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ABA Techshow 2024: Startup Alley Pitch Competition An Analogy of Life

ABA Techshow 2024: Startup Alley Pitch Competition

mark i unger

Life is a funny thing. It’s ironic, perplexing, and like a conundrum on steroids. All that taken together simply means that all the cliches that our parents got from our grandparents and great-grandparents before them were semi-truisms meant to be passed on in ways that we had to, well…learn for ourselves.

Wednesday was yet another funny thing. I’ve been fortunate to be included in some things, excluded from others, and given the fortitude to know the difference in their worth.

I’ve previously posted on ABA TechShow 2024’s Startup Alley Pitch competition, how cool it was and is, and believe it’s symbolic of change.

It’s brought forth ingenuity, a pushing of the envelope, and often the enigma of knowing what you thought you believed as opposed to the changes and agility of others that might either call those into question or simply keep you swimming (nod to Nemo). In all senses, change is constant, and chasing it is healthy.

These were the healthiest chasing change, and the top 15 vote-getters in this year’s competition, along with my take —

  1. BriefCatch https://briefcatch.com: At Legal Week, BriefCatch was introduced. This tool enhances legal document editing by providing expert guidance. This innovation aims to improve both writing skills and case outcomes. It allows users to upload legal documents (such as rules, regulations, or cases) and specify the intended audience and their concerns. The tool then generates client advisories with relevant links and recommended action steps. Notably, it was mentioned that AI inventions could now be patented, provided they involve innovative prompts.
  2. Ai.Law https://www.ai.law: This AI-powered tool streamlines the creation of various litigation documents. Users can input basic claims to receive a list of possible courses of action, upload complaints for analysis of missing elements, and receive auto-generated drafts and suggestions. The system can also generate discovery responses with objections in about five minutes, which are editable. Features include robust chat functionality, deep search capabilities for medical records, and a contract drafting module that facilitates dynamic interaction with the system before exporting to a Word document.  While this technology was scary, it also might foretell the commoditization of law, or even the ‘robotization’ of practice, if you will. Its significance in theory is why lawyers are afraid, but its implementation may or may not be valid as it seemed literally to take over the practice as we currently believe it to be. With that said, this was definitely above average.
  3. Lexamica https://lexamica.com: Designed to optimize practice and revenue growth, Lexamica facilitates case referrals within a network of law firms. It addresses the inefficiency of traditional advertising spends by ensuring each lead is maximized, particularly in industries where firms can recoup up to 50% of their advertising dollars.  This seemed to be more pitch than fork in the road kind of change agent. It may be more significant than credit given but it wasn’t quite there for me.
  4. Resolutn https://www.resolutn.com: Founded by a litigator, Resolutn aims to expedite settlements through digital mediation. The platform facilitates faster case settlements by allowing parties to make initial offers and engage in negotiations through a double-blind process guided by a proprietary algorithm. Settlements are reached when offers overlap, with a 2% charge to each party capped at $500. Despite a lackluster presentation, the product’s potential for increasing access to justice (A2J) was emphasized. While I thought this end-thought might have been pandering a bit, it was to me significant. This was one of the major spaces ripe for change and for that reason, one of the more significant attempts at innovation (though it has been attempted now in different ways for several years). For those reasons, I had this near the top of my list and could see where this, if presented in a more robust way (grain of salt: presenters were given 3 minutes), could have won the day;
  5. Recital: https://recitalapp.com/ Canadian company provides a contract negotiation platform that integrates with Word, streamlining the organization of contracts and emails. It claims to address common frustrations among lawyers regarding document version control and accessibility, offering a solution that allows fast access to documents and redlines without the need for extensive file management. While this was pitched with a lexicon of verbiage not often found in professional presentations (i.e. curse words), I found the shock value fine the first time (“where the F is my Sh t?”)..thrice made me feel a little more dumb for listening to the ‘effect,’…However, for what it promised, without explaining how, was worthy of 8.8;
  6. LexSelect: https://lexselect.io/ LexSelect, which significantly reduces the time required to review transcript evidence, thus boosting productivity in trial preparation. The technology transforms the tedious task of reformatting and retyping citations, offering a potential time saving of up to 92%. While the stats were significant (along with the name dropping in motivation) the time savings provided by efficiency within product were significant if scalable (i.e. if all could do them) and so it was worthy of 8.3;
