Legal Tech StartUp Focus Podcast

Marveri: Transforming Legal Due Diligence with Artificial Intelligence

• Charles Uniman

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What happens when a hardworking corporate lawyer joins forces with an MIT AI researcher? A revolutionary solution to one of the legal profession's most notorious pain points: due diligence.
 
 Connor Acle, co-founder and CEO of Marveri (https://www.marveri.com/), shares his journey from Morrison Foerster associate to legal tech entrepreneur in this illuminating conversation. After experiencing firsthand how due diligence consumed over half of transaction legal budgets while burning out junior associates, Connor saw an opportunity when ChatGPT emerged. He partnered with an MIT PhD candidate specializing in AI to create a system that fundamentally reimagines how lawyers approach data rooms.
 
 Marveri doesn't just analyze individual documents – it builds a comprehensive understanding of an entire company's legal framework. The software transforms chaotic data rooms into organized repositories with standardized naming conventions in seconds, automatically verifies document execution by checking every required signature, and can even generate first drafts of due diligence reports. Most impressively, when tested against documents labeled by expert attorneys, Marveri's system performed as well or better than human lawyers.
 
 The market response reveals a fascinating divide in the legal industry. While end users consistently describe Marveri as "mind-blowing" and "game-changing," law firms themselves range from complete prohibition of AI tools to enthusiastic early adoption. Forward-thinking firms recognize that AI proficiency will soon become as essential to legal practice as email and computers, giving their attorneys a competitive advantage by embracing these technologies now.
 
 For fellow startup founders, Connor emphasizes the importance of customer relationships. Many of Marveri's most successful features came directly from user suggestions, highlighting the wealth of knowledge possessed by practicing attorneys who understand daily challenges firsthand.

  Connect with Connor on LinkedIn or visit Marveri.com to discover (and get a demo of) how AI is transforming legal due diligence and empowering lawyers with the technological edge they need in today's competitive environment. 

And note, too, that Marveri recently raised $3.5 million from investors, including Alven, Day One Ventures, I2BF, and a syndicate of early users—a powerful vote of confidence from the very practitioners who use the platform daily.
 
 

Speaker 1:

Hello everyone, this is Charlie Uniman, your host of the LegalTech Startup Focus podcast. I'm happy to be here with Connor Ackley, who is the co-founder and CEO of a legal tech startup called Marvery, working in an area of legal tech that is near and dear to my heart as a former transaction lawyer and one-time junior associate who had to do due diligence. Connor, welcome.

Speaker 2:

Hi Charlie. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for joining. So you were a lawyer once yourself, but now you're in legal tech, working at Marvery and doing God's work as head of some good software that helps people do the often unenviable task of transactional due diligence. Tell us how you moved from law to startup land.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So I started my career at Morrison Forrester in San Francisco, really enjoyed my time there. I got to work with some amazing people and amazing clients as well, representing everyone from small startups that were seeking funding to VC and private equity firms to working on some really marquee transactions like the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile. While at the firm, I also got to really dip my toe into some of the legal tech work really dip my toe into some of the legal tech work. I was the firm's representative to Carter for product development and spearheaded some KM initiatives for how our firm could onboard new clients.

Speaker 2:

And while I was at the firm I definitely saw a variety of different ways in which I thought the law, the practice of law, could be improved. But from my perspective, the most obvious and significant pain point was the due diligence process. You know, whether we got a new client in the door or we're opening up a data room on a private equity deal, we were thrown hundreds or thousands of documents, from corporate documents to financing docs, hr, commercial contracts, ip, etc. And you know the situation was really not great for all parties. You know clients really hated the significant amount of time it took for the firm to produce its diligence reports. It obviously was a substantial cost for them, often taking up more than half of all the legal work on the transaction. Associates hated it, myself included. You know I saw a lot of my colleagues get burned out during due diligence processes and, frankly, you know none of us were particularly good at it. You know, as a first year associate, it's hard to even someone with a few years of experience to be able to actually be able to review hundreds or thousands of distinct legal documents, understand them deeply and then also understand how all of them relate to each other, to be able to really properly advise the client on, you know, the risks and liabilities of the target company or even your own client, and helping, you know making sure that they were, all you know, completely squared away with their own legal needs.

Speaker 2:

So I obviously saw that there is a significant pain point, but at the time there really wasn't the technology to solve it. So I ended up leaving the firm, coming out to Boston for business school at Harvard, and while there the advent of ChatGPT came out and I kind of immediately saw that this would be potentially transformational for the legal tech world. Transformational for the legal tech world not just in terms of a tool that lawyers could use, but it could really make a difference in terms of how work product is delivered to the clients and how we kind of conceptualize what it means to be a lawyer going forward. So I obviously got very excited about that. I got to meet some people at MIT who were researching AI and machine learning. My co-founder and our CTO, emily, was in the fourth year of her PhD, researching AI under the former head of MIT's entire computer science department and working together she was really able to architect a system that enables us to really understand deep companies' diligence documents and, we think, produce some pretty amazing results for attorneys.

