The agreement between DLA Piper and Canadian tech firm Kira Systems marks the firm's first official venture into the world of AI. DLA Piper lawyers working on M&A deals will soon be able to make use of Kira’s machine-learning software for reviewing documents in due diligence, with the firm planning to steadily roll out the Kira system to other practice areas by teaching the software to identify provisions needed for contract review. The landmark deal follows pilots of the Kira software conducted across DLA Piper’s corporate, IP and IT practices, which delivered tangible improvements in both speed and accuracy.

Towards automation

‘We believe this innovative technology will do for corporate transactional work what e-discovery has done for litigation,’ said a statement from Jonathan Klein, chair of DLA Piper’s US M&A practice. The deal with Kira is hot on the heels of a 200-person redundancy round announced by DLA Piper earlier this month as part of its move towards automation. In March, Kira Systems cinched a similar deal with Big Four accounting giant Deloitte, which will allow the firm to use the machine-learning software to review documents relating to investigations, project management and M&A deals.

Source: Legal Business; Legal Week