Deepak Kapoor is the Founder & CEO of Manupatra, India’s pioneering corporate in legal publishing and the first legaltech company in the country. In this interview with Asia Law Portal, he shares insights on the legal tech landscape and his journey in establishing and leading India’s first online legal research platform.
How has the legal tech landscape evolved since the inception of your company in 2000, and what role has your company played in shaping this evolution?
Since Manupatra’s inception in 2000, the legal tech landscape has undergone significant evolution. Initially, legal tech primarily focused on digitizing legal information and making it accessible online. However, over the years, the industry has seen a shift towards more sophisticated technologies and solutions aimed at enhancing legal practice efficiency, improving access to justice, and reducing costs. Manupatra has been at the cusp, given that we have been around before the term “legal tech” was coined. Needless to say thus, Manupatra has played a significant role in shaping the legal tech landscape.
Manupatra introduced online legal research in India, revolutionizing how legal professionals access and utilize legal information. This move significantly increased the speed and efficiency of legal research, saving practitioners valuable time. Manupatra has continuously innovated its online legal research platform to meet the evolving needs of legal professionals. This includes introducing new features, such as advanced search capabilities, analytics, visualisation, custom alerts, collaborative research etc.
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Over the years, Manupatra has expanded its product portfolio to offer a comprehensive suite of solutions for legal professionals. This includes tools for compliance management, contract drafting, litigation support, IPR management and more, catering to a wide range of legal needs.
Manupatra has played a role in promoting digital inclusion in the legal tech industry by making its products accessible to a wide range of users, including small law firms, solo practitioners, and law students. This has helped democratize access to legal information and tools, levelling the playing field for legal professionals. Our latest inclusion has been incorporating the Neutral Citations being assigned by respective courts across all judgements.
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Last but not the least, through initiatives like webinars, events, and publications, Manupatra has contributed to thought leadership in the legal tech space, fostering discussions and sharing insights on the latest trends and developments, helping to transform how legal professionals work and interact with legal information.
As a pioneer in online legal research in India, what challenges did you face initially, and how did you overcome them to establish a market-leading position?
One of the biggest challenges we faced was the initial skepticism and reluctance of people to trust online services, especially given that Manupatra was launched during the dotcom bust era. The non-availability of quality internet connectivity (we are talking about dial-up days) posed a significant barrier, hindering the adoption of online legal research platforms. The dotcom bust also discouraged potential candidates from considering employment with online or internet-based businesses. Manupatra pioneered online legal research in India, which meant that there were no existing businesses from where we could hire trained staff. We had to set up everything from scratch, including processes, procedures, and training the team.
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To overcome these challenges, we focused on building trust among users by ensuring the accuracy, reliability, and comprehensiveness of the database. We invested in training the subscribers, which included teaching them how to use computers and printers in the initial years. Implementing agile methodologies, we refined processes based on feedback received and lessons learned. Manupatra continuously innovated its platform by being responsive to user feedback, which helped in attracting new users and retaining existing ones. Hiring continues to be a pain area given that we look for high potential candidates, but it is something we have learnt to take in the stride.
Can you elaborate on how your flagship product, the online legal research analytics database, has revolutionized legal research for lawyers and legal professionals in India?
Our flagship product is http://www.manupatra.com, the online legal database, search, and analytics platform. Manupatra pioneered the electronic accessibility and search of legal, statutory, regulatory, procedural, and business documents dating back to 1833. It provides access to both Indian and international content databases. In addition to the most comprehensive and exhaustive database, Manupatra provides industry-leading search and tools to make legal research easier, faster and more intuitive.
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Lawyers, law firms, the judiciary, government entities and corporate legal departments, as well as law students, trust Manupatra. We help them navigate the law faster and smarter, increasing productivity, improving decision-making and outcomes, and generating value for their organizations.
Legal Analytics, a visualization tool using AI, has become one of our most sought-after features.
In what ways does your company stay ahead of the curve in terms of technological advancements and innovation, particularly in the context of offering cutting-edge solutions to legal professionals?
We engage in research and development to explore emerging technologies and trends in the legal tech industry. This enables us to anticipate future needs and develop innovative solutions ahead of the curve. Our commitment to user feedback and extensive user testing ensures that our products are intuitive, user-friendly, and effectively address the real challenges encountered by legal professionals. This user-centric approach enables us to continuously enhance our solutions and remain relevant in the market.
