They will spend ten weeks at the City outfit’s new ‘MDR LAB’
Mishcon de Reya has revealed the identities of the six legal tech start-ups joining its ‘technology incubator’.
In collaboration with London-based innovation investor L Marks, last month Mishcon invited 19 businesses through the doors of its London office to pitch their products Dragon’s Den-style. With applications “open to early stage and growth technology start-ups”, the only precondition to entry was that the product or service was applicable to the legal industry.
Mishcon has now confirmed the six businesses that will spend ten weeks at its futuristically-named innovation hub ‘MDR LAB’. In what is essentially just a room at Mischon’s London office, entrepreneurs will gain “a better understanding of how legal services are provided” by tapping in to some of the firm’s top legal and business minds.
The six include Everchron, a US firm founded by ex-litigators. The company has designed a “collaborative litigation management software” that can automatically generate witness files and allows lawyers to quickly find relevant information.
Orbital Witness — still in its concept stage — is looking to produce a Google Earth for the legal industry. Using “cloud-based imagery”, the company hopes the system will be used by real estate lawyers to solve client queries.
Belfast-based SaltDNA is described as an enterprise-managed software solution that allows “absolute privacy” in mobile communications. Already employing 17 people, the system uses special “multi-layered encryption techniques” to ensure the highest level of security.
Next up, Ping. Another company with US origins, it has created (lawyers prepare to celebrate) a programme that will automatically track billable hours. The hope is that firms will be able to capture more billable hours.
The final two winners are Indian outfit Surukam and Berlin-based business Synergist. Surukam, already employing 12 staff, has produced an artificial intelligence system for the “automation of contract management”. Meanwhile, Synergist has created a “secure cloud service” that automates the negotiation of contract terms.
Commenting on the selected companies, Mishcon de Reya’s chief strategy officer and director of MDR LAB, Nick West, said:
Mishcon de Reya has made a commitment to becoming technologically transformed and being at the forefront of technological innovation in the legal industry. MDR LAB is a key part of this commitment and we are really excited and encouraged by the calibre of our chosen participants. We look forward to welcoming them into Mishcon de Reya, and contributing to their development over the coming months.
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