Eversheds Sutherland has agreed a partnership with artificial intelligence (AI) platform Luminance, becoming the latest in a string of law firms to sign up to use the Slaughter and May-backed company's technology.

Luminance, which was founded in September 2016, uses pattern recognition and machine learning algorithms to read legal documents, making contract review processes more efficient.

Slaughters has been involved with Luminance since its inception, and has also invested in the company, which has since signed up a number of other major legal clients including Cravath Swaine & Moore, Bird & Bird, Dickson Minto, Uria Menendez and Holland & Knight.

Eversheds Sutherland said that Luminance's technology would be particularly beneficial for M&A due diligence and commercial contract and real estate review exercises, enabling its lawyers to spend more time advising clients on more complex, higher-risk areas.

The firm has made the adoption of new technology such as AI a key part of its innovation agenda, and recently discussed the latest developments with partners at its firmwide conference in New York.

Eversheds Sutherland CEO Lee Ranson said: "We are constantly looking at ways to use new technology for the benefit of our clients and add real value across the legal practice. Using AI solutions allows us to work with our clients as their business partners, delivering what really matters to them: quality, strategic legal advice, combined with greater efficiencies."

Eversheds Sutherland also recently launched a crowdsourcing app, Idea Drop, which allows users to 'drop' ideas to one another and submit 'challenges' to the firm via an interface similar to well-known social media platforms.

Luminance and rival Kira Systems are among the frontrunners in a wave of AI providers targeting partnerships City law firms, with Kira so far signing up firms including Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and DLA Piper.