Funds will boost development
A former Clifford Chance lawyer has secured £1.3m of funding for a new in-house AI paralegal.
WilsonAI was founded back in August 2024 by ex-Magic Circle associate Gus Neate and Alex Wang, formerly of global investment and technology development firm D.E. Shaw.
The funding aims to accelerate WilsonAI’s development of “the world’s first AI paralegal” that can integrate within existing legal teams. The programme is a new form of LLAM (Legal Large Action Model). Unlike some other AI tools, the new tech will be able to “continuously refine its capabilities based on real-world usage”.
These uses focus on automating repetitive legal tasks, for example handling routine legal requests, answering common questions, and reviewing contracts. This, the founders say, allows in-house lawyers to “focus on strategic legal work”, improving their efficiency without inflating their headcount.
Neate trained at Clifford Chance and spent nearly two years in the firm’s London private equity team before departing in April 2024, according to his LinkedIn.
Commenting on the new funds, Neate, who alongside being a co-founder is also the CEO, said:
“In-house legal teams face increasing pressure to do more with less, yet they are still bogged down by repetitive tasks. WilsonAI is here to change that. Our AI paralegal augments legal teams at all levels, from General Counsel to junior lawyers, by handling routine work so they can focus on strategic priorities. We’re seeing legal teams use the time saved to provide more impactful counsel and take on higher-value projects.”
The pre-seed round of funding was led by Nomad Ventures, with a host of others getting in on the action including a number of law firm partners.
This latest AI news comes after new research last week suggested that almost half of lawyers think their firm is too slow on AI uptake. The role of new tech in the sector is looking increasingly inevitable, however, with a AI models increasingly improving in a study run by Linklaters which tests AI models on an English law exam.
