New challenger tool aims to disrupt the legal tech industry
An ex-Latham & Watkins associate has launched a free, open-source legal AI tool rivalling billion-dollar tech giants Harvey and Legora.
Will Chen, who trained at the US firm’s London office, unveiled ‘Mike’ earlier this month, billing it as an “open-source alternative to Harvey and Legora”.
Mike takes its name from Mike Ross in the TV show Suits. The domain, MikeOss.com, is just one letter off “Mike Ross”, with “OSS” doubling as shorthand for open-source software. It’s a neat bit of branding symmetry given that Harvey itself was named after Harvey Specter, Ross’s sharp-suited mentor.
The tool is entirely free and open-source, meaning its code is publicly available for anyone to inspect, modify and build upon. In an industry where having the top AI tools is synonymous with prestige, and with them costing hundreds of pounds per lawyer each month, Mike helps to democratise the effective use of generative AI in the legal profession, particularly for small to mid-sized firms that cannot afford the top-of-the-market tools.
Powered by models from Claude and Gemini, it offers a familiar suite of features: drafting, editing and reviewing documents, analysing contracts, and conducting legal research. In other words, it broadly mirrors the functionality of its better-funded and more expensive rivals.
Not only is the code entirely public, but Chen reports it took him just two weeks to build the software. Commenting on the launch, Chen told Legal Cheek:
“Mike started as a proof of concept to demonstrate that a legal AI platform with many of the same core capabilities as incumbent products could now be built in a matter of days, rather than requiring enormous teams and vast amounts of capital. It was also, to some extent, a commentary on how expensive — and perhaps overvalued — parts of the current legal AI market have become.
More broadly, Mike represents an alternative vision of legal AI: one that is open, accessible, and community-driven, rather than closed, heavily gated, and positioned almost as a luxury or Veblen-style enterprise product.”
Chen studied law at the University of Oxford, graduating with a double first in 2020. He trained and qualified at Latham, working there between late 2021 and the end of 2024 — during which time he also founded and developed Lawprof, a digital learning platform for aspiring lawyers.
The launch of Mike comes at a time of eye-watering valuations and heavy investment in the legal tech industry. Harvey is reportedly worth around $11 billion and is said to be used by more than 60% of the Am Law 100. Legora, meanwhile, recently hit a $5.5 billion valuation and counts over 1,000 firms and in-house teams among its users, including most recently Magic Circle player Linklaters.
The two legal tech incumbents have also forked out millions on high-profile ad campaigns, with Harvey enlisting Gabriel Macht to reprise his role as Harvey Specter, and Legora tapping Jude Law for a glossy campaign with the tagline “law just got more attractive”.
First Harvey, then Mike. I’m expecting the next AI tools to be called Louis, Jessica and Donna
People should be reminded of recent case laws in the UK and US where the courts have confirmed uploading any confidential information to open-source software / AI tools will be a breach of confidentiality and would waive privilege…
“Don’t mention that you liked watching suits as part of your legal applications/personal statements”
Meanwhile: legal AIs left, right and centre all naming themselves after suits characters