Legau supports lawyers by introducing AI-powered automation to optimize workflows across the full drafting lifecycle for any legal document, from research and planning through to revision and editing, all in the software where they normally work.
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Background
Legau was founded in Portugal in July 2021 by three entrepreneurs: Luís Alves Dias, Diogo Barros Pereira, and Luís Lopes. Luís Alves Dias (the CEO of Legau) and Diogo are both lawyers who worked for nearly a decade each at international law firms, where they encountered first-hand the inefficiencies in legal drafting processes. Their frustrations with these inefficiencies, coupled with the lack of technology solutions designed from a lawyer's perspective, led to the conception of Legau. Luís Lopes, a computer engineer with 15 years of experience in tech companies, brought a complementary engineering edge to the team. United by a shared vision and a history of collaboration on small projects, the trio launched the first version of Legau's product in early 2022.
The Problem Solved by Legau
Law firms around the world grapple with inefficiencies that significantly impact their financial performance and competitiveness. Research indicates that for every $1,000 billed, law firms typically collect only $765, highlighting a substantial gap between work performed and revenue earned. Additionally, 66% of attorneys report experiencing physical and mental fatigue due to overwhelming workloads. A primary contributor to these challenges is the legal drafting process, which is plagued by inefficiencies and productivity losses.
Legau addresses these issues by providing an automated, end-to-end solution that enhances the efficiency of the legal drafting process. By integrating research, planning, creation, and review into a single, cohesive platform, Legau empowers legal professionals to focus on high-value tasks rather than mundane administrative work.
Use Cases
Legau's approach to the legal drafting process is holistic and iterative, guiding users from a blank page to a polished legal document ready for clients or counterparties. The platform supports various stages of document creation, including:
- Research: Facilitates access to relevant legal databases and resources (both internal and external), enabling users to gather necessary information without leaving the drafting environment.
- Planning: Offers tools for organizing thoughts and structuring documents effectively, ensuring clarity and coherence in the final product.
- Creation: Enables law firms to centralize their templates and banks of contents, and provides AI-powered suggestions to expedite the drafting process, reducing the time and effort required to produce high-quality documents.
- Review: Integrates revision tools that help identify and correct missing points or errors, ensuring that the final output meets the highest standards of legal precision.
Unlike most smart drafting solutions, Legau is for litigators as well as transactional attorneys, providing features like access to third party research solutions as well as to internal knowledge precedent banks, and citation automation as well as outlines and clause suggestions for contracts.
How AI is Used in the Platform
Legau leverages cutting-edge generative AI technologies to assist with everything from clause suggestion and document structuring to real-time editing and document review. By integrating AI into the platform, Legau not only accelerates document creation but also enhances accuracy and quality, providing users with a seamless and intuitive drafting experience.
Target Demographic
In its home jurisdiction of Portugal, Legau has established strong partnerships and has a broad client base with leading law firms, demonstrating its value and effectiveness. According to data provided by Legau, Legau’s clients report an average of 22.1% time gained back in legal drafting and 75% of attorneys report increased job satisfaction.
Legau officially launched into the U.S. market in August 2024. Its target demographic in the U.S. will be mid-sized law firms. The company is focused on actively expanding its presence and will be at ILTACON this year (booth #938). To encourage adoption among U.S. firms, Legau is offering an early adopters program that provides exclusive advantages to mid-sized firms looking to enhance their drafting capabilities.
Point of Differentiation from Competitors
What sets Legau apart from its competitors is its comprehensive support throughout the entire legal drafting cycle, covering all document types—not just contracts. Unlike other solutions that may require users to navigate between multiple windows and interfaces, Legau integrates seamlessly with familiar software such as Microsoft Word and Outlook, as well as systems commonly used by law firms like iManage and NetDocuments. These integrations allow for a unified workspace where attorneys can access everything they need to draft contracts, memos, court filings, and more, all within a single platform.
*For more information on how Legau can enhance your legal practice, contact them at sales@legau.com or visit their website at https://legau.com. Legau has also been selected by ILTA to showcase at ILTACON 2024, so be sure to visit them at booth #938 to see their innovative solution in action. Legau has a program for early adopters that offers exclusive advantages to US firms.
