Irish firm launches new legal platform as it seeks to level the ‘e-discovery playing field’

hd-intelligence, a new Irish legal-tech company, has announced the launch of its innovative e-discovery system designed to allow small and medium-sized law practices to compete with larger rivals at a cost they can afford.

The SaaS business, established in 2020 with a mission to ‘revolutionise the legal industry’, is initially targeting a potential Irish and UK market valued at €150m and is confident of further global demand for its innovative e-discovery platform.

hd-intelligence is a user-friendly, cloud-based software solution that allows legal professionals to quickly upload, review, critically analyse and produce documents online.  Such e-discovery processes are now required as part of disclosure procedures in legal cases, but while software solutions are already available, they tend to be prohibitively expensive for all but the largest firms.

hd-intelligence’s ‘plug and play’ platform is deliberately designed with simplicity and cost-effectiveness in mind to ‘level the playing field’ and allow smaller companies operate at the same level as their larger competitors. It operates using a ‘pay-as-you go’ system based on the amount of storage needed and users can upgrade to different storage packs when required at costs that are affordable.

To allow for more efficient processing, hd-intelligence has recently incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) into the platform. By building its own unique AI function, hd-intelligence aims to become the go-to platform for large and complex litigation cases where an AI model will scan and identify key material on a case-by-case basis, enabling legal professionals to review the most important documents to their respective cases early on.

The company is initially targeting legal firms of between four to 12 employees of which there are in excess of 100 in Ireland and over 450 in the UK. However, it believes its system could be used worldwide by companies in other sectors including financial services and insurance as well as by government departments and agencies.

It is projecting sales of over €1 million by 2025 and of more than €2.7 million by 2027 with plans to hire ten full-time employees in the next two years and grow this number to 20 by 2027.

The idea for a more accessible and less costly e-discovery platform was borne was out of necessity for co-founder Anthony Joyce, a partner in the Dublin 8- based law firm Anthony Joyce & Co.

Faced with an incredibly daunting review of hundreds of thousands of documents in a commercial case and dissuaded from using any of the available e-discovery platforms by high licence fees, Joyce teamed up with barrister and co-founder Francis Daly to create a solution.

The two ultimately partnered with Mark Murphy, founder and chief executive of Juvo, a web design and development company based in The Digital Hub technology campus in Dublin 8, to bring hd-intelligence’s platform to market. Murphy has since been appointed chief technology officer of the business.

A total of €560,000 has been invested in the platform from a number of sources, including from the founders, private investors and Enterprise Ireland funding. Recent investment over the last twelve months fuelled developments on greater security and localised GDPR policies, as well as developing the platforms artificial intelligence review function.

Anthony Joyce, co-founder of hd-intelligence said: “We are delighted to launch our new e-discovery platform, which has been about four years in the making. Our product can be used effectively by any law firm, but we are primarily targeting legal practices employing between four and twelve solicitors both in this jurisdiction and in the UK. We believe there will be significant demand and we are extremely confident in the platform’s ability to become a go-to solution in what is a significant and growing part of the legal sector.”

“We have identified over 100 law firms in Ireland and over 450 in the UK that could immediately benefit from our system. In time, we intend to market it globally and to offer it to other companies in different sectors that also require a cost-effective e-discovery solution such as  those in banking, financial services and insurance.”

Francis Daly, barrister and co-founder of hd-intelligence said: “hd-intelligence is more than just a cost-effective e-discovery service. We are actively carving out a pathway to success for small firms navigating the complex landscape of legal services. Our mission is to revolutionise the legal industry and level the playing field, enabling small firms in Ireland and overseas to compete with confidence.”

Mark Murphy, chief executive of Juvo and chief technology officer of hd-intelligence, said: “hd-intelligence is a super platform. It offers a sizeable sector of the legal industry a much-needed, affordable and user-friendly e-discovery solution that will save them time and money, while ensuring they comply with legal requirements. We are delighted to have had the opportunity to develop it from concept to reality and we really believe it can have a significant impact both in Ireland and abroad.”

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