Broad research networks and open-source projects are working their way out from their traditional home in academia and into the legal technology community. Dynamic contract platform provider Clause launched a smart contract consortium, the Accord Project, touting support from the Linux Foundation's blockchain project Hyperledger, the International Association for Commercial and Contract Management (IACCM) and matter management software company Clio. The initiative seeks to formalize standards around technology enabling legally-enforceable ” smart contracts ” and generate open-source tools for further industry development.

Peter Hunn, CEO of Clause, told Legaltech News that the new consortium is part of an effort to create enough standardization and acceptance around smart contracts that legal organizations can feel comfortable enough to use them.

“This is really our initiative, to start setting some standards around what the technology will look like, so that law firms and other users can become acquainted with it,” Hunn said.