Workflow Tools. 2020 was marked by significant activity in the legal workflow/drafting space. There were eight products that came to my attention
during 2020. Three of the eight workflow products fall into the Brief analysis category. Casetext invented the brief analysis space with the launch of the first brief analysis product CARA in 2016. So it has taken 4 years for all 3 of the major legal publishers to launch a brief analysis tool. Thomson Reuters launched Westlaw Quickcheck in 2019 . In 2020 Quickcheck Judicial was launched and is an extension of Quickcheck which enables judges (and lawyers) to analyze up to six briefs/motions. Both Bloomberg and Lexis launched their competing brief checking tools Bloomberg Brief Analyzer and Lexis Brief Analyzer in 2020.
Casetext raised a new challenge for their competitors in 2020 with the launch of another groundbreaking new product Compose. Compose uses AI to and linguistic analysis to help lawyers draft motions by identifying relevant standards and arguments with which to build out a brief or motion. The product also includes the powerful “parallel search” technology which frees research from the “prison of the keyword” according to Pablo Arredondo, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Casetext. It is hard for me to imagine that Lexis, Westlaw and Bloomberg are not already investing in the development of their own motion drafting products. It will be interesting to see if it is another 3 or 4 years before a competitor to Compose is launched.
Best Workflow Tool: Bloomberg’s Brief Analyzer and Thomson Reuters Quick Check Judicial tied for 1st place. Casetext Compose took second place.
