International law firm Allen & Overy (A&O) has said that it is integrating Harvey, the artificial-intelligence (AI) platform built on a version of research company OpenAI’s models, into its global practice.

The firm said that Harvey would give more than 3,500 of its lawyers across 43 offices operating in multiple languages the ability to generate and access legal content “with unmatched efficiency, quality and intelligence”.

A&O has been trialling Harvey in beta since November 2022, under a team of lawyers and developers the firm has tasked with “disrupting the legal industry”.

By the end of the trial, about 3,500 of A&O’s lawyers had asked Harvey around 40,000 queries for their client work.

‘Amazing results’

David Wakeling (head of the markets-innovation group at A&O) described Harvey as “a game-changer that can unleash the power of generative AI to transform the legal industry”.

He stated that the platform could work in multiple languages, and across diverse practice areas.

“In our trial, we saw some amazing results,” Wakeling said.

Harvey uses natural language processing, machine-learning, and data analytics to automate and enhance various aspects of legal work, such as contract analysis, due diligence, and litigation.

‘Careful review’

“Whilst the output needs careful review by an A&O lawyer, Harvey can help generate insights, recommendations, and predictions based on large volumes of data, enabling lawyers to deliver faster, smarter and more cost-effective solutions to their clients,” A&O said.

Wim Dejonghe (senior partner at A&O) said: “This announcement marks a new era for A&O and the legal industry. Harvey AI is not just another platform, but a game-changer.”

OpenAI’s start-up fund led an investment of $5 million in Harvey late last year.