Slaughter and May announces fourth Collaborate Cohort

International law firm Slaughter and May today announces the legal tech companies selected for the fourth cohort of the firm’s legal tech programme, Slaughter and May Collaborate.

Collaborate was launched in 2019 and enables the firm to engage with a range of exciting new legal tech startups. The programme enables cohort members to test and develop their tools in a legal environment, through Slaughter and May’s lawyers and business service professionals and via the firm’s Client Innovation Network, made up of over 70 client organisations.

For the fourth cohort, the firm sought to work with legal tech startups of all shapes and sizes – but those using generative AI were encouraged to apply. This resulted in the highest number of applications to date.

As part of a refreshed programme offering for 2024, Collaborate offers a series of new advice-based sessions covering topics such as ‘Architecture of a Law Firm’ and ‘Knowing your Audience’ to provide cohort members with a varied offering across the firm in its entirety.

This year, Slaughter and May also announces its partnership with the Legal Tech Collective – a legal tech consultancy and a new member of the Collaborate Advisory Network – who will also be offering each cohort member a workshop on topics tailored to the individual company.

The six businesses to form our cohort were selected by the Collaborate team, with input from across the firm, as well as our Client Innovation and Collaborate Advisory Networks. The successful companies that comprise the 2024 Collaborate cohort are:

 

Associo

Associo is a collaborative analysis and forecasting tool which harnesses AI to assist lawyers to evaluate arguments, predict outcomes and verify statements more efficiently and reliably.

Atria AI

Atria AI offers a generative AI assistant with modules tailored for specific legal tasks such as chronology building, impact assessment, report generation, data extraction and regulatory monitoring.

LegalFly

LegalFly is a generative AI assistant for legal teams, used to streamline tasks like contract review, drafting, and discovery. By creating a customised AI model, LegalFly is able to reflect each firm’s unique style.

Notarist

Notarist uses AI to analyse emails and meeting notes, categorising tasks and tracking task progress. The AI interprets and prioritises follow-up tasks, locates bottlenecks and deadlines, and ensures seamless task and project management.

Visual Contracts

Visual Contracts' 'Canva for Contracts' is an AI-driven platform that helps business and legal professionals to create understandable contracts, using AI suggestions on visual elements, plain legal language and effective document structure to make legally sound and user-friendly contracts.

Virtual Pricing Director

Virtual Pricing Director is a pricing and profitability tool that helps create pricing proposals and engagement letters, using templates, AI and structured logic. 

 

The cohort will also have the option to pitch to Slaughter and May partners for equity investment, via the Slaughter and May Ventures platform, which was launched in 2022.

Sally Wokes, Innovation Partner at Slaughter and May said, “We are delighted to have received such a high calibre of applications yet again for the Collaborate programme. The programme has helped us to engage with some of the brightest minds in the legal tech space, and this year is no exception. We are really excited to engage with startups incorporating generative AI, and see what innovative technologies they have to offer.”

Billie Heer, Client and Practice Solutions Manager and Collaborate Programme Lead said: “We are really proud that Collaborate has evolved over the years to align not only with changes within our business, but also that of our clients’ and the fast paced changes in the legal tech industry generally. Collaborate enables our cohort to have access to our business services staff and our lawyers, as well as our Client and Advisory Networks, and we are excited to be getting everyone involved again for another successful year.”

Kiah Bradley, Client and Practice Solutions Executive said: “Anticipation and eagerness for this year’s cohort is particularly high as all of the tools in the cohort incorporate generative AI. We are looking forward to testing and feeding back on our cohort’s platforms with the aim of uncovering even more use cases and potential in each tool.”