New Startup Hopes to Use AI to Show How Judges Think
Bench IQ, a Toronto-based startup, has unveiled an AI platform that promises to change how lawyers prepare for court. The fundamentals of what’s being offered are new insights into judges’ decision-making patterns.
According to Reuters, Bench IQ is promising to enable legal professionals to craft more tailored and effective courtroom strategies. Founded by legal tech entrepreneur Jimoh Ovbiagele, former Kirkland & Ellis partner Jeffrey Gettleman, and ex-ROSS senior software engineer Maxim Isakov, this venture is poised to redefine legal research and litigation preparation.
The way it works is that Bench IQ leverages advanced large language models to analyze and interpret the decision-making tendencies of judges, covering an exhaustive 100% of their rulings, not just the publicly available written opinions. This comprehensive approach provides lawyers with a strategic edge, enabling them to anticipate and align with individual judges’ legal reasoning.
As you can imagine, this sort of technology has garnered some interest. So far, Bench IQ has been able to secure $2.1 million in pre-seed funding from notable venture capital firms Maple and Haystack, alongside investments from prominent law firms and legal industry partners.
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The involvement of law firms such as Cooley, Fenwick & West, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati underscores the sector’s recognition of Bench IQ’s transformative capabilities. It’s this extra edge Bench IQ is offering that has major law firms interested.
Jimoh Ovbiagele, CEO of Bench IQ, emphasized the uniqueness of their AI-driven insights, distinguishing their service from other legal research tools by offering not just statistical data but a deep dive into the legal logic of judges’ rulings.
With 12 large law firms already on board as pilot customers, Bench IQ’s innovative service model offers flexible pricing options tailored to different needs, from on-demand access to annual subscriptions. The company’s vision extends beyond immediate success, planning rapid expansion and aiming to become an indispensable tool for legal professionals worldwide.
Not too long ago, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the United States warned of the possible effects of unchecked AI in the field. Though John Roberts’s concern focused on what the technology could do, he also addressed hopes of how it could bring a positive change to courtrooms.
Last year, it was reported that another AI program, focused on providing on-demand legal advice to users went live. Though this service primarily focuses on clients and not lawyers, it shows that there is a great deal of interest in what AI can do in the legal realm.
Originally posted on OpenDataScience.com
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