13/03/2017
We are pleased to announce the latest release of our virtual defence lawyer KLAiM, reinforcing our commitment to innovation and the changing legal landscape.
Designed to streamline, automate and help clients use lawyers less, KLAiM’s latest release guides insurers and claims handlers through the Infant Approval hearing stage of a matter and even enables the direct instruction of Counsel when costs have not been agreed and attendance is required – all without instructing a lawyer.
KLAiM is an online litigation management system that allows clients to take claims from the service of court proceedings to settlement through a straightforward, intelligent step-by-step workflow. In the last 24 months over 75% of cases managed by KLAiM have been settled successfully, saving one client in particular well over a quarter of a million pounds annually, a 20% reduction in their annual legal defence spend and a positive impact on their overall indemnity spend.
The landscape for lower value claims, which make up more than 90% of litigated claims, is changing with proposed changes to the small claims track value and online reforms anticipated imminently.
Innovations such as KLAiM are central to our core principle of helping clients to use lawyers less. Although seemingly counter-intuitive for a defendant law firm to develop a tool that removes a revenue stream, we’re of the belief that lawyers should be instructed only when they’re really needed. At Kennedys, we view technology as an enabler of change that will help benefit us, and most importantly our clients. Our clients are striving to reduce legal spend, the shelf life of claims and they are calling for innovation.
Richard West, Partner and Head of Kennedys' liability division
This latest release comes on the back of our recent appointment of Karim Derrick as Head of Research and Development. With a background in cognitive computing, Karim brings experience in semantic and machine learning technologies to Kennedys and will be developing new iterations of KLAiM and our online products.
Last year we won Legal Technology Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards and were ‘Highly Commended’ in the Future of Legal Services Innovation category at the Legal Week Innovation Awards for our work with KLAiM.
In addition to our investment in innovation to assist clients, we have continued our growth in the UK and internationally in recent months. Earlier this month we announced that we are set to hire a 24-strong team from Hill Dickinson, which follows the launch of a formal association with Italian firm Studio Legale Rinaldi Associati and the opening of a new office in Mexico at the beginning of this year.
