Read time: under 7 minutes

This week captured the split-screen of legal AI. On one side, Harvey is reportedly targeting a fresh $200M at an $11B valuation, signaling investor conviction that AI-native research and drafting are moving from pilots to platform bets. On the other, the Victorian Law Reform Commission urged bright lines in the judiciary, use AI for admin, not for rulings, underscoring that legitimacy still rests with human judgment. Inside BigLaw, Baker McKenzie is preparing support-role reductions as automation reshapes operations, even as attackers exploit the same tech to mass-clone more than 150 law firm websites. And markets blinked when Anthropic rolled out new Claude Cowork plugins, reminding vendors from Thomson Reuters to LegalZoom that product moats will be tested in the productivity layer.

The takeaway: fund what compounds (data, governance, review workflows), document your AI boundaries, and harden brand defenses, because capital is accelerating even as scrutiny and adversaries do too.

➡️ Harvey Eyes $200M Raise at $11B Valuation | Legal AI startup Harvey is reportedly in talks to raise about $200 million at an $11 billion valuation, a sharp jump from its $8 billion valuation just two months ago. The company provides AI tools for legal research, drafting, and document analysis, with adoption across major law firms and corporate legal teams. Rapid growth, including roughly $190 million in annual recurring revenue and more than 1,000 customers, reflects continued investor confidence in legal AI, even as competition intensifies from both startups and major AI platform providers.
^{Feb 10, 2026, Source: Forbes}

➡️ Australia Considers Limits on AI in Courts | The Victorian Law Reform Commission has recommended banning the use of AI in judicial decision-making, while proposing broader guidelines to ensure safe adoption of AI across courts and tribunals. Its report, which includes 30 recommendations, supports AI for administrative tasks such as transcription, research, and document review but warns that reliance on AI for judicial rulings could undermine independence, accuracy, and public trust. The commission also called for training, governance frameworks, and ongoing monitoring as AI use in the legal system expands.
^{Feb 8, 2026, Source: Australasian Lawyer}

➡️ Baker McKenzie Plans Support Role Cuts Amid AI Shift | Baker McKenzie is preparing to reduce some business services roles globally as it increases reliance on AI and restructures support functions. While exact numbers are unconfirmed, reports suggest fewer than 10% of roles, roughly 600 positions, could be affected, particularly in areas such as marketing and secretarial support. The firm says some roles will be phased out while others evolve as it seeks efficiency and agility, reflecting a wider trend across major law firms where AI adoption is reshaping operational and support roles.
^{Feb 6, 2026, Source: Legal Cheek}

➡️ AI-Powered Scam Clones 150+ Law Firm Websites | Researchers have uncovered a large-scale fraud campaign using AI to clone more than 150 law firm websites, creating convincing impersonations designed to target victims of previous scams. The network uses tactics such as rotating IP addresses, multiple registrars, and infrastructure masking to evade detection and takedowns. Experts warn that AI is lowering the barrier for sophisticated online fraud, enabling criminals to produce convincing fake professional sites at scale and increasing the risk of targeted phishing, data theft, and repeat financial scams.
^{Feb 5, 2026, Source: Security Week}

➡️ New AI Tool Triggers Software Stock Jitters | Shares in several software and legal-tech companies fell after Anthropic launched new plugins for its Claude Cowork AI assistant, which some investors see as a potential alternative to established enterprise tools. Firms including Thomson Reuters, LegalZoom, RELX, Salesforce, and Workday saw notable declines before partial recovery, reflecting broader uncertainty about how quickly AI could disrupt existing software markets. Analysts remain divided, with some warning of increased competition and volatility, while others say large enterprises are unlikely to abandon current platforms in the near term.
^{Feb 5, 2026, Source: ABC News}

Future Contracts Miami is set to take place on February 25, 2026, at the Newman Alumni Centre, University of Miami.   

See full agenda, speaker lineup via  https://www.futurecontractsmiami.com/ 

A special offer for vendors is available at 10% using the code: LWFC-M1

The one-day conference will bring together legal professionals from in-house teams, private practice, legal operations, and legal technology to discuss how contracting is being reshaped by automation, artificial intelligence, and evolving commercial expectations.

Sessions will examine practical approaches to drafting, negotiating, and managing contracts, as well as the growing role of contract data and technology in supporting business outcomes.

Future Contracts Miami is organised by Cosmonauts as part of its international legal innovation event portfolio.

Ask any solo or boutique lawyer how much time they spend searching for clauses, verifying edits, or wrangling Word documents, and the answer will probably be “too much”. That’s the concern that led Lexifina to enter the legal technology scene: not as a writing tool, but as a drafting assistant designed to seamlessly plug into legal professionals’ workspace. This involves Word-based workflows, granular clause-level control, and built-in redlining that reflects live client, jurisdiction, and firm data.

