- Legal Futures - https://www.legalfutures.co.uk -

International firm launches automated T&Cs product

Cartoon Network: Helped develop Reed Smith product

Global law firm giant Reed Smith has launched a product that automates the legal work required for online competitions, with lawyers or non-legal consumers able to generate terms and conditions (T&Cs) in multiple languages in compliance with local laws.

Initially targeting clients in the UK, France, Germany and Singapore, TermJet is part of the new breed of tech that leverages legal knowledge available to international firms that operate across different jurisdictions.

Users answer a series of questions and at the end the software produces essential legal wording in real time.

The product was created by Reed Smith’s tech subsidiary GravityStack, which was spun off last year and is now a full-service tech company, offering contract and project management platforms, among other products.

A spokesman for the firm told Legal Futures the product was produced in collaboration with and trialled by kids entertainment brand Cartoon Network.

Reed Smith partner and TermJet founder Ingrid Silver said: “Online competitions are increasingly being used by consumer-facing businesses as a key promotional and marketing tool.

“Making sure they are compliant and managing the associated risks can be a huge drain on legal resource.”

Separately, Cambridge-based firm Taylor Vinters and the tech company it incubated, ThoughtRiver, have launched an automated contract review service initially aimed at enabling users to analyse non-disclosure agreements.

The law firm is a shareholder of ThoughtRiver. In a statement, it was said the arrangement was “the first partnership of its kind” and reflects [the] “growing ‘law-as-a-service’ trend”.

Based on the tech company’s artificial intelligence-backed, plain English, Lexible [1] contract pre-screening application, the latest product was built with help from the firm’s lawyers.

Matt Meyer, Taylor Vinters’ chief executive, said: “This new technology allows us to take a pioneering step forward within the professional-level legal services landscape – to position law as a commercial service model.”

Tim Pullan, chief executive of ThoughtRiver, added: “We’re delighted to announce the first of what I’m confident will be many partnerships of this nature.

“Taylor Vinters is an entrepreneurial trend-setter in its own right, and I’m proud that we will be extending our close working relationship ever further, while democratising the availability of legal services to the wider public and businesses.”