Elite Law Firm Cleary Gottlieb Formally Launches ClearyX

Elite New York law firm, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, has today officially launched ClearyX, ‘a new platform designed to reimagine how legal services can be delivered using innovative combinations of people, process and project-management discipline, augmented by a range of technologies’.

You can read an in-depth interview with ClearyX CEO, Carla Swansburg, in Artificial Lawyer here, (Feb 2022).

ClearyX operates as a wholly-owned business unit within Cleary, with its own management team and strategy.  Its mandate is to explore the use of existing and emerging legal technologies and act as an incubator for new products, processes and services that can improve client experiences and increase efficiency through flexible business models and pricing.

Another aspect of its mandate is to consider select investments in legal technologies such as Cleary’s investment in 10BE5, a platform founded by a Cleary alumnus and a current Cleary associate that automates the drafting of capital markets disclosures and related processes.

The ClearyX team is comprised of experienced legal innovators and technologists, project managers and legally trained analysts, as well as transactional subject-matter experts who understand the context in which Cleary and its clients work. The team, which is based in the US and Canada, is focused on growth, particularly in the UK to support Cleary’s global offices and clients. 

ClearyX is led by Swansburg (above), who joined in September 2021. Before joining ClearyX, Carla was Vice President and General Manager at Epiq, a global legal services company focused on e-discovery information management, legal operations and technology. 

At Epiq, Swansburg led all aspects of the company’s Canadian business and helped establish its presence in Latin America. Prior to Epiq, she served as the chief innovation officer at a leading Canadian law firm and led the litigation team at one of Canada’s largest banks.

‘We use technology anywhere it makes us better, faster and more accurate, but our work is always led by humans. The secret sauce of our ClearyX platform is a combination of access to – and the support of –  one of the world’s leading law firms, and our relentless focus on high-quality, consistent work product, combined with dedicated, highly trained people leveraging a range of technology. We constantly strive to improve client service, create efficiencies, lower costs and creatively explore new ways of working,’ said Swansburg.

Cleary Gottlieb Managing Partner, Michael Gerstenzang, added: ‘Technology is a major force in our competitive landscape, and it’s critical that we embrace it.  For a number of months, we’ve been developing the ClearyX strategy, assembling the team and building the technical platform in preparation for our launch today. ClearyX builds on our firm’s long history of fostering innovation and delivering value to clients, including developing our incredibly successful Discovery and Litigation Technology group. We couldn’t be more excited to engage with clients about this new platform and add ClearyX’s efficient, tech-enabled products and services to our offering.’

Excellent news! Looking forward to other elite New York firms also doing this.