Global law firm Linklaters has launched an ‘AI Sandbox’, which will allow the firm to ‘quickly build out genAI solutions, many of which have stemmed from ideas suggested by its people’, they have announced.

‘Ideas will be brought to life through tailored solutions in the firm’s homegrown [genAI] chatbot Laila, or in partnership with external vendors,’ the firm added.

The move follows the Linklaters innovation team’s recent ‘AI ideas campaign’ – the second it has run. Using the firm’s established Ideas Hub platform, a cross-functional team has evaluated ideas against a range of criteria, with down-selected ideas from this and previous campaigns being taken forward for development into working prototypes, they explained.

The shortlisted ideas making it through the innovation team’s multi-step evaluation process include ideas focused on building credentials based on lawyer profiles and deal experience, the ability to transpose edits across large suites of related documents, automating initial steps in regulatory analysis, and the automatic generation of matter metadata and credentials from documents.

Linklaters’ AI Sandbox strategy also involves assembling a workbench of best-in-class AI solution developers to help build out these ideas at pace, they said.

The firm has started by seeking the input of tech consultancies Simplexico and Springbok AI to support the design, testing, and delivery of prototypes stemming from the Sandbox and will ‘continue to scout for others to add to the workbench, to complement its internal teams’.

The AI Sandbox is just one strand of Linklaters’ programme of work, and it accompanies the work the firm’s technology team is doing to build scalable modular solutions across domains such as search, extraction, analysis and drafting, they added.

Tom Quoroll, Partner, commented: ‘We are thrilled to launch our AI Sandbox, which will help to supercharge the delivery of AI-based solutions across our business so that our people can apply these transformative technologies in service of our clients.’

Greg Baker, Senior Lawyer & Global Head of Innovation, commented: ‘Much like the technology, we are not standing still. We’ve learnt what it takes to deliver meaningful solutions, we’ve brought in new capabilities and resources, and our understanding of where this technology can add value has continued to evolve – all of which has been reflected in the quality of ideas we receive and our plans to operationalise them.’

Linklaters ran its first GenAI-focused global ideas campaigns in early 2023. This provided the firm with a foundation of 75+ ideas and a passionate team of GenAI champions to support their development.

Over the last 18 months, Linklaters has delivered a stream of improvements to its homegrown chatbot Laila, which is currently handling over 60,000 prompts a week. The firm has also established an ongoing programme of work to build proprietary solutions, leveraging the power of AI to keep its lawyers at the cutting edge of legal service delivery, the firm concluded.

And this site can only say: great stuff and a solid example of what internal innovation projects can deliver.

Read the full piece: https://www.artificiallawyer.com/2024/12/02/linklaters-launches-genai-sandbox-to-drive-innovation/