DUBAI (The Thursday Times) — A UAE-based legal technology company has launched what it says is the first artificial intelligence-powered courtroom simulator in the Middle East and North Africa, letting law students and trainee lawyers practise trials and cross-examinations in front of virtual judges, witnesses and opposing counsel.
Legaline Platform unveiled the simulator, called Meta Legal Space, at the Dubai AI Festival on Monday. The festival is being held at Dubai World Trade Centre on October 26 and 27.
In mock hearings on the platform, AI judges, clerks, witnesses and experts respond to arguments and questions in real time instead of following set scripts. Trainees can argue against an AI opposing lawyer or another student, under UAE onshore law or the frameworks of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) or Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).
“Many lawyers conduct their first cross-examination with a real client’s case on the line, and it is the client who pays for any mistake,” said Dmitry Grinik, founder and chief executive of Legaline Platform.
“Meta Legal Space moves that first attempt to a place where mistakes are allowed. The witness wavers, the judge interrupts, opposing counsel objects, and all of it happens before anyone’s case is at stake.”
Each AI character has its own background, profession and behaviour, which shape how it answers questions. Every witness is set up to hold back one fact that the trainee has to uncover through cross-examination, while staying within the evidence in the case file.
The system covers litigation, arbitration and mediation. Its first cases, written by practising lawyers and graded by difficulty, include commercial, civil and employment disputes such as breach of contract claims, construction defects and unfair dismissal cases before the DIFC Small Claims Tribunal.
After each session, trainees receive an assessment of their arguments, how well they followed court procedure and how they handled objections. Licensed lawyers can also supervise hearings and grade performance.
Alexander Ilduganov, co-founder and general partner of Legaline Platform, said the tool was meant to prepare young lawyers for moments that are hard to recreate in a classroom. “I have spent more than 25 years in criminal defence, and the hardest part of a trial is not knowing the law. It is the moment a witness says something you didn’t expect,” he said. “You can’t learn that from a textbook, only in the courtroom.”
Jouslin Khairallah, founder and managing director of KH Legal and a founding member of Legaline Platform, said the simulator could make up for the few chances trainees get to gain real courtroom experience. “Meta Legal Space closes the gap between what students learn in the classroom and what is expected of them the first time they stand before a judge,” she said.
Legaline Platform already runs several AI services, including a legal research assistant covering 35 areas of law, a teaching chatbot and a document tool that it says can draft contracts, letters and pleadings in about 15 seconds for lawyers to review.
The company said Meta Legal Space would be offered to law schools and legal training providers across the region, with free registration for students.
