Corrs Chambers Westgarth, has struck a deal to take a 50 per cent stake in the Asia Pacific operations of Canadian artificial intelligence start-up Beagle, which automates contract analysis.
The Australian Financial Review writes….
The joint venture follows Corrs making a six-figure investment in the Melbourne accelerator program last month and is a clear example of a law firm trying to get on board the automation trend, which threatens to significantly disrupt the profession.
Beagle’s technology assisted narrative review technology allows for automatic contract analysis, digesting and identifying important elements within the contract at a rate of one page per second.
It then augments the decision-making process and works in accordance with a company’s internal policies and procedures, as well as country-specific regulations and norms.
Beagle founder Cian O’Sullivan said while the technology was designed to make contract reading simpler, the technology was being adapted to suit other purposes.
“We have Volkswagon in Germany as a client and they were one of the first to come to us and say they wanted to use the technology in a slightly different way,” he said.
“We went in, looked at the way the business was operating and found a way to use the technology to let decision makers make better decisions. So as of July next year the technology will be deployed throughout the business to enable all its 3500 buyers to make better decisions relevant to their corporate policies.”
Found online
The deal with Corrs came about after the law firm’s head of innovation, Graeme Grovum, discovered Beagle online while scouting the market for innovative legal services.
Mr O’Sullivan then came to Sydney six weeks ago and the law firm undertook a pilot program with a few of its clients. After a successful pilot, the firms made the partnership official through the joint venture.
Corrs partner James Whittaker told The Australian Financial Review that the pilot program showed the AI experience resonated strongly across a range of functions and applications, and that it was clear that the market was crying out for the service.
“As a law firm we’ve recognised for some time now that technology and the disaggregation of legal services will be a critical part of the way we can function effectively in the market,” he said.
“Up until this point, many companies have had to rule out using AI for contract analysis because they haven’t had the scale or the budget. Beagle addresses this market gap and, rather than being confined to use within legal departments, it can create benefits right across the enterprise structure, from legal, to procurement, contract administration and management, risk, insurance, IT and IP.”
Going to market
Beagle Asia Pacfic’s platform will be available to all businesses, not just Corrs clients, and will be led by Mr O’Sullivan and a small team of Corrs partners and staff initially, before full-time staff are brought on board.
One of the company’s first clients in the region will be a major Hong Kong bank, in addition to a selection of Corrs clients who were unable to be named.
The company has a model that means most contracts start out as a pilot, but this is capped at six months.
“If they’re committed and everyone has their act together, we can start to show value in three to four months,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “We’d never enter into a pilot longer than six months because it’s a time waster. We have to ensure that we’re adaptive and quick.”
As well as major businesses, the technology can be used by small and medium sized firms, which were the original target market.
The joint venture fits into Corrs’ strategy of “open innovation” and the law firm has a number of other similar partnerships in the pipeline.
“When we partner with people, the value we can create is greater,” Corrs partner Robert Regan said.
Mr Whittaker added: “We can’t be all things to all people and open innovation provides as with the ability to go to the market in a totally different way.”
