Freshfields eyes AI spin-off to create tech company ‘worth billions’

Plans emerge in leaked emails

Senior partners at Freshfields are apparently considering spinning off the firm’s in-house AI and legal tech arm into a standalone business potentially “worth billions”, according to a leaked email chain accidentally circulated within the firm.

Freshfields’ global managing partner, Alan Mason, outlined plans to carve out the firm’s legal tech division in an email last Friday to Ethan Klingsberg, co-head of US corporate and M&A. The pair discussed attracting outside investment and the possibility of a multibillion-dollar valuation.

But the plans were inadvertently shared more widely over the weekend when Mason forwarded the email chain to a large internal distribution list named “$Freshfields All”. Although the email was quickly recalled, some recipients had already taken screenshots.

The exchange, first reported by the Financial Times (£), revealed that Mason had already been in contact with two Wall Street banks about the proposal, while Klingsberg suggested the business could be “worth billions”.

The unit in question, Freshfields Lab, develops legal tech tools for the firm’s lawyers and clients, covering everything from document analysis to due diligence.

The emails also referenced legal AI heavyweights Harvey and Legora, which are valued at $15.5 billion and $5.6 billion respectively and each boast more than 1,000 customers. Unlike Freshfields Labs, both operate as independent, tech-first businesses.

Freshfields is far from the only major law firm looking to tap into the tap into the lucrative AI market.

Legacy Allen & Overy teamed up with Harvey and Microsoft to develop ContractMatrix, an AI-powered contract tool, while A&O Shearman has since announced plans to roll out agentic AI agents designed to tackle complex legal work, again in collaboration with Harvey.

Meanwhile, Kirkland & Ellis has set aside $500 million to develop its own AI tools, including a proprietary platform capable of switching between different underlying AI models without needing to be rebuilt. The approach means the US giant is not tied to a single AI provider.

Freshfields itself struck a multi-year partnership with Anthropic earlier this year, rolling out Claude across all 33 of its offices.

Others are going a step further by looking to shake up the traditional law firm business model. Former A&O global managing partner Wim Dejonghe recently co-founded an AI-powered law firm focused on reviewing commercial contracts, in a move that takes aim at the billable hour.