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We have adopted cloud computing and mobility to offer our users access to our platform at any time, from anywhere, and on any device. Additionally, we prioritize cybersecurity and data privacy in all our solutions. This commitment has enabled Manupatra to maintain its position as a leading online legal research platform, even as numerous internationally established players entered the Indian market afterwards.
Could you share some insights into the future of legal tech, especially in India, and how your company is prepared to leverage emerging technologies to continue providing top-notch solutions?
With the introduction of artificial intelligence, generative and interactive AI and other large language models, industry will surely witness very drastic changes. This means automated chatbots, AI powered drafting and analysis, risk mitigation, reports etc. We are already receiving queries and requests on using AI in our tools to make the legal process easier and effortless than it already is. The challenge lies in bringing an ethical balance between power of artificial intelligence and human touch and expertise. Someone has to be accountable for the actions of AI in some manner as the accuracy is not yet 100%. The self-learning models also pose a challenge in terms of privacy and confidentiality of the client data as the model will train itself on the client’s data and everyone wants to reap the benefits and advantages of AI but no one wants to be involved or be accountable for the training and building process of it.
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To ensure we are able to stay prepared for the changing trends due to emerging technologies, we study them and the ongoing trends and demands in the market to not just stay informed and prepared but to also ensure that our business practices and policies continuously meet the changing industry standards for quality and security of features and products. Where AI is concerned, we are still in very early stages of the discussion and decision on how to use it in our products.
How does your company ensure the accuracy, reliability, and relevance of the legal information provided through your platform, considering the dynamic nature of legal regulations and precedents?
We have a team of legal experts who curate and verify the legal information on our platform. These professionals possess extensive experience in their respective fields and are dedicated to ensuring the accuracy and currency of the information. While we utilize technology wherever possible, human supervision is always maintained.
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Our platform is continuously monitored for legal developments, including changes in regulations and precedents to ensure the ongoing relevance of our information. Additionally, we have implemented a feedback mechanism that allows users to report any inaccuracies or outdated information they encounter. This feedback is instrumental in improving the accuracy and reliability of our platform.
Stringent quality control processes are also in place to review and verify the accuracy of the legal information before it is made accessible to users.
Can you discuss any recent collaborations or partnerships your company has undertaken to enhance its offerings and provide more comprehensive solutions to its users?
Manupatra Academy recently collaborated with GNLU, RV University, and NLU Delhi to organize a unique event series that brought together law teachers and professionals. The aim was to discuss the enhancement and development of legal education, as well as the career prospects and knowledge of students. The Law Teachers Conclave 2023-2024 was highly successful, with over 500 law teachers and professionals from across India in attendance. To further amplify the reach of our ventures, we also periodically conduct informative and insightful webinars (so that people can attend from anywhere) inviting industry experts to discuss and share their views and experiences related to trending topics. For example, we recently concluded a 2-part webinar series with Kanan Dhru, professor at The Hague, Netherlands on AI in Legal Education and Law Practice and have many more such webinars planned for the year.
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In addition, our flagship and suite of other SaaS products are integrated with leading industry products. For example, our contract lifecycle management product, manucontract, offers digital signature functionality through eMudhra and DocuSign.
What strategies does your company employ to ensure that legal professionals are well-trained and equipped to maximize the benefits of your products and services, particularly in terms of workflow solutions?
Our sales and outreach team, with years of experience, excels in conducting training and workshops across various locations in India. Their goal is not only to demonstrate how Manupatra and its products work but also to raise awareness about the importance of integrating technology into legal processes. This integration is crucial for staying competitive in the industry and competing effectively with others. These training sessions are conducted both in-person and online to ensure broad reach.
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Many of our online training sessions are also uploaded to YouTube, where they can be accessed for free by anyone. These videos showcase the various ways in which technology can benefit legal professionals and students, including how Manupatra leverages technology to achieve these benefits.
How does your company approach the customization of its solutions to cater to the specific needs and preferences of different segments within the legal profession, such as law firms, individual practitioners, and corporate legal departments?
We design our products to give organizations full control over how the tool functions for their specific needs. This includes setting up organizational hierarchies, assigning and managing work, conducting quality control and assurance, interacting with external parties, and preparing for regular meetings. This flexible approach to solution building has been successful and continues to attract new users to our products.
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Additionally, Manupatra offers all its SaaS users the option to provide us with their specific needs within our tool. We then customize the tool to meet their exact requirements. This customization is particularly useful for organizations that prefer on-premise solutions over web-based ones. Our SaaS products are designed to allow for a smooth transition from web-based to on-premise solutions.