  7. AltFee: https://www.altfeeco.com/  CEO Scott Lee introduced AltFee, a platform that enables law firms to adopt alternative fee structures more efficiently. The system assists in scoping, pricing, proposing, and auditing alternative fees, addressing the inefficiencies of traditional billable hours through AI-enhanced workflows.  While I thought this was a possible throwback to prior presenter Kimberly Bennett’s Fidu, which was very persuasive, a friend of mine Kenton Brice pointed out the significance of the analysis aspect of this, which reminded my of my analogy to alternative billing possibles similar to the medical field’s RVU model. Until, we have a good measure of value that is alternative to the billable hour, at least to Judge’s who make these rulings when asked, I have to defer, though I want more. I gave this an 8.0. This was the Startup Alleys 2024 winner and continues a trend of claimed access to justice motivated startups,
  8. Henchman: https://henchman.io/ This tool, originating from Belgium, saves time by integrating relevant contract clauses and definitions directly into Word or Outlook, facilitating more efficient contract negotiation for legal professionals. This pitch claimed that the product was more proactive by utilizing your own data as opposed to the claimed reactive nature of something like Copilot. I’m interested to see where this goes as I’ve attempted to drill down on this concept with other AI offerings. I gave this an 8.0
  9. Skribe.ai: https://skribe.ai/ Skribe.ai offers a solution to reduce the costs and time associated with legal testimony, enhancing attorney efficiency and providing rapid Court transcripts and real time video testimony playback. I have to admit bias, as this startup is from Austin.   This offering came in second in this pitch competition and is in an area that, in this writer’s opinion is in a space that is so ripe for enhancement and modernization that the need can not possibly be overstated, given the inability to timely get court transcripts at reasonable prices and while, there is much potential competition and there are bells and whistles and laws needed to be added or changed respectively, this tech is massively significant. This was in my top three. I gave this an 8.3, only as it really needed to be shown how it could work a little more in slides and workflows;
  10. Gretchen: https://www.gretchenapp.com/ Developed by CEO Blake Adam, Gretchen is a generative AI-powered tool that integrates with email inboxes to improve response times for inquiries, particularly beneficial for solo practitioners and small law firms. This tech was also launched in other products somewhat as a sidebar add-on in Outlook and with claim to require access to all of your documents (DMS), something which still gives me some concerns. I did give this an 8.0 for the efficiency effect to reply to clients’ questions;
  11. 2nd Chair: https://2ndchairtrialsupport.com/ 2nd Chair is an AI tool designed to analyze extensive case materials quickly, providing key facts and document links, and alleviating concerns about potential sanctions from judges. Named David, I loved the source/citation of same aspect, as I’ve repeatedly considered this need, however the claim to be ‘summaritive’ and generative seems a little in need of the next level of its capability.
  12. Beagle: https://discoverbeagle.com/ Beagle is presented as a new best friend for document review, utilizing AI and machine learning to improve accuracy and efficiency in e-discovery, significantly reducing time and costs.  I’m not sure this has the current sophistication, at least in the way presented to challenge current eDiscovery vendors’ pitches and the analogy to being ‘cruelty-free’ seemed off to me, despite my love for dogs/animals;
  13. Civille: https://getciville.com  This company offers digital marketing solutions for law firms with AI-powered forms and chat tools, aimed at capturing and converting relevant prospects effectively. I gave this a 7.8, based on it’s claimed performance stats and while the representations were a bit conclusory, I think, if true, it’s exemplary, but perhaps not a change agent for a market underserved;
  14. Altumatim: https://altumatim.com  CEO David Gaskey highlights Altumatim’s focus on narrative in eDiscovery, using AI to identify key evidence efficiently and tell compelling stories in litigation.  This really triggered my frontal lobe in the sense that key facts and evidence in a timeline format is massive in litigation and the fact that it claims, via autonomous review, to format in relation to your case ‘story.’ Also, the speed of review of documents to get there is significant. I gave this an 8.5 and perhaps undervalued it.
  15. Paxton AI: https://www.paxton.ai  Paxton AI is developing AI-powered legal research tools to enable faster access to laws and case law, aiming to transform legal work and establish firms as leaders in AI adoption. This offering won third in  startup alley and it’s players have paper and street cred like you wouldn’t believe; however, just based on the presentation, I’m at a loss to understand it’s success. Either I missed the boat on this one or they connected with many in the audience that I didn’t. Either way, kudos to them and I look forward to the future.

Mark I. Unger

https://twitter.com/miunger

ps

The opinions herein are those of the author and no one else.

The presentations and content presented are all inextricably linked to the germane aspects of the practice of law.

They are all grain-of-salted and to be taken as such.

