A battle has ensued in South African Big Law over which legal Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform will take the lead.
Recently, we published how Harvey AI, a specialised platform designed to enhance legal workflows by providing intelligent assistance with document analysis, contract drafting, legal research, and compliance, is growing and taking form within South Africa’s major law firms.
This is evident from firms such as Bowmans, the first African law firm to integrate Harvey AI into its operations, followed by ENSafrica and the newly merged Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, which have has begun piloting Harvey AI.
However, we are also seeing Legora, Harvey AI’s competitor, gaining traction and taking shape in South Africa.
Legora is an AI-powered legal workspace designed to support lawyers with document review, drafting, research, and collaboration. It streamlines tasks such as contract analysis, due diligence, legal research, and precedent-based drafting, integrating seamlessly into tools like Microsoft Word and document management systems.
Webber Wentzel has recently announced its partnership with Legora to roll out the AI platform across the firm. As part of the partnership, Legora will serve as the first official anchor technology in Webber Wentzel’s Innovation Lab, through which the pair will co-develop solutions purpose-built for the South African and broader African legal markets.
This partnership aligns with Linklaters’ recent announcement of a firm-wide implementation of Legora’s platform, as Webber Wentzel and Linklaters have been in alliance for several years.
Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) has taken an interesting approach by deploying both legal platforms – Harvey AI and Legora – following a pilot that spanned several months. CDH found that while both platforms had their strengths and limitations, the differences were often marginal, and the continuous development of both systems tended to remove differentiators quickly. As such, CDH secured licences to both platforms to draw on the unique strengths of each.
The above shows that there is now a battle for dominance over which legal AI platform will take the lead in South African Big Law. The rise of both Harvey AI and Legora further illustrates a broader movement towards digital transformation within the profession.
