DLA Piper announces the launch of Aiscension, a ground-breaking AI-enabled service designed to find cartel risks within corporations. Aiscension is revolutionizing risk detection by combining DLA Piper’s legal know-how, with cutting-edge AI technology from Reveal, the leading provider of AI-powered e-Discovery software.
Despite many companies having compliance systems in place, there remains a constant risk that any business (or its subsidiaries) can become involved in cartel activity. Aiscension can enhance a business’ compliance initiatives by offering the ability to detect and prevent cartels. It combines Reveal’s best-in-class AI technology with DLA Piper’s renowned legal expertise to create faster, more effective and more accurate outcomes.
Ilan Sherr, Legal Director at DLA Piper and Executive Director of Aiscension comments: “The consequences of being proven to be involved in cartel related activity are very serious. An infringement can involve large fines, criminal sanctions and lasting damage to a firm’s brand and reputation. An investigation alone can have serious consequences, so prevention is much better than cure. The efficiency and reduction in cost that Aiscension brings to the market opens up a whole new way to how companies can view and mitigate cartel risk. Aiscension provides our clients with the ability to identify, at an early stage, whether they are at risk of being involved in potentially illegal activity. This can enable them to take appropriate action at the earliest opportunity, and even prevent any damage from being done.”
This innovative service has the ability to analyze vast amounts of data relevant to many forms of cartel activity, such as price fixing, market sharing, bid rigging, information exchange and collective boycotts. Cartel activity is a key, and growing, risk area for businesses across all sectors. An analysis of competition fines since January 2000 for the EU, UK, and US competition authorities shows there have been fines impacting over 1,100 entities and totaling over €43 billion – in these three jurisdictions alone. Developments in technology, the realities of a virtual world, and the pressures of a pandemic world are all trends which will lead to continued regulatory attention in this area.
Aiscension works by having the AI model trained by DLA Piper lawyers and optimized in collaboration with Reveal data scientists to identify and efficiently explore corporate electronic communications which may signal cartel behavior. Leveraging the power of cutting-edge AI, businesses can significantly reduce the time spent on compliance reviews, freeing up resources to be deployed elsewhere.
“This solution confirms that a combination of AI technology and human legal expertise can solve complex issues such as cartel activity detection. Our platform allows DLA Piper’s Aiscension to build powerful AI models to meet their client’s needs. Aiscension will apply these AI models to future cases,” said Wendell Jisa, founder & CEO of Reveal. “Our partnership with DLA Piper allows lawyers to work hand-in-hand with data scientists – continuing Reveal’s mission to further the impact of automation in the practice of law.”