In
the
legal
profession,
where
cases
can
turn
on
the
interpretation
of
a
comma,
global
organizations
need
the
highest-quality
tools
to
communicate
across
languages,
cultures,
and
markets.
Enter
DeepL,
a
leading
global
Language
AI
company
offering
translation
and
writing
tools
used
by
over
100,000
businesses
and
governments
around
the
world
across
multiple
industries,
including
the
legal
field.
DeepL’s
AI
tools
have
become
a
critical
investment
for
companies
today,
addressing
a
variety
of
communication
challenges
ranging
from
internal
communications
between
teams
to
contract
drafting
and
legal
correspondence
support.
Here,
we
talk
with
Frankie
Williams,
DeepL’s
Chief
Legal
Officer,
who
sheds
light
on
how
law
firms
are
already
using
this
technology
—
and
how
AI
is
making
broader
inroads
in
the
industry.
Frankie
Williams
ATL:
You’ve
been
in
the
innovation
and
startup
world
for
several
years
now,
leading
multiple
companies
through
successful
IPOs,
but
you’ve
joined
DeepL
more
recently.
What
attracted
you
to
this
company
and
role?
FW:
I
spent
just
over
a
decade
advising
clients
on
international
M&A
transactions,
and
in
2013
I
joined
King,
the
mobile
game
developer
that
makes
Candy
Crush
—
a
huge
culture
shock
after
so
many
years
in
law
firms!
We
listed
on
the
NYSE
in
2014
and
were
acquired
by
Activision
Blizzard
in
2016.
I
went
on
to
spend
over
five
years
at
luxury
ecommerce
platform
Farfetch,
including
working
on
the
group’s
restructuring
and
listing
on
the
NYSE
at
$5.8
in
September
2018.
During
those
years,
I
thrived
in
the
scaling
phase
of
building
teams
and
structures
to
mature,
which
is
what
attracted
me
to
DeepL.
I
was
also
drawn
to
DeepL
by
its
mission
to
break
down
language
barriers
for
businesses,
which
is
particularly
tangible
for
me
because
we
have
many
clients
who
are
legal
teams
and
law
firms.
Much
of
the
conventional
wisdom
in
legal
tech
is
that
2024
has
marked
a
transition
from
an
AI
hype
cycle
to
the
emergence
of
concrete
use
cases.
What
do
you
make
of
this
idea?
This
is
a
trend
that
is
becoming
increasingly
evident
in
the
broader
context
of
AI
adoption
among
businesses
globally,
as
well
as
in
the
legal
industry
specifically.
There
has
been
a
growing
public
interest
in
AI,
particularly
in
the
last
year,
and
I
think
many
legal
leaders
are
now
realizing
that
the
real
value
of
AI
is
in
its
practical,
specific
applications
that
are
proven
to
address
real
challenges
and
improve
efficiency,
access,
and
decision-making.
Recent research from
LexisNexis
found
that
75%
of
the
legal
leaders
surveyed
have
used
generative
AI
tools,
either
personally
or
professionally,
with
many
believing
generative
AI
technology
will
decrease
costs
and
increase
revenue.
Lawyers
(me
included!)
are
certainly
becoming
more
comfortable
with
the
technology;
I
think
the
question
now
isn’t
whether
we
should
be
using
it,
but
rather,
which
AI
tools
will
dominate
in
the
legal
market.
Can
you
explain
the
benefits
of
AI
translation
and
writing
tools
for
lawyers
and
legal
firms?
What
challenges
do
these
tools
help
address
in
the
legal
field
today?
In
today’s
interconnected
world,
accurate
communication
is
more
important
than
ever.
DeepL
is
purpose-built
to
help
businesses
address
language
and
communication
challenges
with
our
suite
of
specialized
AI
translation
and
writing
services.
DeepL
addresses
several
common
challenges
faced
by
the
legal
sector,
including
understanding
information
in
non-native
languages,
translating
documents
accurately,
and
maintaining
high
writing
quality.
Our
legal
customers
use
DeepL
to
translate
and
process
contracts,
simplify
communication
with
clients
and
suppliers,
improve
internal
communication,
and
support
research
reports
and
publications.
