This month’s Orange Rag paints a picture of a legal technology industry continuing to mature, with several clear trends emerging.
AI innovation is no longer theoretical: we are seeing major deployments across the industry, from Freshfields’ global roll-out of Google Gemini and Vertex AI to the rapid expansion of startups like Legora and Eve AI. There’s a growing emphasis on practical AI enablement, with tools like Agiloft’s Screens and ikaun and DocuSign’s new agentic workers focused on workflow improvements.
In parallel, Kingsley Napley’s collaboration with Let’s Think highlights the rise of behavioural science, as law firms seek to surface and scale their intellectual capital through technology.
If we think that the pace of change is a lot to contend with already, the one thing we can be certain of is that we’ve seen nothing yet. Take a look at my comment in our Top Stories section as to why GenAI success isn’t about technology.
In terms of other trends, M&A activity remains buoyant, reflecting a drive toward consolidation and international scale, with LBR’s merger with ALM and Digital Legal Exchange’s combination with Liquid Legal Institute creating new legal intelligence and innovation hubs. Investment in startups like Dealstack, Phaselaw, and Xayn/Noxtua signals continued confidence in specialised legal technology solving sector and jurisdictional-specific problems.
The security wake-up call issued recently by the ICO’s landmark fine against Advanced is a timely reminder that data stewardship is a first-order risk and that security must cover the lifecycle of client data, while the expansion of initiatives like LOCS:23 shows a growing professionalisation around legal data protection.
Finally, a new wave of senior hires at Harbor, and Lights-On Consulting shows that legal tech consultancies are, by and large, going from strength to strength. Law firm innovation teams are under pressure, but White & Case is investing heavily in innovation talent, and we bring you their latest hire and all the others from the past month in the Orange Rag Movers and Shakers section.
Overall, there’s still a lot of noise and a lot of nonsense out there. The smart money is on leveraging the hell out of valuable partnerships and achieving (and celebrating) small wins. Easy peasy, right?
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