Speaker 1:

Well, you make a very good point about how associates not only hated doing due diligence in draftee warehouses as I once found myself out in the Midwest but often felt uncomfortable doing it because frequently it was junior lawyers who did it. They don't have the years of experience that really enable you to assess the documents that you're supposed to be reviewing and assess the risks that those documents might pose. So not only do junior lawyers and old lawyers get tired and bored, machines don't. But machines that are properly trained probably can bring to bear knowledge and experience, encapsulated in their training, that would permit them, along with humans in the loop, to do a better job than just humans, especially junior lawyer humans could do alone.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, and you know we've seen that in the results ourselves, where, you know, we put our own system to the test against external data data sets of legal documents that were actually hand labeled by, you know, expert attorneys and reviewed through that process, and we see that our system actually performs as well, if not better, that our system actually performs as well, if not better, on a variety of those tasks than those human lawyers, and that's even for lawyers that you know were, you know, doing a you know months-long project in order to procure and to label these data sets for evaluation.

Speaker 2:

These data sets for evaluation, you know, let alone what the accuracy might be for a junior associate who's up at three in the morning and has been working for, you know, two weeks straight.

Speaker 2:

Obviously, that accuracy is even lower. So we definitely see that AI systems today, when properly tuned and directed to legal work, are able to deliver results that were really unthinkable just a few years ago. And it's one of the things, though, that, even for junior associates, we don't see them, you know, having their work be replaced entirely by these AI systems. Instead, it's really giving them superpowers in order to deliver, you know, 10 times more value than they would have otherwise delivered, that they will to answer questions to their partners. You know, on day one of a transaction they're able to immediately answer client questions about major risks and transactions. Again immediately when, when they're getting those company documents. Again immediately when they're getting those company documents. And it really enables them to not just do their old job better but to really have a whole new function and to be able to, you know, deliver work product that without these AI systems they just don't have the time or the budget to be able to do.

Speaker 1:

Indeed, and I've beat this horse almost to death. But again, I have to say that if you are a practicing lawyer running a firm, senior in a firm, and you're looking over your shoulder at your competitors who are using legal tech to do a better job, a more complete, less error-prone job, than you perhaps are doing without the legal tech, without the legal tech, you're going to be competitively behind and you're really going to face practice risks that your competitors, who are up the learning curve and using tools such as SmartVari, won't face or are less likely to face. Well, enough of that. I've said it so many times on the pod, but it bears repeating here because, as you put it, the job is just better done. So let's dig into Marvery more. It's a due diligence tool. Obviously, in the current environment and with the background of your co-founder, it's using AI. What's its secret sauce? How does it distinguish itself from other document review tools, particularly those in the due diligence area? What differentiates?

Speaker 2:

it. So what really is our secret sauce is our ability to focus on understanding everything about a company from its underlying documents, rather than looking at documents individually.

Speaker 1:

We really go end to end with this process, and how is that? How does that show?

Speaker 2:

up in the, in the workflow and in the product that eventuates. Yeah, so maybe I can give an example. So let's say that I'm a lawyer and I'm working on a private equity deal. Let's say I open up the data room and often that data room is going to be a complete mess. Right Documents might be put into random folders. None of the naming conventions actually say what are in the documents, so I spend hours just figuring out. You know what's here. I'm opening up documents at random trying to just figure out what I have. So the first tool of Marbury enables our platform and we can automatically rename every document with a really nice standard naming convention that lawyers know and understand, and then we can also put all of these documents into their correct folders. So in a few seconds we can take this mess of corporate documents and automatically provide it in one of the cleanest data rooms you've ever seen, such that you can actually first and foremost see what documents do you have and where should you get started.

Speaker 1:

So the software can actually analyze the documents well enough to apply a naming convention. Is that right?

Speaker 2:

Exactly, and that's just. The tool is also able to do some really granular analysis of documents themselves. So, for example, we can review every document to make sure that it is fully executed, and this means we use a variety of text and vision models to tick and tie every signature so that if, on a stock purchase agreement, there might be 30 different investors that need to sign on in different capacities, we can make sure that every single investor has done so and that the document is fully executed, rather than relying on a lawyer that might not always go and tick and tie to make sure that literally every signature page that they need is present.

Speaker 1:

It's extraordinary. I mean I could see immense savings in time and and worry just from from that skill, if you will alone. Are you targeting with more, very principally big law firms? Are you looking to in-house M&A teams? Perhaps all of the above? What's your target market?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a great question. So it's all those people that need to touch a data room for legal due diligence. So, you know, it is often law firms that work with companies, so on the sell side, when they're preparing companies for the diligence process, whether that be for a venture financing. Also, obviously, lawyers in law firms on the buy side of those transactions. But we also work with in-house lawyers. People who are, for example, the general counsels of some of the largest investment funds in the world love using our product in addition to in-house M&A departments or corporate venture capital arms as well in-house M&A departments or corporate venture capital arms as well.

