Legal tech around the World: India

With an estimated total population of 1.4 billion people, around 17 % of the world is Indian. That alone makes the legal tech scene an interesting one. There are almost 750 million internet users in the country, and the massive legal sector in the country gives it an enormous power that can contribute significantly to the overall growth of the legal tech industry.

Furthermore, India has long branded itself as the leading out outsourcing destination for global companies in the world. At the Global Innovation Index, India has improved its ranking significantly, and increased government spending and public initiatives have really created further momentum. Some even believe that India can become "the world's next Silicon Valley" and Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos has even predicted the 21st century to be "the Indian century". Whether that is true, we still have to wait and see. Still, it is worth taking a closer look at India, the worlds largest democracy with the 3rd largest startup ecosystem globally (with more than a 100 accelerators, 200 active angels, 150 VCs and over 4,200 startups).

Not just because of the size, development and spending power of the country, but also because tech solutions can really help to solve some of the access to justice problems that the country is facing. In 2016, there were more than 30 million pending cases in the Indian legal system, and nearly 40 % of cases have been pending for more than five years in some states. The Indian legal system is heavily overburdened due to lack of staff and judicial vacancies. So the country seems mature for access to justice-improving technologies such as online courts, dispute resolution software and tools that help people to make better, more clear agreements initially.

Legal Tech Weekly has taken a closer look at some of the initiatives and companies at the legal tech market in India. Here are some of them.
‍

Legal tech in India

‍Presolv360
Presolv360 is an end-to-end online platform for legal disputes that need a resolution. This Mumbai-based legal tech company replaces a more conventional court system that, for decades, has been overburdened in India. Even simple disputes can draw out for years in the traditional system, but at this platform, the average dispute is resolved within 45 days.

At Presolv360, the parties can log into a portal, raise their dispute, describe their goals and onboard their counter-parties. When everyone involved is onboarded, a qualified expert such as an arbitrator or mediator is allotted to the case so the dispute can be resolved.

Legal Kart
Legal Kart is a practise management platform for lawyers. It also works as a legal help marketplace where users can buy legal advice and talk to legal experts. They even offer free answers to frequently asked questions, and you can easily file your own questions.

Their online platform is also available as a mobile application, so lawyers can solve cases outside offices, and the legal consumers can even have easy access to justice while they are on the go. It simply simplifies legal communication and seeks to enhance client satisfaction by replacing emails and phone calls.

Prarambh
Last year, the law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas launched a legal tech incubator with 3 Indian legal tech companies in their programme. Their goal is to “augment the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, identify domestic talent and support upcoming technologies in the business and practice of law.” As mentioned in Artificial Lawyer, they also want to mentor startups and guide them to commercial success, nurture talent and enable co-sharing workspace.

The duration of the first incubator was six months, and by its conclusions, a managing partner said that it “set the benchmark on development of India centric legal tech solutions” according to Global Legal Post.
‍

Algolegal

Algolegal is a tech-driven law firm that focuses on the booming VC and startup scene in India. They have an innovative approach to law and also plan to expend with other services such as consulting, mentoring and accounting. They offer a broad tech stack with automation tools, intelligent document management and virtual data rooms.

‍
Legalmind
Legalmind was part of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas incubator. They have launched AI-powered litigation, research and file management system for lawyers. According to the company, lawyers using their system can make more data-driven decisions with their AI-powered search and thereby build case winning strategies.

The systems can be used for legal research and judgement analysis, and it has a brief analyser that transforms multipage documents into summaries which enables lawyers to analyse briefs faster.

Leegality
Leegality was also a part of the Prarambh incubator. They facilitate an eSignature platform where you can use the Indian identity number to sign contracts and make digital stamps. This straightforward solution helps Indian business getting rid of paper waste and streamline their digital workflow. They even enable some simply document automation and offer plenty of API options to increase the interoperability.

SpotDraft
SpotDraft is an AI-driven platform where you can “create, manage and analyse your contracts”. This contract management software enables users to upload contracts, make template libraries, set reminders and integrate with other cloud-based tech tools.

They also offer SpotIQ, which is an AI-driven contract review platform that “automates contract automation“.

Indian Legal Tech
If you want to stay updated in Indian legal tech, there is an Indian independent blog called (you guessed it!) Indian Legal Tech. It covers India’s evolving legal tech sector with blog posts, interviews with founders of Indian legal tech companies, articles about the Indian legal industry and more analytical reports.