An ex-lawyer has raised $70 million from VCs to take work away from law firms (www.businessinsider.com)

Wordsmith, a startup founded by ex-lawyer Ross McNairn, has raised $70 million in new funding to revolutionize corporate legal departments by enabling them to handle more tasks in-house, thereby reducing reliance on external law firms. With this latest round of investment, backed by prominent venture capital firms such as Index Ventures and Highland Europe, the total funding for Wordsmith has reached $100 million in just two years. The company's software integrates with platforms like email, Slack, and Salesforce to automate the drafting of contracts and streamline legal queries, already serving over 500 corporations including Canva and BT. This development is significant for the AI/ML community as it marks a shift away from traditional legal tech approaches that focused primarily on law firms. Instead, Wordsmith's strategy seeks to empower corporate legal teams, challenging the established dynamics of the legal industry. McNairn emphasizes that providing services to both law firms and corporations creates inherent conflicts of interest, positioning Wordsmith as a dedicated tool for in-house legal teams. The rise of general-purpose AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude, which can assist in legal tasks, also raises questions about the future need for specialized legal software. McNairn argues that such tools enhance individual productivity but cannot replace the comprehensive management capabilities that dedicated systems like Wordsmith provide for legal functions.