Jimoh Ovbiagele, the co-founder of the now-defunct AI legal research startup ROSS Intelligence, is making a return to the legal tech scene. He’s taking the helm as CEO of Bench IQ, a new startup which aims to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to illuminate judges’ decision-making patterns. What makes Bench IQ unique is that it doesn’t rely solely on written rulings, but also encompasses their rulings from the bench for a more comprehensive understanding of their decision processes. [1]
The Toronto-based startup, Bench IQ, recently secured a funding of $2.1 million in a pre-seed round led by two venture capital firms, Maple and Haystack. Both of these firms are known for investing in companies with promising potentials – Maple in companies with Canadian origins, and Haystack in early-stage companies. [1]
Ovbiagele suggested that the idea for Bench IQ originated from Jeffrey Gettleman, a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis and the current Vice President of Legal Services for Bench IQ.
Ovbiagele stated that the company’s proprietary dataset combined with large language models (LLMs) would provide unprecedented insights into judges’ rulings, covering a near total 100% of their decisions. He juxtaposed Bench IQ with other legal analytics firms, such as Lex Machina and Pre/Dicta, stating that while these firms offer statistical data about judicial behavior, Bench IQ offers more descriptive insights, yielding an understanding of not just what the judges ruled, but why they ruled as they did. He believes this nuanced detail can guide lawyers to craft more effective arguments during a trial or litigation, thereby giving their clients a strategic advantage. [1]
Ovbiagele also revealed that Bench IQ’s product is already in use in 12 of the 100 largest U.S. law firms, guiding them in forming their legal strategies. Although the names of these firms were not explicitly mentioned due to constraint, Ovbiagele communicated that they were seeing successful application of Bench IQ’s product in live cases. [1]
Looking into Bench IQ’s future, Ovbiagele stated that the company plans to expand its services into state courts, in addition to its current federal coverage. He also stated that their product is designed to cater to law firms of all sizes and will offer flexible pricing options to accommodate different firm sizes.
The product is expected to have a general release during the second half of this year. [1]