This week, The Legal Wire spoke with CEO and founder of Lexifina, Alan Yahya, about building a disciplined, Word-native drafting and review environment designed specifically for solo and boutique law firms.

TLW: Alan, Lexifina treats legal documents as ‘first-class citizens.’ How does that shift in framing influence how the platform approaches redlining, version control, and drafting workflows?

Alan: “The key is to strongly enforce the structure and the relationships in a document. As anyone who has worked with low-level file formats can attest, this requires a tremendous amount of effort but is central to unlocking precise and relevant redlining. For example, this allows us to prevent seemingly similar clauses from being re-used, when the surrounding context is significantly different.”

Click here to continue reading the full interview

The AI Regulation Tracker offers a clickable global map that gives you instant snapshots of how each country is handling AI laws, along with the most recent policy developments.

The most recent developments from the past week:

📋 9 February 2026 | Commission notifies Meta of possible interim measures to reverse exclusion of third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp: The EC has issued a Statement of Objections to Meta regarding its preliminary finding that the company breached EU antitrust rules by excluding third-party general-purpose AI assistants from the WhatsApp platform. Following a policy update announced in October 2025 and implemented in January 2026, Meta allegedly leveraged its dominant position in the EEA market for consumer communication applications to favor its own tool, Meta AI, while effectively banning competitors. The Commission argues that WhatsApp serves as a critical entry point for reaching consumers and that Meta’s restrictive conduct poses an urgent risk of serious and irreparable harm by raising entry barriers and marginalizing smaller rivals. The Commission intends to impose interim measures under Article 8(1) of Regulation 1/2003 to protect market competition while the formal investigation continues.

📋 9 February 2026 | ASEAN leaders convene to operationalise Singapore's new Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI: ASEAN leaders from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines have initiated a collaborative effort to implement Singapore's newly introduced Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI. This framework, announced by Singapore's Minister for Digital Development and Information, Josephine Teo, at the World Economic Forum, is the first of its kind globally, providing comprehensive guidelines for the responsible deployment of autonomous AI agents. The initiative aims to address emerging compliance challenges as AI oversight tightens across the region. The framework emphasizes assessing and managing risks, maintaining human accountability, implementing technical controls, and ensuring end-user responsibility.

📋 6 February 2026 | US, China opt out of joint declaration on AI use in military: Thirty-five countries have signed a declaration at the Responsible AI in the Military Domain (REAIM) summit in A Coruña, Spain, establishing 20 principles for the governed deployment of AI in warfare. While major signatories such as Canada, France, Britain, and South Korea affirmed human responsibility over AI weapons and the necessity of clear command chains, China and the US opted out of the non-binding agreement. The declaration, which includes guidelines on risk assessments, national oversight sharing, and personnel training, saw a decrease in endorsement compared to previous summits in The Hague and Seoul, reflecting growing hesitation amid geopolitical uncertainty and the challenge of balancing innovation with the prevention of unintended military escalation.

🆕 Navys - Legal operating system for funds. Every transfer step, in one streamlined process.

🆕 BePrepared - Provides law firms a secure, firm-branded digital vault—to confidentially store access to your clients’ phones, computers, email accounts and other digital assets for efficient probate and estate administration.

🆕 realLaw AI - All UAE business & free zone laws in one platform. For UAE lawyers, accountants & tax specialists, HR & compliance teams, and business owners.

Want more Legal AI Tools? Check out our
Top AI Tools for Legal Professionals

Why it helps: Turns raw audio into a clear record: summary, decisions, and dated action items.

The Responsible AI Collaborative is a not‑for‑profit organization working to present real‑world AI harms through its Artificial Intelligence Incident Database.

View the latest reported incidents below:

⚠️ 2025-10-15 | ICE Facial Recognition App Mobile Fortify Reportedly Misidentified Woman Twice During Immigration Enforcement in Oregon | View Incident

⚠️ 2025-07-09 | Urban VPN Proxy Browser Extension Reportedly Harvested and Sold Private AI Chatbot Conversations via Silent Update | View Incident

⚠️ 2025-03-04 | Reported Deepfake Influencers on TikTok Allegedly Used to Promote Fraudulent Wellness Products | View Incident

The Legal Wire is an official media partner of:

Thank you so much for reading The Legal Wire newsletter!

If this email gets into your “Promotions” or "Spam” folder, move it to the primary folder so you do not miss out on the next Legal Wire :)

If you have any tips for us, just reply to this e-mail! We’d love any feedback or responses from our readers 😄

The Legal Wire takes all necessary precautions to ensure that the materials, information, and documents on its website, including but not limited to articles, newsletters, reports, and blogs ("Materials"), are accurate and complete.

Nevertheless, these Materials are intended solely for general informational purposes and do not constitute legal advice. They may not necessarily reflect the current laws or regulations.

The Materials should not be interpreted as legal advice on any specific matter. Furthermore, the content and interpretation of the Materials and the laws discussed within are subject to change.