Speaker 1:

Sure, well, that again I think any, any tools such as Marvery that can make associates lives easier, clients bills smaller. And, you know, bring organization and intelligence to what is often a messy error prone. You know, bring organization and intelligence to what is often a messy error-prone. You know, not particularly glamorous but also a very essential part of doing deals is just a godsend to lawyers who practice with data rooms. And you know, as a former M&A lawyer myself, my heart goes out to the people who wouldn't be able to use a tool such as yours now that it's on the market. How long have you been out in the market with Marvery? Marvery?

Speaker 2:

Yes, so our tool has been used for well over a year now. It's been used to process billions of dollars worth of transactions again on all those different constituencies that we sell to, again being used on both buy sell side and small firms, large firms and companies.

Speaker 1:

You've done some fundraising, I gather.

Speaker 2:

Yes, we have. We have some amazing investors from our initial funding, both amazing investors on the venture side as well as on the legal side, some amazing angel investors who oversee billion-dollar practice areas of their law firms.

Speaker 1:

Wonderful, wonderful. So, Connor, you've been out in the market. Now You're selling a product in Marvery with legal tech in the form of AI. Are you running into indifference when you pitch AI? Are you running into enthusiasm or indifference? What's the read you get on lawyers at firms and legal departments when it comes to pitching a product that is heavily involved with some version of AI?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so the response from lawyers has really been extraordinary. We've loved doing demos with the actual end users of our product. They consistently say amazing things. You know how it's mind blowing, how it can really be a game changer for their practice, and that's also reflected in our actual users and customers that have really verbose and over the top compliments of our product. So we really see that enthusiasm from the lawyers and users themselves.

Speaker 2:

With that said, it's definitely a mix at the law firm level for their desire to adopt AI solutions at all.

Speaker 2:

We've heard from some firms that they have a complete prohibition of using any AI tools in their firm other than for things like marketing materials or some of that you know, very low risk work.

Speaker 2:

Whereas we speak with other firms that, I think, really think that AI is going to fundamentally change their law firm and they see that adopting AI sooner really gives their entire firm and all of their attorneys an ability to one get a leg up on competition but then also get acquainted with the legal technology as it progresses. I think that you know they definitely don't want to be in the position where you know in a very short amount of time where it's going to be. You know without question such that AI is going to need to be a part of legal practice, just how email and computers are part of legal practice. Now I think those firms recognize that they don't want to be, you know, training up their entire firm on how to use these tools. At that time they want to make sure that their attorneys develop the know-how and understanding of how these tools work over time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm so glad to hear that you're getting enthusiasm from so many people. I'll put in a plug for Marveri, because I myself have looked at your website and the testimonials there are pretty extraordinary. So I invite anyone who's interested in Marveri to go there and visit.

Speaker 1:

And those firms who have prohibitions on AI use. When it comes to practicing law, as I have said to Connor, before we started recording the podcast, a lot of my listeners, a lot of the podcast listeners, are startup leaders themselves and they're always on the lookout for words of wisdom, business advice, from fellow startup leaders. So someone like you has built a product, gone out and teamed with someone who was, you know, working at a PhD at MIT across the Charles River from your business school and someone who has done some fundraising, what words of wisdom, pearls of wisdom, can you impart to your fellow startup leaders that might help them avoid some mistakes you may have made or get a leg up on getting their product out, finding product market fit?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a great question and, obviously, things that I've heard from other startup founders I've really tried to incorporate myself and in the company as well.

Speaker 2:

I think one of the most important things that you hear a lot of is to talk to your customers, and this is something that kind of gets repeated ad nauseum.

Speaker 2:

But I think one of the risks in legal tech startups in particular is that their feedback, to hear what new features they want, to hear what existing features they really love. You know, for example, we have a few tools in the Marvery system, like being able to automatically generate a supplemental diligence request list, or being able to compare large sets of documents together at once, being able to generate actually a first cut of a legal due diligence report itself, and all of those features had significant, significant input from our users and some of them were even thought of by our users themselves. So there is obviously a wealth of knowledge among practicing attorneys who are still in the thick of it every day and would really just recommend to make sure to stay close to your customers, always solicit their feedback and make sure that, while you come to the product with an opinionated approach, that you are flexible enough to change depending on how the feedback of users comes in over time.

Speaker 1:

Very well put. I agree and I applaud a founder who has an opinionated approach to the problem that he or she is trying to solve. Connor, if people want to reach you and Marvery, how do they do that? What are the coordinates to get in touch with you and the company?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, best way if you want to reach out to me is on LinkedIn. My name is Connor Ackley. You can also go to the Marvery website, marverycom marverycom and you can see a little bit more about what we do. You can also schedule a demo there as well if you're interested in seeing more about the product. Obviously, we were able to just go into a few of the features that we have, but we really love showing our product to attorneys and really going in depth about the use case that they have, so please feel free to reach out.

Speaker 1:

And thank you so very, very much, Connor, for being a guest on the podcast.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm excited to see you then as well in person, and thank you so much for having me Been a real pleasure to speak with you today.

Speaker 1:

Thanks so much. Thank you for listening to the Legal Tech Startup Focus podcast. If you're interested in legal tech startups and enjoyed this podcast, please consider joining the free Legal Tech Startup Focus community by going to wwwlegaltechstartupfocuscom and signing up. Again thanks,