By
enabling
more
accurate
and
precise
communication
with
clients
in
different
languages,
law
firms
can
improve
client
service
and
responsiveness.
For
in-house
legal
teams,
DeepL
is
also
used
for
the
creation
of
communications,
including
translated
compliance
documents,
policies
and
other
essential
materials,
aiding
understanding
and
compliance.
By
automating
routine
linguistic
tasks,
in-house
teams,
like
my
own,
can
increase
productivity
and
free
up
time
to
focus
on
strategic
initiatives
that
drive
greater
business
value.
According
to
our
customer
research,
the
vast
majority
of
legal
department
users
say
that
DeepL
speeds
up
their
work
and
improves
writing
quality.
A 2024
Forrester
Consulting
study found
that
one
legal
firm
using
DeepL
was
able
to
cut
the
time
spent
translating
a
two-
to
three-page
document
from
2-3
hours
to
under
15
minutes,
thanks
to
our
automation
and
document
upload
features.
Contract
drafting
and
other
legal
tasks
require
an
extreme
precision
of
language,
likely
beyond
that
required
by
just
about
any
other
profession.
How
does
AI
address
this
need
for
precision
in
translating
legal
documents
and
messages?
In
today’s
highly
litigious
world,
where
every
word
carries
significant
weight,
it
is
more
critical
than
ever
to
ensure
precision
in
translation
and
writing.
In
our
translation
quality
blind
tests
with
external
professional
translators
in
2024,
DeepL’s
translation
tools
were
preferred
over
competitors
at
a
rate
of
1.3x
more
than
Google
Translate,
1.7x
more
than
ChatGPT-4,
and
2.3x
more
than
Microsoft.
In
the
same
testing
DeepL
translations
required
2x
fewer
edits
than
Google
Translate
and
3x
fewer
edits
than
ChatGPT-4.
We
meet
the
need
for
precision
through
several
unique
capabilities:
-
Advanced,
highly
specialized
large
language
model:
The
DeepL
platform
is
built
on
next-generation
LLM
technology
that
is
uniquely
tuned
for
language,
resulting
in
more
human-like
translations
and
writing
for
a
variety
of
use
cases
with
a
reduced
risk
of
hallucinations
and
misinformation. -
Proprietary
data
for
specific,
contextual
understanding:
Unlike
general
purpose
models
that
simply
train
on
the
public
internet,
the
DeepL
model
leverages
over
seven
years
of
proprietary
data
specifically
tuned
for
content
creation
and
translation. -
Human
model
tutoring:
With
a
focus
on
quality,
the
DeepL
model
leverages
thousands
of
hand-picked
language
experts
specifically
trained
to
“tutor”
the
model
to
best-in-class
translation.
Our
products
offer
extensive
customization
options.
Through
features
like
DeepL
glossaries,
legal
teams
can
tailor
translations
by
specifying
the
preferred
translations
of
words
and
phrases
for
specific
contexts.
We
recently
enhanced
our
glossary
functionality
to
include
the
industry’s
first
automatic
glossary
generator,
which
streamlines
the
translation
process
for
documents
containing
critical
brand
terms.
Our
translations
can
be
adjusted
to
align
with
the
desired
tone
of
voice,
depending
on
the
target
audience.
And
I
understand
DeepL
offers
more
than
just
AI-powered
translation
tools,
like
DeepL
Write.
Can
you
talk
about
these
other
DeepL
solutions,
and
how
lawyers
and
legal
firms
could
integrate
them
into
their
workflows?
In
2017,
we
launched
our
flagship
product,
DeepL
Translate,
which
has
become
our
signature
product.
However,
we
continue
to
invest
heavily
in
research
and
innovation
to
build
out
our
capabilities.
In
April
this
year,
we
launched DeepL
Write
Pro,
an
AI
writing
assistant
that
provides
writers
with
real-time
suggestions
on
phrasing,
style,
and
tone
while
understanding
the
context
of
business
communication.
DeepL
Write
Pro
acts
as
a
creative
assistant
to
writers
in
the
drafting
process,
elevating
their
text
with
real-time
AI-powered
suggestions
on
word
choice,
phrasing,
style
(simple,
business,
academic,
or
casual),
and
tone
(such
as
enthusiastic,
friendly,
confident,
or
diplomatic),
helping
to
ensure
the
professional
quality
of
writing,
enhancing
clarity
and
consistency.
