SmartLaw Pte Ltd leverages AI and data science to assist lawyers and clients. Its offerings include Predictor, which uses data science and legal expertise to predict outcomes of complex litigation in minutes, and e-Discovery, which uses NLP to extract relevant precedents and verdicts. Technology will improve the legal profession through better analysis, predictions, and efficiency gains as emerging areas like legal engineering become mainstream. SmartLaw's founder believes the future lies in AI and it will continue developing new legal tech solutions using AI and ML.

1. SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW | SEPTEMBER 2020 59
undertakeninitiativestosupportand
nurturelocallegaltechfirms.DrAnton
believesthatmorecanbedonefroman
executionstandpointashisownpersonal
attemptstoexploretheFLIPprogramwas
achallengingexperienceandtherewere
delays.
“However,responsefromIMDAhas
beenencouragingandsupportive.“Though
thegovernmenthasinitiatedseveral
programsandisactivelypromoting
entrepreneurshipinthelegaltechsphere,
executionisobviouslyinthehandsofthe
peopletaskedwiththeeffortwhomay
notbefullyattunedwiththegovernment’s
vision,whichiswhymoregroundup
activitiesmaybeneeded”,hesaid.
Advancesinlegaltechwillcertainly
“democratize”lawastechnologywill
lendreachtolegalexpertiseforrichand
pooralike.Moremoneywillnolonger
necessarilymeanaccesstobetterlawyers
andbetterjustice.Lessthan50%of
peopleintheworldhaveaccesstolegal
systems.Accordingtostudies,morethan
halftheworld’spopulationdon’tevenhave
titledeedstotheirproperties.
Thishascorrespondingeffectsas
theysimilarlycannotevenleveragefrom
LEGALTECHNOLOGY FEATURE
S
martLawPteLtdFounderCEODr
AntonRavindran’sentrepreneurial
venturesstartednearlytwodecades
ago.“Afterworkingforsomeoftheleading
globalMNCsinthetechworld,Itookthe
plungetopursuemypassion/interests,”he
said.
Sincethen,hehasbeenpartofthestart-
upecosystemintheregion.“Myfirststart-
upwhereIspentthemostpartofmyearly
yearsfornearlyadecadeandwonseveral
awardsincludedEntrepreneuroftheYear,
Enterprise50Awardsetc.Ialsositon
theboardofotherstart-upsparticularly
involvingAIwhilementoringothers,”he
added.
DrAntonnotesthatthelegalprofession
isalaggardwithrespecttoleveraging
technologyparticularlyfromAIand
machinelearning(ML)andthereissome
inherentinertiatochangeandAIisnotyet
ubiquitous.Hence,plentyofopportunities
tomakelegalservicesefficientby
leveragingAIandgobeyondmere
automation.
“However,thereareafewleadinglegal
techfirmsintheUS,Canada,andUKwho
havegainedsometractionbuttheyhave
yettobecomeunicornslikeourroad
hailingcompanieswhicharelesscomplex
applicationsfromatechnologyanddomain
perspective,”headded.
InSingapore,governmenthas
ItleveragesAI, anddatasciencetoassistlawyersandclients.
SmartLaw Pte Ltd to make legal services
accessible to anyone
Technology will lead to improvements for the legal
profession in areas of analysis, predictions, eDiscovery,
etc. and emerging specialties will become mainstream
Dr Anton Ravindran talks about his experience in the start-up ecosystem and SmartLaw’s offerings in the legal sector
theirpropertiestoexplorebetterment
oftheirlives,whethertostartabusiness
orotherwise.Thisinturn,obviouslyhasa
hugeeconomicimpact.
SmartLaw’stwokeyofferingsare:a)
Predictorwhichleveragesdatascience
andlegaldomainexpertisetobuildsmart
solutionsthatassistlawyersandclientsto
predictsentencingoutcomesofcomplex
litigiousmattersinanunprecedentedfew
minutes.b)e-DiscoverywhichusesNLP
(NaturalLanguageProcessing)forlawyers
toextractpastprecedentsandverdicts
whicharerelevanttotheircasesinsplit
seconds.
Inaddition,itprovidesancillaryservices
forvisitors/clientstothesitebyleveraging
fromseveralonlineservices,whichinthe
pastmayhaverequiredavisittoalawfirm.
AIpavingtheway
DrAntonbelievesthatthefutureis
hereandnow,anditliesinAI.Thefirst
generationoftechnologyforthelegal
professionprovidedfunctionssuchas
wordprocessing,accountingsystems,
andemail.Thisprogressedtowhere
clientsandlawyerscoulddofilingonline,
documentmanagementsystemsandasa
resultofthepandemic,evenquicklymoved
toonlinecourthearings.
However,DrAntonnotesthatthere
isnointelligenceinvolvedandtheseare
largelyautomatingtheiroperations.The
futurewillbewherelawyers,judgesand
machinesworksidebysideinanalyzing
complexlegalissues,draftingdocuments,
predictingsentencingoutcomes,etc.
“Technologywillleadtomanifold
improvementsintermsofefficiencyfor
thelegalprofessionintheareasofbetter
analysis,predictions,andeDiscovery
amongstothersandemergingspecialties
suchaslegalengineeringwillbecome
mainstream,”headded.
SmartLawsaiditwillcontinuetoinvent
andintroducenewLegalTechsolutionsby
leveragingAIandMLforotherareasoflaw
inSingaporeandinotherjurisdictionsin
thecomingmonths.