Artificial Intelligence is making a big impression – the market is set to be worth around $5.05 billion by 2020. All industries, including the legal sector are using it. And companies like Riverview Law making a big impact.

Last week, we sat down with Karl Chapman, the CEO of Riverview Law. They’re a legal solutions firm who have recently launched Virtual Assistants for the legal sector. We asked him about Riverview and the Virtual Assistants. We also got his thoughts about the future of Artificial Intelligence.

Please could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m married to a wonderful and forgiving lady and we have two lovely daughters and a black Lab called Maisie. As I get older I’ve grown to realise how important family is; I learnt late in life but not too late! Apart from my girls my passions are Chelsea (since 1969). Music (especially all things Pink Floyd). Also cycling and holidays!

Who are Riverview Law, and how did you come about as a business?

Riverview Law shouldn’t exist; but I’m glad it does! We exist because customers of one of the other companies I founded (www.adviserplus.com) asked us to do legal work. From there, through a journey that required us to know more about legal regulation than I ever wanted to know, Riverview Law was born. Via our three service lines (i) managed services. (ii) litigation projects and consultancy. (iii) licensed technology and Virtual Assistants. We help in-house teams evolve their operating model. This ensures the right work is undertaken by the right people at the right price. Whether the work gets done internally or externally.

Why have Riverview Law taken the decision to invest in an Artificial Intelligence firm?

We believe that the direction of travel is clear. Tomorrow customers will be able to do what today and yesterday was by the supply chain, by law firms. New technologies, at affordable prices, will change the value curve. They will put the power in the hands of the customer. This trend is already well established in the consumer market i.e. Uber, Hive, Airbnb. Over time, data driven systems, machine learning and AI such as Kim will do the same to every profession. Law is not immune.

How did you hear about Kim, and how did the acquisition come about?

Right from the launch of Riverview Law we put a person in the US to be our ‘eyes-and-ears’. They let us know what was happening to both the legal market and technology. As part of his networking and horizon scanning he came across the company. We then worked with Kim (CliXLEX before we acquired it) for over a year before acquisition. We used that year to prove to ourselves that the technology was as good as it appeared to be. It’s even better than it appeared to be!

Please explain what you think AI could do for Riverview, and for the legal profession in general? What effect could the use of AI in law have on teams of associates and paralegals?

Our investments in our R&D Unit and technology are helping us transition. Going from being technology-enabled to a ‘technology-led business with deep legal domain expertise’. It is this combination of people and technology that will be the winning formula in the future. Over time the best bet is that there will be fewer lawyers doing higher value work. It is a brave lawyer, unless they are part way through their career and only focused on their retirement, who bets against the impact on the legal market and lawyers of machine learning, artificial intelligence, data (as opposed to rules) driven systems … etc.

Could you tell me if you believe there are downsides to integrating AI into the Legal profession?

There are always downsides to new technologies. Guns, Twitter, AI, all these in the wrong hands can be dangerous. The challenges that technology evolution brings are not restricted to the legal profession.

How safe is the legal Data stored on the Kim platform?

The Riverview Law Virtual Assistants powered by Kim keep security in mind. They are all hosted in ISO / IEC 27001 certified data centres. ISO 27001 is the only auditable international standard for information security management systems. This standard assures we maintain high levels of security for our customer’s information. The application runs under SSL to encrypt data in motion. We maintain and administer physical and technical safeguards. These are for the confidentiality and integrity of customer data. We store customer data within the Kim (Microsoft SQL) database and it can be in the UK or US as required.

Why has Riverview chosen to sell the technology to in house legal teams?

Initially, customers asked us if we’d license our technology to them. This made us think ‘why not?’ Our customers are In-house teams. They can now choose either managed services and/or a technology solution from us. Either way, we help them ensure that the right people carry out the right work. That it’s done at the right price, whether the work is undertaken internally or externally. We provide them with a choice.

How long do you believe it will be until AI can take a more active role in courtroom proceedings?

I have no idea! Although I have no doubt that existing technologies could have a profound impact now if properly deployed.

What are the other uses of Kim’s technology?

Kim technology is not a sector or function specific. In one sense Riverview Law is a great ‘use case’ for Kim in the legal market. Kim has uses well beyond legal.

What do you think of the statements by the likes of Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk that Artificial Intelligence should be well monitored?

They are right. Only a fool would say that technology, any technology, can only do good.

Where do you see Riverview Law in 5 years’ time?

Still a great and fun place to work! Based out of Wirral, but operating a global business. With 20-30 multi-million dollar managed services contracts and thousands of Virtual Assistants customers.