3 Questions For A Legal Tech Founder And Handicapper (Part II)
Pre/Dicta uses AI and machine learning to forecast outcomes and timelines for case-critical motion practice in civil suits. It is the only commercially available predictive AI for litigation.
This week, I continue my interview with Dan Rabinowitz of Pre/Dicta regarding his experiences building out a new AI-driven legal data analytics tool. Please see below for Dan’s answers to my second and third questions regarding what Pre/Dicta’s value proposition might be for the litigation funding and contingent risk insurance markets, as well as how the software may evolve over time.
As always, I have presented Dan’s answers below along with some brief commentary of my own:
Gaston Kroub: For litigation funders and contingent risk insurance providers in particular, what advantages do you see Pre/Dicta offering?
Dan Rabinowitz: Our litigation predictions and forecasts rely upon objective metrics using scientifically sound methodologies. This is a significant departure from the traditional approach of attorneys and funders that rely on intuition and experience to quantify litigation outcomes. Thus, our tool, is more akin to an actuarial table than legal research. At its core, our platform is a risk assessment tool. Since the inception of litigation finance in the U.S. markets over a decade ago, litigation funders have long desired an objective methodology to assess procedural risk that departs from a reliance on a particular underwriters’ experience and instinct. Pre/Dicta provides exactly that for the procedural risk and duration of a case. Further, as the industry has evolved, law firm portfolio funding has become commonplace, and a robust secondary market has emerged.
In both settings, the quantification of risk across a complex portfolio is even more challenging and can be influenced by subjective factors, such as well-established relationships and adverse selection. Pre/Dicta provides for an objective gut check — a tool through which the dispositive motion outcomes can be easily anticipated and factored into an a financier’s financial projections, allowing for more accurate pricing, better modeling, and ultimately, higher returns.
The emergence of contingent risk insurance has only amplified the need for data-informed risk assessment. Insurers are adept at actuarial assessments but have greater limitations in their pricing structures, serving to constrict the threshold for insurable opportunities and creating a need for a statistical assessment of the procedural risk that insurers can feed into their well-established actuarial procedures. Again, Pre/Dicta meets this need precisely. Additionally, the size, scope, and nature of many contingent risk insurance opportunities necessitates partnership with litigation funders for the payment of premiums and for liquidity purposes — we anticipate Pre/Dicta’s case assessments becoming a cornerstone tool that contingent risk brokers can utilize to expedite due diligence and increase the likelihood of a matter being approved by their insurance partners and by investors.
Like the use of Pre/Dicta in private practice, the use cases are many and varied in the context of third-party funding. Aside from providing an objective assessment of procedural risk and case duration, Pre/Dicta can be leveraged as an origination tool, as a venue selection tool, and as a matchmaking resource to ensure that each funded or insured matter is handled by litigators who provide for the highest probability of a recovery.
GK: It is indicative of the evolution of my personal practice that when I first heard of Pre/Dicta, my mind went immediately to its potential usefulness for litigation funders and the contingent risk market — as opposed to what I might have first thought of years ago, which is how Pre/Dicta could help me advise litigation clients on their likelihood of success in a given case or set of cases. And that is also true for our consulting practice for investors in the public markets, whose investments may be affected by litigation outcomes. What is important, however, is that irrespective of where you sit in the IP litigation ecosystem, you are likely to find value in Pre/Dicta as a tool to enhance your client service. Considering the importance of accurate and effective diligence across the funding/investing/insuring spectrum, I would not be surprised to learn that Pre/Dicta has quickly become an essential tool for firms operating in those spaces — in addition to Pre/Dicta’s adoption by law firms.
GK: How will Pre/Dicta evolve over time as you continue to sign up leading firms like Quinn Emanuel to the service?
DR: AI and machine learning are revolutionary not just because of their immediate impact but also for their myriad applications. We see this currently in the context of generative AI — hundreds of thousands of commercial applications are currently underpinned by a handful of LLMs. The exact same concept applies to our predictive models; the capabilities are nearly endless. Our product development challenge lies in determining which outputs are most useful to our clients and allow for the largest impacts on case outcomes.
We’re ecstatic to be working with QE and firms like them. These firms aren’t only customers of Pre/Dicta, but they’re partners whose feedback and suggestions serve to increase the cutting-edge nature of our technology. The malleable nature of our platform allows us to be extremely responsive to requests for additional forecasts or permutations of existing data. For instance, we recently had a client request new functionality that would forecast affirmative summary judgment motions, and we’re already in the process of deploying that request across our user interface.
We’ve so far seen that the country’s most forward-thinking and sophisticated firms are those that recognize immediate value in Pre/Dicta. QE is directly representative of that trend. We anticipate that we’ll see further rapid adoption among this cohort of firms and that the capabilities of our platform will improve with lockstep speed and sophistication.
GK: It is exciting to consider the future enhancements that are sure to develop as Pre/Dicta increases its market penetration. It is heartening to hear that Dan and his team are so focused on making Pre/Dicta more useful for litigators over time, a process that starts by listening to the requests and suggestions of existing and prospective customers. With that approach, coupled with the creativity of the broader litigation community, we are sure to see Pre/Dicta continue to become an even more potent tool for users going forward.
My thanks to Dan for the insights and cooperation, and I wish him and Pre/Dicta continued success. It is always a privilege to hear from those innovative enough to create tools of interest to IP litigators and their clients, and it is great to see Pre/Dicta gaining traction in the marketplace. I am always open to conducting interviews of this type with other IP thought leaders, so feel free to reach out if you have a compelling perspective to offer..
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.
