A new report from Ari Kaplan Advisors and Opus 2 offers research and analysis for litigation teams seeking a competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving legal landscape.

Ari Kaplan Advisors, a leading legal industry analyst, and Opus 2, a global legal software and solutions provider, today announced the release of a new report based on research of leading law firm litigation departments.

The report, Advancing Litigation Support to Fuel Growth in a Changing Legal Market, is the first of its kind and provides industry benchmarks, analysis of challenges and market trends, and an overview of the litigation technology landscape.

Key findings include

Market trends impacting workloads

The report reveals that litigation caseloads, data volumes, and complexity are on the rise. These trends are expected to continue, which presents both challenges and opportunities for law firms, particularly those pursuing litigation revenue growth.

– 93% report that the amount of data they manage in an average case is increasing
– 83% expect their caseloads to increase in the next 12 to 18 months
– 60% say these conditions could pose a challenge for their team

Outdated technology poses challenges

A significant concern, in light of market trends, is the reliance on outdated technology. Nearly 40% of respondents use case management solutions that are more than 6 years old, which they described as inadequate for current needs. These solutions may become a barrier to growth if they cannot adapt to meet changing needs and evolve as technology advances.

GenAI is a competitive advantage

Most firms are in the early stages of deploying generative AI (GenAI). And 87% believe that AI-assisted case management software is a competitive advantage. Respondents say that GenAI will transform document analysis, transcript management, case chronologies, and case strategy.

In addition, the report explores innovation in litigation support, migration to the cloud, and how leaders are developing new skill sets.

“Litigation teams are comprised of the most skilled and strategic professionals in the legal industry, but they increasingly need to balance cautious progress and timely innovation,” said Ari Kaplan, Principal of Ari Kaplan Advisors. “We’re at an inflection point where waiting too long to determine how others adopt generative AI may allow peer firms to create an innovation gap that could be challenging to overcome. To stay ahead, teams should proactively adopt best-in-class litigation solutions that include AI assistance to enhance productivity, improve outcomes, and maintain their competitive edge.”

“This research underscores the pivotal role of technology in litigation and its ability to transform the future of the legal industry,” said Beau Wysong, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, at Opus 2. “We were honored to partner with Ari Kaplan Advisors to support this research and offer litigation teams insights and strategies to help them prepare for the future.”

To access the full report, visit opus2.com/litigation-support-industry-research.

About Ari Kaplan Advisors

Ari Kaplan Advisors is a leading legal industry advisory company that publishes benchmarking reports on legal technology trends, delivers networking, public speaking, and business development training for law firms and other providers of professional services, and offers personal coaching and access to its proprietary coaching software platform, Lawcountability. For the past seven years, the consultancy has published E-Discovery Unfiltered: A Survey of Current Trends and Candid Perspectives to provide leading vendors with insights about their businesses from members of their target audience, as well as their views on a range of key trends. Company principal, Ari Kaplan, is an inaugural Fastcase 50 honoree, a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management, and a finalist for the International Legal Technology Association’s Thought Leader of the Year award. Learn more about Ari Kaplan Advisors at https://www.AriKaplanAdvisors.com.

About Opus 2

For more than 15 years, Opus 2 has developed award-winning solutions trusted by the most successful law firms. Used in thousands of proceedings around the world, Opus 2 transforms how lawyers and other legal professionals work by eliminating inefficiencies and connecting them with the collaborative software they need to work smarter and more effectively together. The company also delivers the essential technology and expertise needed to conduct resolution proceedings in the most modern, seamless, and secure way possible. Learn more at Opus 2.


Success and expansion in 2024 positions Opus 2 for continued growth and innovation in 2025 and beyond. Explore the company’s advancements, award recognition, and more in this press release.

LONDON, UK – 14 January 2025 – Opus 2, a leading legal software and services provider, today reflected on the past year filled with transformative product innovation, significant company achievements, strategic market partnerships, and other positive building blocks. Headlined by an infusion of generative AI capabilities into multiple solutions, the company is well positioned to help drive the rapidly evolving legal AI landscape that’s forecasted for 2025.

According to a research report published by Ari Kaplan Advisors in December, 93 percent of interviewed law firms are preparing for generative AI and 87 percent indicated that AI-assisted case management software, like Opus 2 Cases, is a competitive advantage. Coupled with 80 percent of respondents emphasising business growth within their litigation department, Opus 2 is energised by the opportunity that lies ahead.

“Law firms have a real sense of urgency to modernise the workflows, technologies, and approaches related to litigation and international arbitration—largely driven by the rapid evolution of generative AI that’s reshaping dispute resolution and the legal industry as a whole,” said Greg Blackman, Opus 2 CEO. “The foundation we’ve built, from investing in research and development to expanding our teams and global reach, positions us enviably to help customers navigate this disruptive legal tech landscape while delivering maximum value to their clients.”

