Epoq Group
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Genre | Document Automation Technology |
| Founded | 1994[1] |
| Founder | Grahame Cohen |
Number of locations | London, U.K. Boxborough, MA U.S.A. Cape Town, S.A. |
Key people | Richard Cohen Grahame Cohen Richard Granat Hillel Horwitz Michael Symons |
| Products | RapidocsWeb Rapidocs Authoring |
| Website | [1] [2] |
Epoq Group is an insurtech service provider that provides document automation systems.[2][3][4] The company supplies document assembly technologies in the U.K and U.S.A which were developed to enable corporates and law firms to provide documents & contracts to customers online[5][6][7]
History
[edit]The company has been involved in activities surrounding the Legal Services Act 2007 and the opening up of the UK legal services market to competition from non-lawyer organisations.[8] In 2002 Epoq provided the technology platform for a legal service delivered to MORE TH>N's policyholders; this marked the first entry of a large consumer facing insurance brand into the UK legal services market.[9] In 2006 Epoq's technology was used by the Halifax to provide a subscription based web service for consumers thereby becoming the first major bank to enter the legal services market.[10][11][12] Other services have been developed for RBS Group, Saga and the AA.[13][14]
Epoq has also supplied document automation systems to the U.K legal profession.[15][16] In 2008 Epoq launched the UK's largest "virtual" law firm, MyLawyer.co.uk in partnership with firms from the UK's legal 500.[17][18] This was followed in 2009 with the launch of two SaaS services for law firms; DirectLaw providing a client-facing portal for self-serve document drafting[19][20] and Rapidocs LawDraft providing firms with in-house document automation.
In 2011, Epoq was shortlisted for the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers award [21] and in February 2015 it joined forces with Tikit, part of BT Group, to bring TIkit LawDraft to legal firms in the UK.[22]
Epoq entered the US market in July 2016 with the launch of LawAssure, a legal services benefit.[23] Since then the company has launched services for Mutual of Omaha[24] and Foresters Financial.[25]
In the UK, Epoq developed and launched a new online legal service, Legal for Life in 2016. Aimed at helping individuals deal easily with everyday legal matters, Legal for Life was designed to be distributed to consumers via life and protection insurers, as well as employee benefit providers.[26][27]
2017 saw Epoq enter the ASEAN region through a legal tech venture with ZICO Holdings, which offered SMEs in the area access to online legal documents.[28] Then in early 2018, Epoq expanded its international presence further with the opening of an office in South Africa[29]
Rapidocs
[edit]Rapidocs produces documents by presenting users with an interactive question and answer session which aims to mimic a face to face interview between a lawyer and a client.[30] This data capture system is linked to an automated document that determines the right language and clauses to make up a final draft through the use of pre-programmed logic. The content for the system is developed through a legal team and maintained to track developments in the law.[31]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Epoq : Legal Services | About Us". Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
- ^ Article: Epoq Introduces Business Risk Protection Service for Legal Claims Insurance Journal
- ^ Article: InsurTech launches LEI business risk protection product Sian Barton, Insurance Age
- ^ Article: Why big brand legal services are bad news for solicitors Neil Rose, The Guardian, (Tuesday 2 November 2010)
- ^ Article: ‘How logging on can help you find the right lawyer’ Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Neil Rose, The Times, (Thursday 21 August 2008)
- ^ Article: Where solicitors are going wrong in online wills Archived 27 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine Rachel Rothwell The Law Society Gazette (Monday 24 January 2011)
- ^ Article: Consumer brands launch Tesco law prototype Archived 6 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine Solicitors Journal (1 November 2010)
- ^ Article: 'UK's first chain of 'high street lawyers' is set to revolutionise legal services' Jon Robins The Observer (Sunday 3 April 2011)
- ^ Article: More TH>N sees 25% Rise in Sales Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Insurance Times (5 September 2002)
- ^ Article: Halifax first bank to enter legal market Archived 26 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine The Law Society Gazette, (2 November 2006)
- ^ Article: Q&A: Legal services Jeremy Davies, The Guardian (Friday 22 December 2006)
- ^ Article: 'Halifax seeks firms for nationwide panel' Archived 18 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine The Law Society Gazette (Thursday 24 September 2009)
- ^ Article: 'Here come the brands: AA and Saga launch legal websites aimed at Middle England' Legal Futures (1 November 2010)
- ^ Article: 'New pre-Tesco law tie up doesn't replace 'trusted adviser' Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Legal Futures (2 November 2010)
- ^ Strategy for Law Firms, Nick Jarrett-Kerr, p103 Published by the Law Society (2009)
- ^ Article: Lawyers and IT solutions in the age of cloud computing Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine Grania Langdon-Down, The Law Society Gazette, (Thursday 16 December 2010 )
- ^ Article: 'Virtual firm reveals nationwide ambition' Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine The Law Society Gazette (June 2008)
- ^ Article: 'Online legal scheme threatens high street' Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Luke Mcleod-Roberts The Lawyer (June 2008)
- ^ Article: 'Good firms’ should offer online services, say consumers' Archived 31 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine Rachel Rothwell The Law Society Gazette (Tuesday 13 April 2010)
- ^ Article: 'A Quiet Revolution –. Changing business models for legal services' IRN Research
- ^ Article: Epoq shortlisted for FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Legal Futures
- ^ "Press Release Archives". Tikit. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- ^ Article: Online legal advice service offered for brokerage industry Business Insurance
- ^ Article: Mutual of Omaha introduces online will service Coverager
- ^ Article: Foresters Financial introduces LawAssure technology platform Coverager
- ^ Article: Epoq launches added benefit legal service for protection clients Cover Magazine
- ^ Article: British Friendly extends wills and power of attorney service Cover Magazine
- ^ Article: ZICO Holdings rolls out new legal tech venture Legal Business Online
- ^ Article: Epoq Legal sets its sights on SA IT Web
- ^ Article: Epoq Enters the South African Market in Q1 of 2018 Legal IT Professionals
- ^ "Article: 'About Rapidocs'". Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
