Draftwise is a secure end-to-end drafting and negotiation AI solution designed for lawyers, allowing legal professionals to access their firm’s entire cumulative knowledge within seconds, draft and negotiate contracts based on their previously executed documents and redlines.
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Background
Draftwise was co-founded in 2020 by James Ding, a former engineering manager at Palantir, Ozan Yalti, a former Clifford Chance lawyer, and Emre Ozen, an engineer with experience at both Google and Palantir. With a rich background in AI and product development, James had previously spearheaded an AI product team at Palantir. His experience in building large-scale, impactful solutions inspired him to explore opportunities where technology could significantly enhance people's lives.
Driven by a passion for applying technology to high-impact sectors, James embarked on a two-year journey, speaking to hundreds of professionals across various fields. During this period, he discovered a unique opportunity within the legal sector, particularly in transactional law. Recognizing that legal processes are heavily precedent-based, James saw the potential to leverage his expertise in big data, AI, and machine learning to revolutionize how legal professionals work.
Teaming up with Ozan and Emre, the trio founded Draftwise and applied to Y Combinator, a prestigious Silicon Valley accelerator, to begin their journey of creating solutions that address the specific needs of transactional lawyers.
The Problem Addressed by Draftwise
Draftwise was born out of a need to address core transactional challenges in the legal industry, specifically in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts. One of the primary issues the Draftwise team identified was the difficulty lawyers faced in accessing and leveraging past knowledge and data. Legal drafting and negotiation often depend on client preferences and previous interactions with counterparties, and yet the valuable insights from past deals are frequently underutilized as lawyers find it easier to rely on recent or easily accessible transactions.
Draftwise seeks to bridge the gap between efficient drafting practices and access to the most relevant data by developing a solution that surfaces past knowledge when lawyers need it, enabling them to make informed decisions based on comprehensive historical data. By automating the first draft or markup of complex agreements, Draftwise aims to streamline the process and enhance the quality of legal work.
Use Cases Addressed by Draftwise
Draftwise addresses several specific use cases within the legal industry, focusing on automating the drafting and reviewing of contracts. The company's solution is particularly beneficial for substantive agreements in finance, M&A, and real estate sectors.
The original Draftwise product automates the creation by making it easy for lawyers to locate relevant clause language from similar past deals. When a lawyer needs to draft a specific clause that isn't readily available in their templates or clause library, Draftwise can locate the desired clause from past transactions, saving valuable time and effort. This functionality is crucial for ensuring consistency and accuracy in legal documents, ultimately improving the quality of legal services provided to clients.
The new Draftwise product, Markup, provides context to lawyers during the negotiation phase of a deal, helping them to understand market standards and their own preferred positions in real time. While many redline products enable lawyers to see recommended redlines based on a other agreements of the same type, Markup specifically draws upon previous redlines by the lawyer user based on the most similar agreement to the one currently being reviewed, allowing them to see their most relevant previously negotiated positions at a glance. Most often licensed together, the product suite helps lawyers navigate complex, highly negotiated clauses with ease.
How AI is Used in the Platform
Draftwise leverages advanced AI technologies to power its platform, utilizing a combination of models and fine-tuning them to meet the specific needs of the legal industry. In addition to using OpenAI's models, Draftwise continuously explores alternative AI options, such as the Llama 3.1 model, ascertaining the utility of these for specific use cases and pulling them into the solution where it makes sense to do so. This flexibility allows the company to tailor its solutions to the needs of its clients, offering both cloud-based and self-hosted options for those with specific security or compliance requirements.
The platform employs AI for various tasks, including classification, extraction, and other targeted functions. Rather than offering open-ended AI capabilities like a generic chatbot, Draftwise focuses on achieving specific goals and developing UI accordingly.
Target Demographic
Draftwise initially targeted large law firms and especially the M&A, finance, and real estate teams within those firms, where the need for efficient contract drafting and negotiation was most acute. These firms often deal with complex, high-value transactions and require tools that can enhance their productivity and accuracy.
Over time, the platform's appeal has expanded to include mid-sized law firms, in-house legal teams, and Fortune 500 companies. With the growing interest in leveraging AI for legal processes, Draftwise's solutions have gained traction among a diverse range of legal professionals seeking to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
The company's focus on enterprise accounts reflects its commitment to serving organizations with significant legal needs, providing them with the tools to streamline their operations and deliver better results for their clients.
Point of Differentiation from Competitors
Draftwise differentiates itself from competitors through its commitment to delivering high-quality, precedent-driven solutions. The company recognizes that transactional law relies heavily on precedents, and its software is designed to reflect this reality.
One additional differentiator is the team’s focus on building reliable, mission-critical tools that work consistently for its users. Draftwise prioritizes quality and reliability, ensuring its solutions are robust and dependable.
The company's approach to AI is both targeted and sophisticated, leveraging fine-tuning to enhance accuracy and performance for specific legal use cases. This precision allows Draftwise to deliver meaningful results, empowering legal professionals to work more efficiently and effectively.
