AI × Law

A proposed class action filed July 30 in the Northern District of California accuses AI notetaker Granola of recording conversations without telling most participants and using those recordings to train its model by default. The case adds to growing privacy and consent risk for employers using AI notetakers in interviews, performance meetings and internal investigations.

The Alabama State Bar released Formal Opinion 2026-01, saying existing professional conduct rules govern lawyers’ use of generative and agentic AI. The guidance emphasizes verification of AI-generated citations, confidentiality, supervision, and billing, and warns that deploying AI without due diligence may violate competence duties.

BigHand has acquired legal AI pricing specialist Ayora, adding its AI technology, data enrichment capabilities, and team to BigHand. The first integration will be with BigHand Matter Pricing, with plans to extend the AI across Resource Management and Business Intelligence.

CEB named Keith James, a 25-year veteran of LexisNexis, Thomson Reuters and AccessData, as its new head of sales and renewals. The move comes as CEB expands its California legal research offerings and pushes CEB Insight, an AI-enabled research experience built into OnLAW Pro Unlimited.

Bass, Berry & Sims has added a Director of AI & Knowledge Management. It’s a concrete sign the firm is formalizing how it will deploy AI and manage legal knowledge internally.

LexisNexis launched a Customer Innovation Lab in New York City to work directly with users on improving its legal products. The company also says it will collaborate with AI developers including OpenAI and Amazon Web Services to keep pace with new models it may incorporate into its offerings.

BARBRI launched a set of AI-focused training courses and upcoming webinars for legal professionals, covering topics like generative AI ethics, AI securities class actions, protective orders, deepfakes, and data privacy. The page also highlights BARBRI’s acquisition of Lega, which it says expands its AI and skills learning portfolio for lawyers, law students, and firms.

Clemson MBAe graduate Jackson Wisecarver won first place at the 2026 Clemson Grand Finale EnterPrize Awards, taking home $15,000 for Flowple, a legal tech company that automates post-retainer client onboarding and document collection for law firms. The company says it works with existing practice management systems and is targeting a commercial launch in Q4 2026.

Knobbe Martens named Harnik Shukla and Bryan McWhorter co-chairs of its Artificial Intelligence practice. The firm says the group will cover AI-related patent strategy, trade secrets, data rights, licensing, litigation, and regulatory issues for clients across industries.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers released a white paper arguing defenders have an ethical duty to understand and responsibly use AI. The paper says prosecutors are already using AI for evidence management, discovery review, and conviction reassessments, and it recommends formal AI policies, training, vendor review, and strict verification of AI-generated content.

Offshore firm Mourant sold a minority stake to private equity firm MML, with the money earmarked for technology investment including AI, plus international expansion, acquisitions, partnerships and lateral hires. The deal is notable as a rare group-level PE investment in the legal sector and signals growing private capital interest in law firms.

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin, which has offices in Garden City and Islandia, launched an Office of AI and Innovation as part of its 25th anniversary. The firm says the platform will oversee AI governance, technology adoption, and innovation initiatives, with a focus on client service, operational efficiency, and attorney education.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional has launched a Customer Innovation Lab in New York City where legal professionals, engineers, and AI partners including OpenAI and AWS work together to prototype legal AI tools in real time. The company says the lab is already feeding features into Lexis+ with Protégé, including a multimedia vault, secure shared workrooms, and legal AI models, showing how a major legal research vendor is accelerating product development.

Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is opening a new AI and Legal Technology Studio, led by Sean Harrington. The program will work with partners like Maricopa County Courts on real legal problems and train students to build AI-powered legal tools and startups.

CopySight, an AI-powered IP governance platform that manages copyright risks for commercial content creation, raised a $3 million seed round led by Mucker Capital and Flint Capital. It’s a concrete sign that legal-adjacent AI compliance tools are still attracting startup capital.

Legora posted a New York role for a Talent Acquisition Partner focused on legal hiring across North America. The listing says the legal-AI company has grown from 40 to more than 700 people in 18 months, reached $100M in ARR, and tripled its valuation in five months — a sign of rapid momentum in legal tech.

Vector Legal, a tech-enabled law firm that also sells software tools for startups, raised a $5.19 million seed round from Base10 Partners and Y Combinator. It’s a notable signal of investor interest in legal services paired with legal tech product development.

AI legaltech startup Aavalynx has raised €1.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Omega Ventures, with participation from Two Ravens and angel investors including senior law firm partners. The company says it will use the money to expand its AI platform for dispute resolution, aimed at helping enterprises and law firms analyze and manage litigation risk earlier.

Jusfy, a Brazilian legaltech founded in 2021, raised a $15 million Series A led by Quona Capital, with participation from Thomson Reuters Ventures and others. The company says it will use the money to expand Jusfy Pay, add new AI capabilities, and launch a version of its platform for law students.

Pune-based legal AI startup NYAI raised $1.5 million in seed funding from a consortium of Indian family offices, with strategic angel investors also participating. The company says it will use the money to expand its corpus of Indian statutory, regulatory and judicial data and deploy its AI compliance platform across enterprises, listed companies and law firms.