Being ahead of the curve played a key role as Opus 2 experienced record business growth in 2024. In addition to the staff and office additions listed below, the company added 36 new Opus 2 Cases customers, a third of which are Global 200 law firms. With its highest net retention rate to date (120 percent), the company’s already strong customer base continued to expand their case management software use at leading firms like BakerHostetler, Norton Rose Fulbright, Troutman Pepper Locke eMerge, and Vorys.

Opus 2 Hearings—the company’s industry-leading software and services solution for streamlining dispute resolution proceedings—underpinned 75 percent of The Lawyer Top 20 Cases of 2024, including high-profile global litigation cases Skatteforvaltningen v Solo Capital Partners LLP & Ors and Russian Aircraft Insurance Claims.

The following high-level summary outlines the company’s most impactful efforts and accomplishments from the past year:

Successful launch of advanced AI capabilities
Pioneering advancements in AI, Opus 2 introduced new features that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of legal teams. These include document and transcript analysis, document and transcript summarisation, and advanced query capabilities, enabling users to extract deeper insights, enhance their command of the facts, and streamline workflows with greater ease. While AI made the headlines, every solution also introduced continual capability upgrades to key features, user experiences, workflows, integrations, and more.

Strengthened leadership with key executive hires
In 2024, Opus 2 welcomed several distinguished leaders to its team, including Greg Blackman, Chief Executive Officer; Will Carter, Chief Revenue Officer; and Beau Wysong, Senior Vice President Global Marketing. Their expertise has further fortified the company’s strategic vision, ensuring continued innovation and excellence in delivering solutions that empower legal professionals worldwide.

Significant company expansion
This year marked a period of remarkable growth for Opus 2. The company expanded its global footprint by opening new offices in Hong Kong, the UAE, and Kansas City, reflecting its commitment to supporting clients wherever they operate. Additionally, Opus 2 achieved a nearly 20 percent increase in full-time employees, underscoring its dedication to scaling operations to meet growing demand.

Recognition for award-winning excellence
Opus 2’s innovation and impact were recognised with prestigious industry accolades in 2024. The company was honored with a CODiE Award for Best Legal Solution and a Bronze Stevie Award from the American Business Awards, highlighting its leadership in legal technology. In addition, the company was awarded an EcoVadis Gold Medal for the second year in a row, honouring its dedication to sustainability.

Deeper engagement with the global legal community
In 2024, Opus 2 actively engaged with the global legal community through numerous initiatives. The company participated in 30-plus industry events and more than a dozen speaking engagements internationally. Additionally, its support for legal non-profit initiatives like Cycle to Paw at Paris Arbitration Week and Dubai Arbitration Week Cycle as well as Carols for Pro Bono reinforced its dedication to giving back. The company also published a litigation department research report, offering critical insights for the profession. Opus 2’s appointment to co-chair of Greener Litigation reflects its commitment to sustainable practices.

Foundational partnerships with top arbitral institutions
Continuing to redefine the future of dispute resolution, Opus 2 partnered with leading arbitration institutions to develop innovative solutions for arbitration. These initiatives focused on centralising key documents, improving collaboration, and aligning stakeholders, ensuring seamless processes for practitioners navigating complex cases.

About Opus 2
For more than 15 years, Opus 2 has developed award-winning solutions trusted by the most successful law firms. Used in thousands of proceedings around the world, Opus 2 transforms how lawyers and other legal professionals work by eliminating inefficiencies and connecting them with the collaborative software they need to work smarter and more effectively together. The company also delivers the essential technology and expertise needed to conduct resolution proceedings in the most modern, seamless, and secure way possible.


Billables AI is honored to announce Dr. Megan Ma as an advisor, bringing her unparalleled expertise at the intersection of technology and law to our mission of transforming the way lawyers work.

Dr. Ma is the Associate Director of the CodeX and Law, Science and Technology Program at Stanford Law School. She is a globally recognized thought leader in the legal tech space, often cited for her influential speaking engagements at top legal tech events like the Legal Innovators Conference, ILTACon, and more. Her work focuses on bridging the gap between innovative technologies and the legal profession—a perfect match for Billables AI’s mission to empower lawyers with tools that supercharge their practice.

In her own words, “Time and billing are the OS of the law firm. Being able to leverage generative AI directly into lawyers’ billing will provide deeper insights into the nuance and value offered behind the practice.”

A Trailblazer in Legal Tech

Dr. Ma’s journey into the legal tech space began with research in consumer-facing medical AI and its implications for medical malpractice and product liability. Later, her work with self-driving car technologies inspired a broader exploration of how tech built for the legal space would impact engagement with legal infrastructure.

