Legal tech · Industry brief

A former M&A lawyer at Greenberg Traurig launched useABI, an AI platform designed to function as an experienced associate for deal teams rather than a standalone tool. The platform generates purchase agreement markups, issues lists, diligence reports and summaries within 30 minutes, with issues lists produced in under five minutes without requiring prompting. useABI incorporates a proprietary intelligence layer built on frontier models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, customizable to individual firm practices through a "judgment layer" that captures how firms handle specific transaction issues. The platform received its first major deployment in a pilot at an unnamed Am Law 100 firm following multiple rounds of evaluation by the firm's M&A attorneys. Security features include zero-data-retention agreements with AI model providers, U.S.-based data storage, tenant isolation and encryption, with customers able to establish document-retention policies. The company sells by subscription priced by team, with plans to expand into finance, capital markets and venture capital practices, and to develop integrations with Microsoft 365 and Teams.

A former M&A lawyer at Greenberg Traurig launched useABI, a legal AI platform designed to function as a working member of a deal team for M&A lawyers, offering purchase agreement markup, issues lists, and diligence reports (LawNext, October 13, 2026). In a separate development, Legora partnered with Laurel, an AI timekeeping platform, to automatically convert tasks completed in Legora into time entries for legal professionals (LawNext, October 13, 2026). Additionally, Noah Waisberg, who sold Kira Systems to Litera five years ago, has launched a new venture; while the acquisition itself succeeded, Waisberg has stated the sale experience was difficult but motivated his next business (LawNext, October 1, 2026).

SixFifty, an employment law software platform previously owned by Wilson Sonsini and acquired by payroll provider Paychex last year, launched an AI agent for HR compliance tasks. The tool helps legal, HR and compliance teams draft jurisdiction-appropriate employment documents, answer employment law questions, and perform HR compliance workflows, targeting enterprises without large in-house legal departments. (Law.com Legal Technology News, October 13, 2026)

Over $450M has been raised by AI-native law firms across multiple practice areas. Crosby raised ~$26M from Sequoia and Bain Capital Ventures for contract review with 58-minute median turnaround. Eudia Counsel closed a $105M Series A from General Catalyst for M&A due diligence and corporate contracting. Norm Law raised $50M from Blackstone to build an AI-native law firm for institutional finance, recruiting the former Chair of Sidley Austin. Lawhive raised $116M building an AI-native law firm with $35M+ ARR and 7x year-over-year growth across 35 US states. Crosby also closed a $60M Series B from Lux Capital and Index Ventures. Enter became Latin America's first legal tech AI unicorn, raising $100M at $1.2B valuation led by Founders Fund and Sequoia Capital, proving civil law jurisdictions have structural advantages for AI legal agents. Harvey raised $200M at an $11B valuation with $190M ARR. Legora raised $550M at $5.5B valuation. CB Insights data shows 95% of total legal tech funding in 2025 year-to-date went to AI-focused startups, with 63% of legal tech deals now going to AI companies. Clio acquired vLex for $1B to gain access to 1B+ legal documents across 110 countries, highlighting how data assets are driving M&A activity in the sector.