AI × Law

Legal AI company Harvey has raised $550 million in a funding round co-led by Diffusion and Lightspeed Venture Partners, pushing its valuation to $15.5 billion. The company reported that its platform is currently used by 80% of Am Law 100 firms and more than 2,400 customers globally across litigation, contract analysis, and due diligence workflows.

Am Law 100 firm Skadden has joined the Advanced Access program for Relativity claiR, a conversational AI tool designed to analyze matter data and reason across millions of documents directly within RelativityOne. Skadden will evaluate and provide input on the software prior to its planned general availability in early 2027.

A California magistrate judge rejected class-action plaintiffs' objections to LinkedIn using Relativity aiR to make final document-responsiveness calls in e-discovery. The court ruled that LinkedIn's disclosures satisfied the parties' existing ESI protocol without requiring heightened scrutiny or additional validation metrics.

The Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas issued Opinion 705, addressing attorney use of generative AI under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. The opinion outlines core duties regarding tech competence, preserving client confidentiality, independent verification of outputs, and fair billing practices.

Harvey has acquired Guardrails AI, a San Francisco-based AI security platform that specializes in agent reliability, risk management, and simulation infrastructure. The move marks Harvey's fourth acquisition of 2026, bringing Guardrails' co-founders and team into its product and engineering group to strengthen multi-step agent behavior.

K&L Gates has developed a proprietary AI tool to generate first drafts of SEC Form N-14 submissions required for fund mergers. Internal testing showed the tool cuts the billable hours needed to complete the required forms in half after off-the-shelf software failed to meet document requirements.

Vanderbilt Law School has become the first law school to integrate AltaClaro's AI-powered DepoSim platform into its curriculum. The tool allows students to practice depositions against interactive AI witness and opposing counsel personas, receiving immediate rubric-based feedback.

Legal editing tool BriefCatch has launched a new standalone online app and brought its RealityCheck feature into general availability for all subscription plans. The tool checks whether cited court opinions actually support a brief's quotations, holdings, and propositions to prevent AI hallucinations and misstatements.

Global law firm White & Case LLP has announced a strategic investment in Clauze.AI, a new legal AI platform founded by Waad Alkurini. The move highlights Big Law's continued push to back and integrate emerging legaltech tools directly into its operations.

A new venture capital fund, GCVC, has launched with backing from over 50 current and former general counsel, alongside investment from law firm Wilson Sonsini. The fund targets legal tech, compliance, and RegTech, having already invested in corporate legal AI platform Sandstone and patent litigation AI platform Stilta.

Legal AI platform startup Magnar has raised $8 million in Series A funding. Investors in the round included Argentinian law firm Beccar Varela.

Legal AI platform Harvey raised $550 million in a funding round co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Diffusion, boosting its valuation to $15.6 billion. The company, which now serves 80% of the Am Law 100 and Microsoft's in-house legal team, plans to use the capital to develop proprietary legal AI models and expand its agentic capabilities following its recent acquisition of Guardrails AI.

Data compiled by legal researcher Damien Charlotin shows generative AI hallucinations have been cited in more than 2,000 court decisions globally since 2023, though the frequency and severity of these incidents have recently plateaued. The vast majority of cases involved free LLMs used by self-represented litigants, with fewer than 160 resulting in disciplinary action.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has joined the Advanced Access program for Relativity claiR, a conversational AI tool designed to analyze matter data directly within RelativityOne. Skadden will test and provide feedback on the tool ahead of its planned general availability in early 2027.

The Court of Appeals of Virginia ordered an Alexandria attorney to complete a mandatory CLE course on AI after his brief included 25 hallucinated quotes. While acknowledging the pressures on modern practitioners, Judge Frank K. Friedman noted the court was statutorily required under state law to impose a sanction for filing a misleading brief.

U.S. District Judge E. Lee has related EVOX Productions' lawsuit against Google to the ongoing In re Google Generative AI Litigation. The move consolidates another major copyright dispute facing Google's AI efforts under a single judge.

Indian law firm Fox Mandal & Associates has adopted legal AI platform Harvey to assist in firm operations following a months-long pilot evaluating multiple AI tools. The firm plans to use the technology to automate routine tasks while maintaining human oversight and data confidentiality.

A new survey of 510 in-house legal and finance leaders from Axiom reveals that 92% of AI mandates from the business arrive without dedicated funding, forcing legal teams to pull from existing tech budgets. Additionally, 59% of respondents report that law firms raised their fees while positioning AI as a value-add.

Global law firm Freshfields has appointed Ram Komarraju as its new Chief Information Officer to lead the firm's global technology, innovation, and AI initiatives. Komarraju joins from financial infrastructure group CLS, where he previously established enterprise AI strategy and governance frameworks.

Albany Law School has launched The Daniel P. Nolan '78 Institute for Innovation in the Legal Profession, led by Professor Ray Brescia. The institute will focus on legal technology, generative AI research, access-to-justice initiatives, and non-traditional legal careers.