New Issue of Circuits Along With a Letter from the Chair

Letter from the Chair

By Reginald A. Hirsch

Holiday Greetings from the Computer & Technology Section! We thank you for being a member
and please help us spread the word by urging your fellow colleagues to join as well.
Recently as Chair of our Section I attended the Council of Chairs, a bi-annual event hosted by
our State Bar in Austin. This was a great event allowing the Chairs of the various Sections of the
State Bar to personally interact with each other and share common issues and potential
solutions. The State Bar provided up to date information regarding Bar activities and
requirements for Sections per our State Bar rules and regulations.

On December 1, 2023 our Sections sponsored its 7th Annual Technology and Justice for All
CLE live in Austin, Texas at the State Bar Building. This year’s presentations were outstanding,
and we thank our great presenters and our engaged audience for their participation and
presence. As many of you know we offer this CLE free to the legal aid lawyers who serve our
community. This year we were able to record our program through the assistance of Texas
Legal services Center and especially Bruce Bower and Melissa Deutsch their videographer. By
recording our CLE we are now able to provide to the Legal Service Community an opportunity
to view our CLE for those Legal Aid Lawyers who were unable to attend our live CLE in Austin.
As a secondary benefit we will be able to provide you as members of the Computer and
Technology Section access to the CLE on our website, https://sbot.org. Currently the recording
is being edited and should be available in early 2024.

In the spirit of this holiday season, I want to express my thanks to the officers and council and
ex-officio members of our Section. They continued work and relentless efforts on behalf of the
Section make the “Magic Happen”! Behind the scenes the work of the Section appears effortless
but without their support and guidance we would not be able to provide our services to you as
Section members and to our State Bar. A special thanks also to our Administrative Assistant,
Erica Anderson, who never fails to anticipate an issue and provides guidance to our Executive
Committee and Council. Thank you, Erica.

I also want to thank the State Bar Sections Department who so ably support our Sections. As
many of you who work with the State Bar and attend various CLEs throughout the State it
requires an enormous effort to coordinate Section activities, publications, and programming.
This year after many years of service to the State Bar, Tracy Nuckols. Tracy over the years has
provided many untold hours in support and guidance for our Section and we wish you well in
your new future. Lyndsey Jackson is our new Sections Department Director, and we are excited
to work with Lyndsey and her great team and we congratulate her and thank her as she
continues to support our Sections. Also, I would like to thank Paul Burke and Jake Stoffle with
the State Bar, who help make the “Magic Happen”.

The December 2023 Issue of Circuits is an outstanding issue for our members. The variety of
articles and material will reward our members with scholarly and practical articles to be utilized
in their everyday practice. We have articles and tips including, AI Discovery Issues, 4th
Amendment cases dealing with iPhones, 3rd Party Rights and DNA Consent, Kid influencers,
Preparing and Responding to Cyber Incidents, ADR Technology, Presenting Science Evidence,
and Review of State and Federal laws regarding Privacy, Security and Wiretapping. To our great
authors we appreciate your contributions to Circuits and thank you.

I would like to thank Sally Pretorius our editor of Circuits and Katie Stahl, associate editor. You
both knocked it out of the park.

This year the State Bar of Texas honored our Section with a request to take over the
programming for the “Adaptable Lawyer Tract” held annually at the State Bar of Texas Annual
Meeting. This year’s meeting will be held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas Texas on June
20-21,2024. The “Adaptable Lawyer” tract will be on June 20,2024 and will be a full day CLE.
With the guidance of our CLE Chair, Grecia Martinez and our CLE subcommittee I can assure
you that this will be an outstanding CLE and we look forward to seeing you at the Annual
Meeting.

Cindy Tisdale, President of the State Bar of Texas in her recommendation to the State Bar was
to create a Working Group, now a Taskforce to examine issues surrounding Artificial
Intelligence (AI) and the Law and to make recommendations to the State Bar. Currently the
Chair of this Taskforce is John Browning and several of the appointed members of this Section
serve on the Taskforce. The issue of AI and the practice of law has and will be a continuing
issue for lawyers currently and into the future. The Computer and Technology Section has and
will continue to monitor, write, and speak on these issues. AI platforms like ChatGPT and
others will need to be evaluated for transparency, accountability, and accuracy. As Texas
lawyers we have an ethical obligation under our Professional Code of Conduct to maintain
“technical proficiency”. Our Section has and will continue to examine these issues regarding AI
and its usage by lawyers and provide information, resources, and guidance. We as a Section
strive to assist Texas lawyers in maintaining their “technical proficiency” and to respond with
knowledge and resources regarding these every evolving changes.

Finally, our behalf of the Section we wish you and your family the happiest of holidays and a
happy New Year.

Reginald A. Hirsch
2023–2024 Chair
Computer & Technology Section
State Bar of Texas

Without further ado, the latest version of our e-Journal Circuits for December, 2023 is here.

