Currently, the analysis of large volumes of documents takes up a lot of capacity in law firms.
(Photo: IMAGO/MASKOT)
duesseldorf Harvey is stirring up the market for lawyers and tax advisors: A few weeks ago, consulting and auditing firm PwC and its affiliate law firm PwC Legal, along with big law firm Allen & Overy & Overy) gained exposure to one of the most exciting start-ups in the world for so-called legitimate technology applications from the United States. why?
Initial situation: a lot of complex text
One of the daily tasks of lawyers and tax advisors is analyzing large volumes of complex text and data. It can relate to contracts, compliance with laws and regulations, accounts receivable management or what is known as transaction due diligence. These documents are extensive and mostly written in legalese.
In addition, one of the core tasks of a lawyer is to deal with legal texts, administrative orders and judgments. There is always innovation, especially in a regulatory environment. Capturing this knowledge and making it available to clients is a huge challenge for lawyers and tax professionals.
The Solution: AI Helps Improve Efficiency
San Francisco startup Harvey AI develops software based on OpenAI and ChatGPT technologies. Artificial intelligence (AI) understands the language of lawyers and can analyze and evaluate data relevant to them.
Björn Viebrock, Member of the Board of Management and Head of Tax & Legal at PwC Germany, said: “By combining human expertise with the power of artificial intelligence technology, we can develop innovative solutions and offer our clients significant added value.”
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A large global law firm, Allen & Overy, also relies on Harvey. Alexander Behrens, who is in charge of the topic in Germany, said: “We saw very early on that technological solutions are not just a marketing tool, but can also contribute to the turnover of law firms because they provide clients with Created real added value.”
As a result, the firm assembled a team of lawyers and IT specialists early on to drive development. Behrens counts Allen & Overy as a pioneer. Therefore, the cooperation between the two parties and the research on other artificial intelligence solutions are logical.
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Harvey has served clients at Allen & Overy, primarily assisting with research on legal topics. The efficiency gains are already measurable, Behrens said. On average, each attorney at the firm saves several hours of work each week.
But Behrens says this is just the beginning. Harvey and other AI solutions are constantly evolving. AI is expected to soon be put into practice when preparing first drafts of contracts and evaluating investigative documents. “We’re working on artificial intelligence to make our own knowledge available when creating contracts,” Behrens said.
Outlook: Xavi should have competition
PwC wants to spend a lot of money to advance the topic of artificial intelligence. Harvey is just one component of that. Shortly after the deal, the company announced it was partnering with tech giant Microsoft. PwC wants to invest 1 billion euros in artificial intelligence over the next three years.
“We are at an economic and social inflection point. Artificial intelligence will revolutionize the way we work, live and interact on a large scale,” said Mohamed Kande, Vice President, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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Whether that means fewer lawyers will be needed in the future remains an open question, said Alexander Behrens of law firm Allen & Overy. “AI will definitely change the way we work. Certain tasks will be eliminated, others will change, but if you have the right skills, new tasks will definitely be added.”
There is still the problem that many legally relevant documents are not freely available. But some legitimate publishers have announced that they are developing chatbots. Harvey, that’s for sure, there’s going to be a lot of competition in the near future.
more: How legal tech is changing the legal industry