Today, she continues to lead groundbreaking research while teaching computational law at Stanford. She also serves as Editor-in-Chief for the Cambridge Forum on AI, Law, and Governance, is the Managing Editor of the MIT Computational Law Report and a Research Affiliate at Singapore Management University in their Centre for Computational Law.

Her most recent work includes developing agent-based simulations and leveraging generative AI for the continuous training and development of legal professionals. This work aims to use technology to aid in the transfer of knowledge between seasoned professionals and budding lawyers.

Top-of-Mind Insights

We asked Dr. Ma to share a few of her top-of-mind insights with us. Check out her responses below.

What are 3 key trends in legal tech that excite you?

  1. The future of UI/UX considers how integration of generative AI enables a forthcoming collaboration between humans and machines – going beyond MS Word plug-ins, “co-pilots”, and disconnected chatbot assistance.

  2. Evolutionary model-merging builds on further customization and personalization of workflow automation based on combining small models to develop bespoke legal tools.

  3. Multi-agent simulation (e.g. Agent Hospital) will allow us to better understand and evaluate the quality of legal work through behavioral observations.

What’s a legal tech myth that should be debunked?

Legal Tech Myth: “Optimizing for accuracy in performance is what convinces lawyers to use the technology.”

As lawyers are largely risk averse, they often make the argument that “unless the technology is perfect, we won’t be able to trust it.” This often triggers a risk mitigation response by ensuring that machine performance must be infallible and 100% accurate. Evidently, this is a double standard between humans and machines.

Yet framed differently, what lawyers really care for is a tangible understanding of how this technology directly adds value to their workflow. Lawyers want to remain the decision-makers. If the technology demonstrably showcases human judgment as primordial, trust for adoption would become inevitable.

What advice do you have for young lawyers beginning their career?

If you value interdisciplinary learning, legal tech is the perfect space. Building technology in the legal space is more about learning the psychology, cognitive/thought processes, and social practices of lawyers than the engineering itself.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Megan Ma to the Billables AI family! We’re excited for what’s ahead as we continue to innovate and help lawyers everywhere leverage technology to do their best work.


Exhibitors and sponsors can upload marketing materials they wish to share with media attending Legalweek before, during and after the event

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, and NEW YORK CITY, NY – JANUARY 24, 2025 – Edge Marketing, Inc. announced today that its virtual press room, The Edge Room, is now open for Legalweek 2025.

From today through April 11, 2025, Legalweek exhibitors and sponsors can update their company’s profile page on The Edge Room with recent press releases, announcements, articles, white papers, videos, logos and other marketing materials they wish to share with media-attending Legalweek.

For prequalified members of the media, The Edge Room offers a cohesive experience enabling easier prioritization and dissemination of breaking news before, during and after Legalweek.

Click to view the full press release.


ILTA Product briefing webinar!

Get a live demo of how the imDocShare One Teams app enables you to experience the real-time co-authoring of iManage content in Microsoft Teams.

Register now>   https://www.imdocshare.com/co-author-imanage/

In this 30-minute webinar, we’ll show a live demo of how the imDocShare One Teams app enables you to experience the real-time co-authoring of iManage content in Microsoft Teams.
  • How to seamlessly co-author Microsoft Office documents (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) stored in iManage without ever leaving Microsoft Teams

  • How does the co-authoring capability of the imDocShare One Teams app reduce document creation and review times by allowing multiple users to collaborate simultaneously?

  • As a bonus, learn how the imDocShare Sync app helps to synchronize documents between Microsoft Teams and iManage and securely share iManage document links within a 1-1 or group chat.


Nearly half of law firm leaders are exploring new lines of business or billable opportunities as a result of generative AI technology

NEW YORK, January 31, 2024 – LexisNexis® Legal & Professional, a leading global provider of information and analytics, today released results from a survey of senior leadership at top U.S. law firms and legal professionals at Fortune 1000 companies. The survey was conducted to better understand the business impact of generative AI technology on the legal industry and how it is redefining itself.

Click for press release.


Program Empowers Legal Teams to Manage Outside Counsel Spend and Compare Their Firms on Performance and Pricing

NEW YORK, NY January 30, 2024 – Priori, the leading legal technology platform for outside counsel decision-making, today announced the company is introducing new RFP, reviews and scorecarding features for free during a six-month Early Access Program available to existing and new clients.

The newly launched features will empower legal teams to send requests for proposals (RFPs) to their own trusted law firm networks directly through the Priori platform and leverage structured reviews and scorecards to better track and maintain knowledge about their preferred firms’ performance over time.

