To prepare a case for trial or write legal briefs, attorneys can spend countless hours just sifting through documents.
A Portland-based startup has developed a software platform to save them time. Troy Technology Inc. automates legal research and documentation, but it doesn’t use generative AI to do so. Legix instead uses AI to sift through thousands of documents with accuracy, not relying on patterns or predictions, but semantic searches that deliver precise, relevant results, said co-founder Vardo Bissiccio. It protects a firm's legal data with encrypted servers.
But it's not a case of AI coming for lawyers' jobs, he said.
"It's co-pilot assistance, rather than replacing attorneys," Bissiccio said.
Ten people, including software engineers and designers are involved in Troy. The venture has raised $1 million and is seeking a seed round of $3 million round.
The platform can be asked a variety of questions about timelines and verbiage in any kind of case, whether criminal, personal injury, real estate or patent law, Bissiccio said. The team tested out the software with documents from the O.J. Simpson trials, asking for discrepancies in depositions and testimony.
“You can have a conversation with Legix that will provide you accurate content to your questions,” Bissiccio said. “It will serve you up six depositions that have a reference to what you asked and break down different descriptions or lies or whatever you’re looking for. … How valuable is that for an attorney getting ready to question someone on the witness stand? It’s a tool you can lean on.”
Beginnings
Beauregard Moody, a 24-year-old second-year law student at Willamette University College of Law, came up with the idea for Troy. His family started a legal services business in Portland 45 years ago that provides deposition, transcription and copying and scanning services and trial support, Moody said. His late father was also a trailblazer in the use of technology in courtroom presentations, he said.
“Now that I’m in law school, I engage with a lot of law firms, and I’ve been waiting to find someplace that I can continue my dad’s legacy,” Moody said.
With a background in computer science, Moody devised the software with a board member, who has a master’s degree in artificial intelligence.
Bissiccio, who moved to Eugene from New York last year, is the co-founder and chairman. He is also CEO of Vardo Entertainment, a developer, aggregator and distributor of digital entertainment content, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The two had met several years ago and later started doing research around what became Troy.
Moody’s family’s business also provides connections to thousands of law firms, which Troy can tap into to market its products.
“It’s unusual to have good proprietary software launching and a direct marketing campaign introduced to the legal industry by a respected vendor they’ve been doing business with a long time,” Bissiccio said. “That gives us an important advantage.”
As an extern currently for a law firm in Portland, Moody said he can’t help but “notice how much time goes toward document review and preparation. They bring in dozens of people to go through bankers boxes in conference rooms.”
Troy has released a beta version of its product, called Legix AI, to more than 50 law firms to try out and provide feedback.
Greg Rasmusen, a paralegal at KGJ & Associates in Portland, used Legix to search through documents related to “workplace relations.” The software produced everything related to the search term, color coded and ranked, and included sentence snippets.
“It’s a real time-saver,” Rasmussen said.
Bissiccio estimates a time savings of about 20%, which could translate to about 10 hours a week per attorney, who can use that time for other legal or personal matters.
GoFundMe for lawyers
The commercial launch of Legix is probably a year off, as the team is still testing it out, fixing bugs and adding features. They plan to use a subscription model, Bissiccio said.
The next product Troy will be launching is called CaseCapital, which will allow anyone to buy and sell shares in lawsuit outcomes, opening access to the legal system, Moody said. Think GoFundMe but for lawsuits.
“It’s going to be an online platform for everyday consumes with legal claims, but who can’t afford to fund the litigation, which is a lot of people,” Moody said. “It’s a way for investors to tap into a new market, where they can see exponential returns and help people with legal claims to seek justice.”
The platform will ensure not only that consumers can raise money for legal and attorney’s fees but that it’s “done properly, legally and ethically,” Moody said.
“It’s going to be a shell shock for the industry,” he said.
