Leading South African law firm, Webber Wentzel, has adopted Luminance’s artificial intelligence technology to enhance its due diligence processes for M&A transactions. The agreement marks another major international win for the fast-growing AI platform.

The firm, which recently dominated the 17th Annual Dealmakers Awards, winning M&A, Africa as well as BEE Legal Adviser of the Year 2017 by deal value, chose to deploy Luminance due to its ability to effortlessly aid the work of its legal teams. Webber Wentzel particularly values the platform’s built-in collaboration tools which will allow its lawyers to quickly group and assign documents, track live progress, and significantly reduce the amount of time spent organising workflow.

'Webber Wentzel has been using a number of innovative technology solutions to continuously improve efficiencies and add value when we deliver our legal services to our clients. Machine learning technology is the next step in our journey, focusing on enhancing the management and review of increasingly large volumes of documents,' says Celia Pienaar, Legal Project Manager who oversees alternative resourcing at Webber Wentzel's Legal Services Centre. 'Luminance’s advanced machine learning streamlines due diligence and similar high volume processes. Its unique Visualise dashboard provides an immediate, holistic understanding of the data room content. We’re excited to deploy Luminance across the firm and work with our clients to further enhance the top-tier service they have come to expect of our brand.'

'Webber Wentzel understands the importance of innovation in the legal sector, and we are thrilled to welcome them as the first South African law firm to adopt our language agnostic technology,' added Emily Foges, CEO of Luminance. 'Luminance provides legal teams with an instant, unparalleled insight into the data room, and we’re delighted that our platform will assist Webber Wentzel’s lawyers on many of South Africa’s largest and most complex transactions.'

'Our investment in Luminance comes at a time when Webber Wentzel is celebrating 150 years in business. This investment is just another example of the constant innovation that has been at the heart of the firm's success,' says Sally Hutton, Managing Partner at Webber Wentzel.

Luminance uses advanced machine learning techniques from the University of Cambridge to automatically sort, cluster and classify a data room, pinpointing even subtle differences between contracts so that hidden risks can be uncovered early on in a transaction. The company launched in September 2016 and has over 70 customers across 18 countries.

About Webber Wentzel

Founded in 1868, Webber Wentzel is a leading South African full-service law firm providing clients with innovative solutions to their most complex legal and tax issues across Sub-Saharan Africa. With over 450 lawyers in Johannesburg and Cape Town, our multi-disciplinary expertise is consistently ranked top-tier in leading directories and awards, both in South Africa and on the continent. Our collaborative alliance with Linklaters and our deep relationships with outstanding law firms across Africa provide clients with market-leading support wherever they do business. Core to the ethos of our firm is the belief that diversity is the key to delivering effective legal services in South Africa. In harnessing the varied experiences and perspectives of our people we are collectively able to offer our clients a unique and tailored service. For more information visit www.webberwentzel.com or follow us on twitter: @WebberWentzel.