Importantly, legal teams will also have the option to receive proposals from Priori’s global legal marketplace of vetted law firms, lawyers, legal operations professionals and ALSPs to compare side-by-side with quotes from their own trusted law firm network, helping them select the right talent and drive cost savings when hiring for new matters.

“We’re incredibly excited to offer these new features that will help legal departments get even more value from our platform,” commented Basha Rubin, CEO and Co-Founder, Priori. “With RFP, reviews and scorecarding available as a value-add to Priori users, existing and new, corporate legal departments will have a first-of-its-kind opportunity to track their firms’ performance, compare pricing and source new firms, all through one platform.”

According to the Association of Corporate Counsel, the largest companies have a legal spend of $246 million annually with more than 50% of that spend going to outside resources such as law firms and alternative legal services providers. With so much at stake, it’s unsurprising that optimizing legal spend and controlling costs are among the highest priorities for legal departments. With this program, legal teams at companies of all sizes can access tools that allow them to analyze their current spend, track law firm performance and right-source legal work by sending it to the optimal provider.

EARLY ACCESS PROGRAM

Beginning February 15, 2024, legal teams and Priori Marketplace users can trial the new features free for six months by signing up for Priori’s Early Access Program:

  • RFP – Send requests for proposals to trusted law firm panels and, if desired, simultaneously receive proposals from Priori Marketplace. Using this structured RFP process, legal teams can negotiate better terms and pricing with their law firms and select the right firm for a new project, whether from existing panel relationships or Priori’s broader marketplace.

  • Reviews – Leverage private, structured data reviews to better track law firm performance over time, providing legal teams with another key vector to inform and improve hiring decisions and align with company and legal department initiatives.

  • Scorecarding – Easily and intuitively compare law firm performance through automated visual dashboards. Using this new feature, legal teams can track key performance metrics and use data to make informed decisions about future legal projects or matters.

Priori will highlight these three new features at Legalweek 2024 from January 29 – February 1.  To learn more about these product enhancements and sign up for the Early Access Program, please visit the Priori website.

Rethinking Outside Counsel Management 

Priori works with in-house legal teams at companies of all sizes to connect legal departments with the right outside counsel for projects globally, saving them time and money. Priori’s clients include everything from Fortune 50 enterprises to leading technology companies. Marketplace is the company’s flagship product connecting in-house teams with Priori’s global vetted network of attorneys. Today, Marketplace provides access to thousands of attorneys at firms of all sizes in all 50 states, 70 countries and covering more than 700 practice proficiencies. Scout takes the hypergranular searching and matching capabilities of Priori Marketplace and leverages them to create a new platform for outside counsel management. Combining Marketplace’s proprietary technology with AI creates efficiencies and delivers unprecedented insights for Scout users.

About Priori Legal (‘Priori’)

Priori revolutionizes how legal teams find, engage, and manage outside counsel. Ranked a Chambers Tier 1 Global LawTech company, one of the fastest-growing private companies by Inc. and a Financial Times Intelligent Business, Priori’s cutting-edge technology powers two products that are redefining the procurement of legal services. Marketplace is a global platform that connects in-house legal teams with new talent from a vetted, global network of attorneys at firms of all sizes. Scout surfaces insights about trusted outside counsel relationships to drive informed hiring decisions and D&I initiatives. For more information, visit www.priorilegal.com.

 

Contact Information: 

Priori Legal

Jill Black, Vice President, Marketing

jill.black@priorilegal.com

713-560-9225


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Newark, NJ – January 31, 2024 – KL Software Technologies (KLST), a software and services provider of collaboration tools, announces the launch of a new data-driven, bilingual intranet using Microsoft SharePoint Online for the professionals at the international law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP (Fasken). The firm’s robust intranet now offers all employees access to information that is professionally relevant to them, including company-wide news, events, financial dashboards, document management access, a firm directory and more. Mobile version was also created for professionals on the go.

Click for press release.


Exults, a leading name in digital innovation, is proud to introduce ExultsX, AI-Powered Legal Assistant, a new AI platform that promises to redefine the legal industry. ExultsX, the latest brainchild of Zach Hoffman, Founder, President, and CEO of Exults, will make its official debut at Legalweek New York 2024 on January 29, 2024. This groundbreaking platform distinguishes itself as a service-oriented collaborator, dedicated to elevating the operational capabilities of legal professionals.

Click for press release.

At the forefront of legal innovation, ExultsX automates a spectrum of legal tasks, ranging from comprehensive document analysis to advanced legal research, employing state-of-the-art AI algorithms. ExultsX enhances efficiency, accuracy, and productivity within the legal field. It’s not merely an AI assistant; ExultsX is an AI partner that aligns seamlessly with a firm’s distinctive legal ethos.

Be sure to visit Exults booth #1411 at Legalweek New York 2024