On Tuesday, legal training platform AltaClaro announced that its group training feedback tool Benchmark360 has completed its pilot program and is now available to all of AltaClaro’s client base.

Benchmark360 was created to give participants more comprehensive feedback following the completion of AltaClaro’s group setting legal training, where law firm and AltaClaro instructors lead a team of law firm staff through various lessons.

Since AltaClaro’s inception in 2019, the company has provided in-person and online training materials for law firms such as Husch Blackwell, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Taft Stettinius & Hollister. Developed in partnership with client K&L Gates, AltaClaro unveiled a new generative artificial intelligence-focused course back in September.

What is it: Benchmark360 is a tool that extracts data from AltaClaro’s group training sessions to create individualized feedback for each participant and streamline an evaluation for law firm and AltaClaro instructors.

The tool is essentially a rubric based on the results of assignments completed by participating associates. "It gives the associate consistent objective feedback on their simulation assignments. So they identify where their gaps and strengths are," AltaClaro founder and CEO Abdi Shayesteh said.

He added, “We used to do it handmade, and now what we're doing is we're leveraging a platform we built at the first blush to look at the assignment and assess where the associate came out based on that rubric, but the instructors still review the submissions to then add to it or tweak it before it gets to the associates."

AltaClaro Benchmark360


Why it’s needed: Shayesteh noted that he's seen law firms be challenged with "the time-consuming and inconsistent nature of individual partner feedback."

What's more, before the creation of Benchmark360, it was difficult for training instructors to give targeted, individualized feedback to each participant during group instruction.

“Instructors, they review the assignments and they've been coming to the sessions giving tailored feedback on what they saw, but it's always been very general, you don't want to call out people in the session,” Shayesteh said.

He added that while group feedback is helpful, data-driven feedback is more detailed, making Benchmark360 more insightful.

The Benchmark360 output can also be used to help managers and firms better understand and assist associates in getting the specific mentoring they need.

Under the hood: Benchmark360 uses different generative AI models to evaluate data based on training assignments.

“We currently use a secure enterprise RAG platform that supports OpenAI and Anthropic. Our results are generated by a blend of GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet models,” Shayesteh said.

Competition: Other training platforms such as Hotshot also provide in-person and online learning materials for legal training. Hotshot's clientele includes Cooley, Paul Hastings, and others.

AltaClaro says it stands out by having its own vetted instructors that go through assignments with associates during their group training.

“Issue by issue, the instructor is giving feedback: here's what you did well, here's what you should focus on, here's why, and all of these issues are not just related to the assignment, but there's a rubric around the core competencies of where the deficiencies could be,” Shayesteh said.