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There's a chance that Actuate Law LLC may be getting a little ahead of its self—and that's sort of the point. Less than a year after opening its doors in Chicago, the 11-lawyer boutique firm is spinning off a new legal technology advisory company.

The firm's new subsidiary Quointec LLC will leverage artificial intelligence (AI) technology to build tools that automate the completion of simple legal and compliance tasks. Where the products go from there is anybody's guess.

“We can own it and license it. We can build it and sell it. We can build it for somebody else,” said Actuate partner Martin Tully.

Tully was part of the drafting team behind the Sedona Principles, a set of e-discovery guidelines that while non-binding, are widely accepted by judges. His outlook on Quointec is really pretty simple. Somebody is going to pursue advancements in legal compliance. So why not at least try to get out in front of it?

Plans for a legal tech subsidiary have been in the works since the Actuate's earliest days. Tully sees it more as an essential component of their business model than an optional attachment.

“Clearly this is where things are going, and you either get on this train and steer it or you're going to get run over by it. And it may not be tomorrow or five years from now but long-term, I think this is where our entire profession needs to go,” said Tully.

But go where, exactly? The terrain that Quointec looks to occupy is wide and varied. Yes, many of the tools will be aimed at simplifying compliance issues having to do with records management or navigating the likes of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). But how those solutions originate or are put to use is open to discussion.

Tully sees Quointec developing products to client specifications for use in-house or developing solutions for other law firms. There's even been some interest from groups dealing with compliance issues outside of the influence of the legal industry.

“We found that there are some industries that want to work with us to build a tool that will help them deal with compliance issues where more than one entity will participate in that project, because it's not a competitive issue. Compliance isn't competitive. Everyone's got to do it,” Tully said.

For Actuate it's not so much about diversifying the firm's business as it is about making sure that the business itself is still around in the years to come. Automating simple compliance procedures frees up essential personnel in the firm to devote more attention to cases requiring human insight.

“I think that [for] law firms to survive into the next generation they have to embrace and start doing stuff like this or they won't survive into the next generation,” Tully said.