Minter Ellison Rudd Watts and Goat Ventures have announced a joint venture to explore, and capitalise on, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) for legal services.

Mike Schubert. 

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts says the joint venture is NZ$2 million co-investment at pre-seed stage. it says it will be a pure AI start-up using the power of cloud, big data and machine learning to ingest, process and create content using natural language to build an accurate AI.

The Minter Ellison Rudd Watts CEO and chair of the joint venture board, Mike Schubert, says businesses are looking for new ways to meet their legal obligations efficiently.

"We believe it's time to introduce new technology into the legal services market to meet this need. We are delighted to partner with Goat Ventures and are excited at the prospect of combining our legal knowledge and approach with a team who know how to get the best from evolving technologies," he says.

Minter Ellison Rudd Watts says as a knowledge-based sector, legal services are well suited to AI.

"To date major firms have invested in traditional technical means of drafting simple documents and automating legal processes. AI gives computers the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed, meaning more complex tasks, historically performed by lawyers, could be automated."