The AI Revolution in Law
Legal industry disruption isn’t merely about AI and its advanced manifestation, generative AI. Instead, it’s a sweeping transformation of the legal profession itself, argues Jerry Ting, Evisort’s Founder and CEO.
Evisort, a pioneer in contract lifecycle management (CLM), perceives that a significant portion of what lawyers undertake can be automated. As generative AI’s powerful language models evolve, lawyers will see a reduction in their mundane tasks—research and document drafting—liberating them to focus on the essence of law practice.
Ting established Evisort in 2016 while spearheading a joint AI project between Harvard Law and MIT. His vision has always been to be an AI-led firm, with a secondary focus on CLM.
Evisort: AI First, CLM Second
Backed by $155 million in funding and an impressive clientele, including Microsoft, McKesson, and NetApp, Evisort is expected to achieve profitability by the close of 2024. This success is credited to its CLM software, complemented by contract management solutions for other domains, such as procurement, sales, and finance.
Ting believes that Evisort has cleverly sidestepped the complexities of migrating a company’s contract data into the CLM. By designing it as an overlay to read contracts in their existing locations, legal teams can practically get started in days, eliminating the need for data migration.
The Promise of Generative AI
Generative AI presents a future where simple, plain language instructions akin to a text message will yield preliminary legal analyses. Evisort debuted some of the capabilities of its generative AI technology at the 2023 Global Institute, organized by the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC).
The software offers automated redlining suggestions grounded in the company’s contract playbook and draft contract language for specific contracts or the company’s contract clause library.
“Embracing generative AI and exploring the latest use cases will reveal the full potential of these solutions and drive incredible impact for organizations” Ting declared in a statement.
Ting also disclosed the integration of Evisort’s software with ServiceNow’s cloud-based enterprise operations workflow platform.
Beyond AI: The Transformation of the Legal Field
Ting suggests that even before generative AI stole the limelight, the legal profession was already undergoing a fundamental shift that could be overlooked amidst the tech hype.
This change, according to Ting, will be thrilling and constructive for lawyers. Particularly for in-house lawyers, there is no suggestion that it will result in a diminished demand for their services.
Instead, in-house lawyers can anticipate a shift towards a more business-oriented approach. They will no longer be confined to their traditional legal roles but will collaborate closely with their organization’s business functions. This partnership offers a value proposition that has been elusive until now.
