London, May 24, 2024 – Hence Technologies announces that it has been accepted into the most prestigious law firm accelerator, A&O Shearman’s Fuse. Hence will use its time at Fuse to perfect its new geolegal product suite, which helps law firms and companies stay ahead of global developments and geopolitics via a first-of-its-kind software platform.
The new geolegal product digests global events and connects them to legal risks in real-time. Such software will help law firms get ahead of the curve in helping their clients. It will help corporate legal departments with integrating world events and politics into their legal work. The platform will also aid the executive leadership of smaller companies, including those without legal departments, to better manage and take action to mitigate the risks they face from politics and legal action.
Development of the product stems from the success of Geolegal Notes, Hence’s weekly analytical briefing linking geopolitics to legal affairs. Sean West, co-founder of Hence and author of Geolegal Notes, was previously Global Deputy CEO at top geopolitical risk firm Eurasia Group.
“The scale of general counsels and law firm partners who rushed to sign up for our analysis of global affairs and legal risk underscored that there was a big gap in the market for actionable geopolitical advice for the legal sector,” says West. “However, there’s only so much the best analysts can cover through human monitoring. To address this, we created software that can digest the world as it happens and provide actionable insights for risk mitigation, especially those risks that manifest through the legal vector.”
Hence determined that the best way to refine its product would be to collaborate with top global law firms like A&O Shearman. Hence is part of a group of 19 companies who have been invited to join A&O Shearman’s Fuse accelerator this year, selected from among over 230 applications to Fuse’s LegalTech stream.
“We’re really excited to partner with A&O Shearman through Fuse in order to build a world class risk detection and management system on top of our Palantir Foundry backbone,” says Hence Co-Founder Stephen Heitkamp, who was previously a senior leader at software company Palantir Technologies and who has an extensive background in risk management.
Hence has earned a reputation as one of the most innovative companies producing technology for the legal sector. Last year, Hence won Zurich Insurance’s Global Innovation Championship, prevailing over 3,500 companies in that competition, with software that matches lawyers to insurance claims in real-time, driving material savings.
Hence was founded in the United Kingdom in 2020. In addition to its UK headquarters, Hence has offices in the US, the Netherlands and Rwanda, where it has built a world-class engineering team from across Africa.
Hence’s core software offering is a Strategic Legal Management platform which brings outside counsel management, case management, matter management and legal intake together into a system oriented to align legal departments with the strategic imperatives of their businesses. With the addition of geopolitics, the platform has no peer in the industry.
Companies interested in gaining first access to the Geolegal suite should register by contacting [email protected], and subscribe to Geolegal Notes to stay informed on the latest developments surrounding the intersection of geopolitics, law and technology.
About Hence Technologies:
Hence’s award-winning technology, which is built on Palantir Foundry, is a strategic legal management (SLM) platform that manages the work of in-house legal teams and law firms in a connected and integrated way. This ranges from outside counsel management to litigation management to geopolitical risk management. Hence has helped some of the largest corporations in the world transform their legal department into a source of competitive advantage. In addition to its UK headquarters, Hence has offices in the US, the Netherlands and Rwanda, where it has built a world-class engineering team from across Africa. For more information, please visit www.hence.ai or follow Hence on LinkedIn.
About A&O Shearman:
Fuse is A&O Shearman’s technology innovation hub. Fuse identifies cutting-edge LegalTech, RegTech and DealTech companies that are strategically important to A&O Shearman’s lawyers and their clients.
A&O Shearman is an international legal practice with nearly 4,000 lawyers, including some 800 partners, working in 29 countries worldwide. A current list of A&O Shearman offices is available at aoshearman.com/en/global-coverage.
