Blackletter, a Toronto and New York law firm founded by former Cohere and Blue J executives, has raised US$6 million to expand a practice that pairs fixed fees with AI software built for its own lawyers.
Lerer Hippeau led the round, with participation from Cohere co-founders Aidan Gomez, Nick Frosst and Ivan Zhang.
Co-founders Jonathan Rosenbluth and David Stewart previously worked in product and engineering at Cohere. Their third co-founder, Avi Brudner, was chief operating officer at Toronto legaltech company Blue J. Rosenbluth told BetaKit that his experience buying legal services at Cohere helped shape the business. He believed AI could improve the work but saw little difference from the client’s side of the table.
An acquisition shows how the model works. Blackletter says it quotes a fixed fee upfront based on the complexity of the transaction. Its software, BlackletterOS, tracks the matter from intake through delivery and retains the client’s preferences for future work. A senior lawyer takes responsibility for the advice, and the client can call or email without adding to an hourly bill.
Blackletter names Toronto-based Ada, TwelveLabs and Fanatics among its clients. It plans to use the funding to hire lawyers and engineers as it expands its corporate, commercial, employment and transactional work.