Technology

Via this post on Profit and Laws, I learned about LegalSifter. LegalSifter’s website offers very little information. More informative is this piece on TechCrunch: Using natural language processing, the service scans your documents (in Word format only, for now) and assigns them a score based on how favorable the terms are for the user. It also provides users with an … Read More

I’ve enjoyed my online exchanges with Noah Waisberg, aka @DiligenceEngine. So I’m pleased to say that his service, DiligenceEngine, is now ready for its closeup. The handsome DiligenceEngine website contains much information, but here’s the gist of what DiligenceEngine does: It automatically finds and highlights user-specified contract provisions. It prepares summary charts with findings (e.g., a list with the actual … Read More

Last week the law-and-technology claque on Twitter was abuzz with news of Shake, an iPhone app that allows you to “Create, sign and send legally binding agreements in seconds.” Here’s Shake’s statement of purpose: Think back to the last time you signed a legal agreement. Did it stress you out? Did it make you feel uncomfortable? Did it cost you … Read More

A site called LawInsider.com has launched what it describes as a searchable database consisting of every contract on the SEC’s EDGAR system—over 250,000 contracts. And it’s free. You can search for contracts by categories, including contract type, law firm, state jurisdiction, and company name. The guy behind LawInsider.com is one Preston Clark, “an attorney turned businessman based in the San Francisco Bay … Read More

I was recently reminded of Exemplify, “a new breed of research tool for determining market standard language and terms in transactional law practice.” The best introduction appears to be this post by David Hobbie, aka @KMHobbie, on his Caselines blog. Here’s how David describes Exemplify: It is a browser-based clause reference and creation tool that compares clauses you provide with clustered iterations … Read More

WordRake describes itself as “The first legal editing software for lawyers.” Here’s how it works: Compose in Word, hit the “RAKE” button, and in seconds, WordRake editing software for attorneys suggests edits for a more powerful statement. You’ll instantly see that WordRake law office software saves time and money, and gives you the confidence your brief, contract, or memorandum is … Read More

Thanks to this article by Carol Gerber on Attorney at Work, I learned about EagleEye, another software product that allows you to spot glitches in contracts. Here’s how the developer describes EagleEye: EagleEye automates the review of defined terms, inconsistent phrases, references and punctuation in legal agreements to ensure completeness, accuracy, consistency and lack of ambiguity. Designed for lawyers, EagleEye … Read More

[Revised 9:00 p.m. EST, December 20, 2013, to make it less dismissive. Sorry about that.] Once again I was drawn to Bob Ambrogi’s LawSites, this time for this post about wireLawyer. Here are the first two paragraphs of Bob’s post: Back in October, I reported the beta launch of wireLawyer.com, which described itself as “the first dedicated digital network created by lawyers for … Read More

Via @TomMighell, I learned from this post on Bob Ambrogi’s LawSites that the American Arbitration Association has launched a document-assembly system for drafting arbitration and mediation provisions. Here’s how Bob describes it: The American Arbitration Association has launched ClauseBuilder, a web-based tool designed to assist in drafting clear and effective arbitration and mediation agreements. The new tool provides parties with the AAA’s standard arbitration agreement, in addition to an array … Read More