7th Annual Technology and Justice for All CLE

Friday, December 1, 2023
8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Texas Law Center
1414 Colorado Street, Austin, Texas
5.5 hours of MCLE credit, which includes 1.0 hours of ethics credit

Do you run your own office?
Do you represent other businesses?
Do you sometimes get frustrated with technology?
Do you feel like you aren’t taking advantage of tech that could make your life easier and better?
If any of these are true, this course can bring you up to speed in just one day! Don’t miss these great topics that wil improve your practice and improve your life!
• Tech Bootcamp for the Practicing Atorney: Everything You Need to Know
• 4th Amendment Case Law Update
• A Judicial Perspective of Al
• Practical and Ethical Uses of Al
• Legal Technology from the Trenches
• 30 Apps ni 30 Minutes: The Latest Legal Apps, Tech Tips, and Tech Laws
Registration is only $125 for section members, $150 for non-section members, and free to legal aid attorneys for a full day of CLE and includes digital course materials, breakfast, and lunch.

Free CLE: “To Chat GPT or Not to Chat GPT – That is the Question”

The Computer & Technology Section makes free CLE available to attorneys as a service of the Section and the Texas Bar. This CLE is entitled: “To Chat GPT or Not to Chat GPT – That is the Question”
Speaker: John G. Browning

Course Number: 174206926
The recording will be available until 10/23/2024.
MCLE Credit: 1 hour of participation with .25 hours of ethics.

You can find the video here.

Message from the Chair

Dear Section Members,

I have the honor and privilege to serve as the 2023-24 Chair of the Computer and Technology Section (C&T) of the State Bar of Texas. The C&T Section’s membership is diverse and has members from solo practices to major law firms and lawyers from major technical industries and Fortune 500 companies. As I like to say about the C&T Section, when it comes to technology and the law “Our Bench is Deep”. As an example of our “bench” recently the State Bar created a Taskforce regarding AI and ChatGPT composed of seven lawyers, three of which were members of the C&T Section.

The C&T Section is rich in resources, no matter how small or large your firm and no matter what level of technical knowledge. We are here to help you. In this ever-changing world of legal technology like AI and ChatGPT, and our duty of technical proficiency, we are here to provide those resources for you.

7th Annual Tech and Justice for All CLE program
December 1, 2023

Don’t forget to register for our upcoming 7th Annual Tech CLE program taking place in Austin on December 1, 2023. The full brochure and registration options information will be forthcoming, and your section membership will provide you with an immediate discount upon registering for this outstanding CLE.

Member Benefits
As a member of the C&T Section, here are some of your immediate benefits:

Free CLEs
For the price of just one CLE course, the C&T Section provides members with four quarterly free CLEs covering major issues at the intersection of technology and the law.

Our first CLE alone is worth the price of joining the section. On September 29, 2023, starting at noon, section member John Browning, Chair of the State Bar of Texas Taskforce regarding Ai/ChatGPT, will present “To ChatGPT, or not to ChatGPT, that is the question” and you don’t want to miss this benefit as a section member.

John’s recent ChatGPT presentation was just cited in an opinion by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Allen Michael Lee v. The State of Texas, case number 10-22-00281, in the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Judicial District.

Texas Bar Legal App
Our Texas Bar Legal app is available to all members and provides Texas and Federal Codes, Rules, and Statutes. We support Apple and Android devices and even a weblink. More information regarding our app can be found here.

Circuits
The C&T Section publishes the quarterly Circuits Newsletter covering a broad range of topics regarding technology and the law. Here you will find articles regarding such topics as current technology, practical applications and utilizing technology for your practice.

Covering the latest Legal Technology
The ABA Tech Show is a must event for staying up to date with the latest legal technology and we annually send our members to cover and report on the seminars, lectures, updates and products for multiple speakers and vendors. This year’s review can be found here.

Need to Join or Renew Your Membership?
Dues are still just $25

With all these benefits of a membership to the C&T Section, I encourage you to join or renew your membership now. If you haven’t already, please renew your membership with our Section by logging into your MyBarPage at the State Bar of Texas Website. We encourage you to join now and reach out to your fellow lawyers and friends. Let them know about the low annual membership fee of $25 in exchange for multiple valuable benefits!

I am excited for the new challenges of technology this year will bring, and promise our continued emphasis on delivering the best information and assistance for lawyers to you and our State Bar.

Finally, I would like to thank Pierre Grosdidier for his outstanding service as the Section Chair for the past year.

Warm regards,

Reginald A. Hirsch, Chair
Computer and Technology Section
State Bar of Texas

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