When lawyers charge by the hour, finishing paperwork faster can mean earning less. Athena, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to handle legal work for commercial property deals, is building its business around a different incentive. It has raised $2.5 million and provides services through an affiliated law firm that charges a fixed fee for each transaction.
The company says its software drafts and checks agreements, while human attorneys make legal judgments and approve work before clients receive it. A fixed price gives the business a reason to finish efficiently, rather than sell more hours. But a quick computer-generated draft is only part of the job. Athena's technology chief says the real measure is how quickly a lawyer can check the work and confidently take responsibility for it.
Source · siliconangle.com ↗
