Latham & Watkins and legal AI company Harvey have announced they will jointly develop AI tools for the documents lawyers draft and negotiate when they set up private investment funds.
The deal adds to a run of partnerships between large law firms and legal technology companies. It comes months after rival Kirkland & Ellis partnered with Palantir on an investment funds project.
Under what the companies call a design partnership, lawyers in Latham's Investment Funds Practice will work with Harvey's product and engineering teams. The work will cover limited partnership agreements, side letters, subscription documents and comment memos.
"Fund formation requires lawyers to navigate an enormous amount of detail," said Matthew Chase, global chair of Latham's Investment Funds Practice.
Chase said the firm wants to combine Harvey's engineering with Latham's practitioner experience and turn its market knowledge into AI tools for clients.
What the firm plans
Rene Mendoza, Latham's chief information officer, told Legal Business that the work will produce "a separate product within the Harvey suite." He said it will combine agents, project management, document analysis and process automation.
Latham said the tools aim to cut routine work so lawyers can spend more time on the strategic and commercial issues that matter most to fund sponsors and their investors.
Winston Weinberg, Harvey's chief executive officer and co-founder, said the best legal technology comes from a deep understanding of how experienced lawyers work. He said the partnership gives Harvey's teams direct insight into the needs of lawyers who handle complex fund formation.
Amber Banks, a mergers and acquisitions and private equity partner who sits on Latham's AI strategy committee, said the firm sees targeted ways to use AI alongside its lawyers' experience and judgment.
What remains unclear
The announcement did not give a launch date, pricing, or a list of clients who will use the tools.
