Kennedys has spent the past 10 years developing innovations and technology to make the claims process smarter, faster and more efficient. Today, the law firm has launched a new company to house its toolset and focus on product development for insurance and corporate clients.
Known as Kennedys IQ, the company’s launch product is the bespoke IQ Platform, which pulls together multiple data points from Kennedys, clients and external sources and uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to uncover claims trends and best practice, as well as insight into how the client’s business is performing, what its competitors are doing, and what trends are emerging in the industry.
The IQ Platform features six existing smart tools that clients can switch on and off to automate or manage the day-to-day claims process: Incident Manager, Fraud Detector (formerly Ki), Portal Manager, Defence Lawyer (powered by the KLAiM system), Settlement Negotiator (formerly Cybersettle) and Recovery Manager.
IQ Platform also performs AI functions, such as predicting medical damages and making automatic settlement recommendations. It will be offered on a subscription or per-use basis, with costs dependent on how much clients want to unlock.
The 30-strong team at Kennedys IQ, including new commercial director Mike Gilpin and product and innovation director Karim Derrick, will also provide consultancy and bespoke solutions for clients with a particular challenge, such as workflow issues or reporting needs.
Kennedys IQ is wholly owned by the law firm and consists of 17 team members, with the 13-strong Kennedys Cognitive Computing in India moving under the umbrella of the new company.
Richard West, partner and head of the innovations group at Kennedys, is a board director of Kennedys IQ, alongside senior partner Nick Thomas.
West, Gilpin, previously director of IT at Kennedys, and Derrick, who was the law firm’s director of research and development, also join the new company’s governance group, which includes Kennedys managing partner Suzanne Liversidge, director of business development Rosie LeGros and director of finance Jo Woods.
Derrick said: “Kennedys IQ delivers on the promise of technology to help our global claims clients run better and more effective businesses, turning to Kennedys’ lawyers only when expert legal advice is needed.”
“We know claims and we know the law. And we believe that data and technology has the potential to achieve those results, by automating day-to-day processes and unlocking powerful claims insights. The collective legal expertise we have globally underpins all of our tools and leads to better solutions for our clients, and their customers, with tools that can be adapted in every jurisdiction.”
“This combination makes Kennedys IQ by far the most sophisticated system to hit the global claims market and shows we are committed to helping our clients use lawyers less, while still benefiting from our expertise.”
West added: “This is yet another example of how we think ahead at Kennedys. The creation of Kennedys IQ reflects our commitment to true innovation in the insurance and legal services market, and builds upon our proven ability to deliver client-facing software solutions—which we have been doing for the last ten years.”
“We are setting up the right modern structures to keep Kennedys at the forefront of client-facing innovation. We can see that the future of legal services is not just about legal advice; rather, we are expert strategic advisors who work with clients to optimise their businesses.”
“IQ Platform offers huge potential for development, and Kennedys IQ will help us create an agile environment suited to the incubation of software product-based businesses and consultancy services.”
The Kennedys Ideas Lab, a global initiative that invites any member of the firm to come forward with innovative ideas about how to advance technological and intellectual innovation, the second instalment of which was launched last month, will continue to feed into research and development, with new ideas taken forward from the latest initiative becoming part of the Kennedys IQ offering and added to those tools already in the pipeline.
Kennedys is also partnering with the University College London, to develop an emerging risk analytical tool for insurers, and the University of Manchester, to develop next-generation fraud prevention software, through the Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership.
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