A
lawyer’s
work
is
often
text-intensive.
I
find
DeepL
Write
Pro
an
invaluable
tool
that
enables
me
to
produce
precise,
high-quality,
and
consistent
writing
while
reducing
errors
and
improving
drafts.
I
particularly
like
the
new
“Shorten”
feature
which
helps
counter
my
lawyer
tendency
to
be
overly
verbose
to
ensure
my
communications
to
my
internal
clients
is
succinct
and
to
the
point.
Of
course,
security
concerns
are
at
the
core
of
using
AI
in
the
legal
industry.
Can
you
walk
us
through
some
of
DeepL’s
privacy
and
security
safeguards?
What
makes
Deepl
unique?
The
protection
of
our
customers’
data
is
at
the
heart
of
DeepL’s
mission
and
product
offering.
Our
customer
base
is
diverse,
including
businesses
in
highly
regulated
sectors
such
as
financial
services
and
the
legal
industry,
and
ensuring
the
confidentiality
and
security
of
their
data
is
incredibly
important
to
us.
We
adhere
to
the
highest
enterprise-grade
privacy
and
security
standards
to
protect
user
data
—
these
include
state-of-the-art
data
encryption
and
the
General
Data
Protection
Regulation
(GDPR),
ISO
27001,
and
SOC
2
Type
2
standards.
We
do
not
use
any
text
from
our
subscribers
to
enhance
our
AI
models,
understanding
that
many
of
our
users
translate
sensitive
information.
Everyone
with
a
smartphone
can
download
Google
Translate
for
free
these
days,
getting
basic
language
translation
services.
What
does
a
more
sophisticated
service
like
DeepL
do
that
Google
Translate
cannot,
particularly
for
lawyers?
What
technology
powers
Deepl’s
advantages
here?
While
the
free
general-purpose
translation
services
tools
you
mentioned
may
work
well
enough
for
casual
use
cases
like
talking
to
friends
or
reading
articles
in
other
languages,
DeepL
offers
specialized
AI-based
translation
and
writing
tools
that
are
secure,
sophisticated,
and
designed
specifically
for
business
and
corporate
use
cases
where
the
stakes
are
far
higher.
This
differentiation
is
critical
for
law
firms
and
legal
teams.
Unlike
general-purpose
AI
systems,
DeepL’s
cutting-edge
translation
and
writing
solutions
rely
on
specialized
AI
models
tuned
specifically
for
language
—
we
combine
the
expertise
of
world-class
AI
and
ML
research
and
engineering
with
the
knowledge
of
thousands
of
leading
linguists
to
uniquely
specialize
in
complex
language
tasks.
As
I
mentioned
earlier,
privacy
and
security
are
also
central
to
our
offering.
We
adhere
to
the
highest
standards
and
state-of-the-art
data
encryption,
which
are
always
priorities
for
our
legal
sector
customers.
Now,
aside
from
your
own
company,
what
new
applications
of
gen
AI
do
you
think
will
be
most
transformative
for
the
legal
industry
in
the
immediate
future?
And
do
you
have
any
long-term
predictions?
I
am
very
excited
about
the
potential
of
AI
to
improve
the
ways
that
lawyers
work.
My
team
is
using
a
chatbot,
with
great
success,
to
answer
routine
and
repeated
questions
in
relation
to
our
customer
contracts
and
also
general
legal
questions
(particularly
successfully
in
fields
where
there
is
a
large
bank
of
law
and
guidance,
like
privacy)
—
saving
my
lawyers’
time
for
more
complex
and
strategic
work.
The
ability
to
extract
large
quantities
of
data
by
simply
uploading
documents
is
also
a
game
changer.
We
will
find
considerably
more
exciting
and
empowering
tasks
for
junior
lawyers
than
the
due
diligence
review
of
reams
of
contracts
to
which
I
was
subjected
in
the
early
2000s!
I
think
long-term
predictions
in
a
field
as
fast-moving
as
AI
are
inadvisable
—
when
I
was
a
junior
lawyer
the
sorts
of
tools
that
are
already
commonplace
would
have
looked
like
science
fiction!