Indian law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) has announced the conclusion of its first tech incubator programme.

Three legal technology companies have been pronounced as having successfully completed the programme at the firm’s Delhi-based incubator, Prarambh.

The trio — JRTC Intern, Leegality, and LegalMind — joined the scheme in October after they were selected from 51 applicants and shared a workspace at CAM’s Delhi headquarters.

JRTC Intern is a talent management platform that connects pre-qualified law students with internship opportunities at law firms, advocate offices and companies; Leegality is an eSigning and digital document workflow platform; and LegalMind is an AI-powered legal research platform. 

The project was overseen by head of innovation and artificial intelligence Komal Gupta, who joined CAM from Integreon in 2017, where she was vice president, legal services.

As well has being provided with access to the firm’s lawyers to test their products, the start-ups were given help with marketing and branding, legal and regulatory compliance, financial planning and preparing for investments.

However, CAM has said it will not invest in any of the startups accepted into the programme.

Managing Partner Cyril Shroff said he believed the project, the first of its kind in India, had “set the benchmark on development of India centric legal tech solutions”.

He added: “COVID has disrupted the normal functioning of both law firms and our clients. The demand and uptake of technology has accelerated. These are redefining the dynamics between all these stakeholders and necessitating the need for across the board implementation of technology.”

Other firms running tech incubator programmes include Deloitte's UK legal arm, Slaughter and May, Allen & Overy and Mishcon de Reya.