SBW Law, the Liverpool-based law firm and Alternative Business Structure, is now development partner for LegalDocs Assist across the housing disrepair and clinical negligence modules. The firm has used housing disrepair since June 2026 and is the first firm live on clinical negligence.
What does development partner actually mean here?
It means SBW Law’s fee earners feed directly into what gets built, not into a roadmap document. Under the partnership, changes the firm asks for reach the live product, and SBW gets early sight of those changes before general release, across a twelve month term.
Why does the clinical negligence module score cases differently?
Because most drafting tools have nothing pre-issue to check against. Most legal AI drafting tools assess a case by comparing a draft against a Particulars of Claim and a Defence. In clinical negligence, pre-issue, neither of those documents exists yet.
That is the design problem LegalDocs Assist is built around generally. The platform produces draft witness statements, chronologies, letters of claim and disclosure bundles from a firm’s own case papers, starting from the pre-issue stage of a claim, where most matters are actually resolved.
On the clinical negligence module specifically, that distinction drove several of the changes SBW Law asked for. The module’s Coverage Check assesses the case a firm would plead and identifies what is still missing, rather than scoring a draft against pleadings that do not yet exist. The letter of claim then builds from that same set of facts.
What has SBW Law actually said about it?
“We agreed to be a development partner because CaseFlow were already behaving like one. We raised points about terminology and about how pre-issue clinical negligence actually runs, and those points turned into product changes rather than roadmap promises. Being the first firm on a module is a risk. Being the first firm on a module where your feedback lands the following week is an opportunity.”
Chris Lackner, Director, SBW Law
“Most tools want a Particulars of Claim and a Defence to score against, and in clinical negligence those usually do not exist yet. This one assesses the case you would actually plead and tells you what you still need. It understands the shape of the work.”
Rebecca Ralph, Associate Solicitor and Head of Clinical Negligence, SBW Law
Why does this matter to CaseFlow Automation?
“You cannot build drafting tools for claimant work from the outside. SBW Law have been in it with us from the start, and both modules are materially better products for it. That is worth more than any amount of market research.”
Chris Latham, Co-founder, CaseFlow Automation
“The hard part of volume claimant work is not the difficult case. It is getting the same standard out of the two hundred ordinary ones. That is exactly what a firm like SBW tests. They have been putting real files through this every week since June, and the things they have flagged are the things you would never find in a demo.”
Craig Budsworth, Co-founder, CaseFlow Automation
What’s next for the partnership?
The two firms continue to work together on the housing disrepair and clinical negligence modules through the twelve month term, with SBW Law getting early sight of changes before general release.
CaseFlow Automation has published the companion piece on the partnership from the product family side.
FAQ
What is SBW Law’s role as development partner for LegalDocs Assist?
SBW Law’s fee earners feed directly into what gets built on the housing disrepair and clinical negligence modules, with a commitment from CaseFlow Automation that changes reach the live product rather than sit on a roadmap.
Which LegalDocs Assist modules does the partnership cover?
Housing disrepair and clinical negligence. SBW Law has used the housing disrepair module since June 2026 and is the first firm to adopt the clinical negligence module.
How is the clinical negligence module different from other legal drafting tools?
Most drafting tools score a draft against a Particulars of Claim and Defence. Pre-issue, those documents do not exist yet. The module’s Coverage Check instead assesses the case a firm would plead and identifies what is still missing, then builds the letter of claim from the same set of facts.
How long does the partnership run?
The two firms will work together on the housing disrepair and clinical negligence modules through a twelve month term, with SBW Law getting early sight of changes before general release.
About SBW Law: SBW Law Limited is a Liverpool-based law firm and Alternative Business Structure, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under SRA ID 658522. Further information at www.sbwlaw.co.uk.
LegalDocs Assist is the AI document tool built for claimant law firms, covering housing disrepair, clinical negligence and credit hire. See it in action or book a demo.
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