LawTech Hub."
The 2024 LawTech Hub will conclude in November.
