Login | February 13, 2026
AI startup offers law firms cost-saving assistance vetting small cases
SHERRY KARABIN
Published: February 13, 2026
Many law firms decline to take on civil claims with low monetary value, especially if they involve contingency fee arrangements due to high vetting and intake costs.
In fact, according to the legal artificial intelligence (AI) startup AlphaLit over 64% of calls to attorneys from potential plaintiffs are ignored, resulting in more than $55 million in meritorious civil cases going unfiled annually, especially in working-class communities.
“Unless your case is worth millions or you are well-connected, it’s almost impossible to get a lawyer on the phone,” says AlphaLit Founder and Chief Executive Officer Anand Upadhye.
But what if there was a lower-cost way to determine whether it makes sense to take on a case?
That’s where AlphaLit comes in, explains Upadhye.
“By using AI to handle the heavy lifting of intake and fact-gathering, we are lowering the cost of pre-litigation and opening legal access for millions of Americans,” says Upadhye.
On Jan. 13, the company announced (https://www.alphalit.ai/#/news/1-13-press-release) a $3.2 million seed round.
Participants included Lux Capital, Slow Ventures and Bright Ventures, along with angel investors CLEAR Co-founder Ken Cornick and Ironclad Co-founder Jason Boehmig.
In the press release Lux Capital Partner and Co-founder Peter Hébert stated, “AlphaLit is attacking a massive, latent market.
“The legal industry has struggled with the economics of high-volume, lower-dollar claims. Anand and his team have built the technical infrastructure to turn these overlooked claims into a viable, scalable asset class.”
Others who previously invested in the company include Sequoia Scout Fund, Base Ventures and Casetext Co-founder Jake Heller.
Founded in 2024, San Francisco-based AlphaLit utilizes voice AI and algorithmic case scoring of fact patterns to identify, conduct intake and evaluate legal claims at scale, thereby reducing pre-litigation costs.
According to the company website, the voice AI platform engages with prospective plaintiffs to understand their stories, analyze the evidence against legal frameworks and automatically draft case memos.
It then deploys its proprietary AlphaLit Score technology to assess liability, evidence quality and potential damages in real time.
According to AlphaLit, the ranking system allows attorneys to profitably take on high-quality cases they may previously have ignored.
The company has already generated 80 cases through its platform.
It currently operates in California and handles employment-related matters, but plans are underway to expand—both in terms of jurisdictions and case types.