Fastcase, which is owned by legal software firm Clio, sued Alexi on Nov. 26, asserting claims for trademark infringement and breach of contract.
According to the complaint, the two companies had a license agreement granting Alexi limited access to Fastcase's case law database for internal research purposes only. This meant the access was limited to Alexi's staff attorneys in preparing client memoranda, the suit said.
Fastcase said it was "clear from the outset" that any agreement would have limitations to defend its data.
The parties initially explored a deeper partnership in 2022 in relation to Alexi's passage-retrieval artificial intelligence system, but the deal never materialized, and Fastcase instead merged with vLex Group, which was acquired by Clio in November, the suit said.
After the larger partnership fell apart, Alexi's then-CEO Mark Doble continued pushing the idea that combining Alexi's AI technology with access to primary law data would create "the next big leader" in legal research and began pursuing that vision unilaterally, the suit said.
"Alexi began pivoting into direct competition," the suit said. "On information and belief, beginning in 2023 and accelerating thereafter, Alexi expanded its use of Fastcase data beyond the license's narrow internal-use limitations, using that data to build and scale its own legal research platform. Alexi ultimately removed the 'internal research' component entirely and began publishing and distributing Fastcase-sourced case law directly to its users — in clear violation of the agreement's core restrictions."
Alexi's offerings started to change in 2024, pivoting away from creating legal filings with the assistance of lawyers using limited passage-retrieval tools to positioning itself as a competitor in the legal research field, according to the suit.
Alexi raised $11 million in financing in June 2024 and used that money to transform its platform into a direct competitor with Fastcase, despite the parties' agreement remaining unchanged, the suit said.
In an October 2024 demonstration, Alexi's director of revenue gave a presentation that showed the company no longer offered lawyer-generated legal memoranda, but instead it had shifted to an AI chat interface allowing users to create their own documents, according to the complaint. The director said the model was trained on over 30 million "pairs of questions and answers that are derived from caselaw," which Fastcase said confirms that Alexi used its data to train its AI legal product.
Beyond using the database, Alexi began to suggest it had an affiliation with Fastcase that did not exist by using Fastcase's trademark and service mark in promotional material and interfaces, the suit said.
Counsel for Fastcase did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did a representative for Alexi.
Fastcase is represented by Paul Harold of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.
Counsel information was not immediately available for Alexi Technologies Inc.
The case is Fastcase Inc. v. Alexi Technologies Inc., case number 1:25-cv-04159, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
--Editing by Haylee Pearl.
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