First Ever US/China Legal AI Partnership – LegalSifter + DocQBot – Artificial Lawyer
What happened: Pittsburgh-based LegalSifter is partnering with Chinese firm docQbot to provide AI-based contract review for Chinese import-export companies, according to trade publication Artificial Lawyer. The service will aid the companies in reviewing English-language cross-border contracts more efficiently. It will also produce commercial risk reports on annotated contracts in Chinese and rank individual risk issues identified in its review. LegalSifter CEO Kevin Miller said of the deal, “We are fortunate to be partnered with docQbot. We are a global company, and the Chinese market is one we intend to serve.”
Why it’s important: The service being provided by docQbot and LegalSifter seems to be mostly unique in China’s cross-border deal space. According to Artificial Lawyer, there are few “serious” AI platforms targeting this niche in the legal industry, and the potential market is at least as big as the estimated 5 million import-export businesses currently operating in China. What’s more, docQbot reports that the vast majority of these companies review English-language contracts without legal counsel, making them vulnerable to risks that would be otherwise avoidable with the appropriate tools.