Clifford Chance, Freshfields and Latham & Watkins are among international firms named as advisers in a project to develop a one-stop shop for artificial intelligence software for lawyers. 

A group of 12 City outfits have agreed to help with the development of a ‘services automation platform’ created by a California and Netherlands-based startup[ Reynen Court. The ’lawtech appstore’ will hold a library of third party software to automate legal functions, simplifying the implementation process while securing firms' and clients' data in a 'private cloud'.

By setting common standards for how lawyers interact with applications, as well as how data is managed, it aims to help firms save time and money.

The 12 firms are: Clifford Chance and Latham & Watkins (co-chairs); Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (vice-chair); Covington & Burling; Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; Linklaters; Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; Ropes & Gray; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and White & Case.

Ken Heaps, chief information officer at Latham & Watkins, said: ‘We are delighted to be partnering with Reynen Court as a range of new and exciting automation and machine-learning technologies come to the market.’

Clifford Chance’s chief information officer Paul Greenwood, said: ‘To ensure we are continually delivering the best outcomes in the most efficient way, we invest in smart technology and apply our extensive legal expertise. However, as the number of technologies and their adoption grows, to remain efficient and secure they need to be managed and integrated smoothly and carefully.’