Law Times

Page 10 February 6, 2017 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Legal startup tries to tap unserved market BY MARG. BRUINEMAN For Law Times T he founder of a legal startup has designed his business to try to tap into small businesses he says have been largely unserved so far. Cian O'Sullivan's company, Beagle Inc., uses artificial intel- ligence to read contracts. Through the Kitchener, Ont.- based company, O'Sullivan hopes to tap into the 93 per cent of small businesses that don't currently use legal services, ac- cording to an American Bar As- sociation study. Launching a venture in the legal space has its risks. But there are opportunities out there that can help legal startups gain their business footings. And there is money to be had, too. O'Sullivan, a Canadian con- tract negotiator who is also li- censed to practice law in New York, took a page from current communications tools that pro- vide immediacy, such as texting and social media. He created Beagle to read contracts and present informa- tion in an intuitive way, provid- ing immediate assistance to law- yers and businesses consuming contracts. With machine learning, it also learns the preferences of its user. "We're filtering. We're bub- bling the stuff that's most im- portant up," says O'Sullivan. "Beagle addresses a lot of . . . issues by providing the technical infrastructure to allow people to understand what's going on in a contract dispute instantaneous- ly, as well as being able to break down that communication into individual points to enable that micro transaction as needed." Beagle was named among the Canadian Innovation Exchange Top 20 most innovative compa- nies of 2015. A Canadian Bar Association jury was impressed enough to award Beagle its top prize in its The Pitch competition last sum- mer, which came with a two- week residency at the Toronto incubator MaRS and a shot with four other startups at an equity investment of $200,000 from the China Angels Mentorship Pro- gram. Although it's only three years old, Beagle is already involved in a pilot program with publish- ing giant Thomson Reuters to use the technology for its client base. Last fall, Australian law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth an- nounced it had entered into a joint venture with Beagle to pro- vide its technology in Australia and New Zealand. And starting in June, Ger- man automaker Volkswagen's car parts purchases will all go through Beagle software. O'Sullivan has also been working with Dentons' Nextlaw Labs, which has been aggres- sively pursuing technical solu- tions for the legal industry and decided to invest in Beagle. "Beagle is committed to mak- ing a global impact for law firms and their clients, as well as non- lawyers and small business own- ers who may not have had access to contract review capabilities before," O'Sullivan said in a press release when the deal was announced in December. There has been acknowledge- ment of the need for new initia- tives in the legal space by the legal industry itself. Blake Cassels and Graydon LLP held an innovation forum with MaRS in Novem- ber where Blakes announced its Global Legal Innovation Chal- lenge, asking legal technology developers around the world for solutions to keep businesses up- dated on relevant legislative and regulatory changes. Krista Jones, head of the work and learning cluster at MaRS, says the international law firm Dentons' U.S.-based initiative Nextlaw Labs is driving and at- tracting new initiatives. The advantage to Nextlaw Labs is that the connection to the firm allows access to cus- tomers and feedback from peo- ple already in the industry, says Jones. "What's really interesting here is there are new businesses being created that are just differ- ent business models in law that uses technology as an enabler but not at its core," says Jones. Investments often follow trends, and technological inno- vations are definitely emerging as a trend in the legal industry. While generally a business needs to have some early mar- ket traction to attract investors, Jones says deep technological development, such as in artifi- cial intelligence, seems to attract money a little earlier in the pro- cess. And contrary to popular thinking, innovation is not owned by the hoodie-wearing, skateboarding sect, she adds. Only 11 per cent of business founders at MaRS are under 30 years old, while another 14 per cent of the business founders in- volved a youth along with some- one older. The greatest majority of startups — 75 per cent — were launched by people older than 30. The Legal Innovation Zone at Ryerson University also had a pitch event, the Ontario Access to Justice Challenge, with Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney Gener- al. The winners were announced in December. ParDONE was the winner of $25,000 in seed money, while Legally Inc. came second and received $15,000 in seed money. Law Scout was third and received $10,000. The compa- nies were also given the chance to work out of the LIZ for four months, in addition to the four months they had already spent there gaining access to pitch workshops, mentorship and ad- visors. LT FOCUS Cian O'Sullivan says he created a com- pany to serve small businesses that are not accessing legal services. Integrated Legal Marketing Solutions LawyerMarketingCanada.com/solutions Put Your Digital Marketing Tactics into High Gear Untitled-3 1 2017-02-01 10:10 AM 7KHXOWLPDWHVRXUFHIRUWRGD\·VOHJDOSURIHVVLRQ Subscribe to Canadian LawyerWRGD\IRURQO\ Each issue of Canadian Lawyer is packed with unbiased in-depth case analyses, valuable strategies, expert insights, and a wealth of information that will allow readers to prepare for cases and effectively manage their practice. The integration of compelling features and columns convey unique perspectives to legal professionals that are both fun and entertaining, which is why Canadian Lawyer is the premier publication for covering the Canadian legal landscape. 2QH

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