Legaltech news recently explored findings of the American Bar Association's Legal Technology Survey Report, which showed hesitancy – particularly among smaller firms – to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Accuracy and reliability were survey respondents' top two concerns around AI. Their reluctance to embrace new technologies may be understandable. New tools can be intimidating, especially for leaders of small firms and solo practices who – like most lawyers – don't have backgrounds in technology or science. Yet small firm leaders arguably stand to benefit the most from new technologies like AI, which can help them manage their practice and business more efficiently and effectively. The day-to-day challenges of practicing law in small firms – from business development to spending too much time on administrative tasks – are precisely those that AI and legal tech can address. These challenges and other issues, along with some suggested guidance on a path forward are discussed in the 2019 State of the U.S. Small Law Firms Report.

StartupSource's Liam Tracey-Raymont recently spoke with Andrew Arruda, CEO and co-founder of ROSS Intelligence Inc. ("ROSS"), to discuss ROSS's growth and to shed some light on the developmental timeline and hurdles associated with launching a tech startup. ROSS, initially developed in Canada and founded by University of Toronto ("U of T") students, is a cloud-based software program that assists users in answering legal questions efficiently and without relying on complicated boolean queries and keywords. While ROSS is still a relatively new product, it has quickly attracted significant media attention and immense interest from U.S. clients, which are predominantly law firms. Liam caught up with the ROSS CEO after Andrew returned to his new home in San Francisco, California, following a week on the road. Andrew, it's been a while. What have you been up to recently?

Artificial Lawyer caught up with Noah Waisberg, Co-Founder & CEO of Kira Systems. We discussed how Kira Systems got started, how it is different to other AI systems and where it's going. Co-founder of Kira Systems, Noah Waisberg, used to be an associate at Weil Gotshal & Manges, starting there as a junior associate in 2006. A lot of his work focused on M&A and he says he found himself spending a lot of time reviewing contracts during due diligence (DD). According to Waisberg, DD often amounts to between 30% and 60% of the legal bill law firms gave to their clients.