StraightAnswers

Purple is an AI legaltech build studio. We help law firms discover where AI creates real value, build custom technology products, and take them to market. We are not a consultancy that hands over a slide deck - we design, prototype, build, and ship working products.

Three things. First, we are founded by ex-lawyers who have built AI companies - we understand both sides. Second, we build custom products, not off-the-shelf tools. Every firm's workflows and client base are different, and the technology should reflect that. Third, you own the IP. We build it, you own it. No vendor lock-in, no recurring licence fees to us.

Tim Pullan leads strategy and client engagement. He has been a partner at three law firms and has spent the last decade building AI ventures in legal. Dom Conte leads product design and opportunity mapping - one of the leading AI legaltech product designers in the UK with a background in planning and property law. Dmitry Selivanov is CTO, an AI applications specialist with a track record building solutions inside and outside the legal sector.

London. The Ministry, 79-81 Borough Road, SE1 1DN. We work with firms across the UK and internationally.

Clients increasingly expect firms to have a credible position on AI. Internally, leadership needs a clear lens for deciding where AI should be applied - and where it is noise. Without a strategy, firms either invest in the wrong areas, chase vendor pitches, or stall entirely. A strategy gives you a defensible position externally and clear direction internally.

Five phases over four weeks. We interview across the partnership and map how work actually moves through the firm. We score your AI maturity against the market. We benchmark what peer firms actually run, not just announce. We map the opportunities and price the risks. Then we set the strategy - build, buy, partner or wait - with a 6-12 month roadmap, owners named and governance that fits a partnership.

The AI Strategy sprint is four weeks. The Discovery Sprint is six weeks. Both are designed to be focused and decision-oriented, not drawn-out consulting engagements.

A partner-readable strategic report, a leadership deck for the partnership, an opportunity matrix scored on strategic fit and feasibility, and practical frameworks including a messaging framework, build-vs-buy lens, and a draft 6-12 month roadmap.

The AI Strategy answers the leadership question: where does AI create value for this firm, and what should we do about it - grounded in interviews, maturity scoring and market benchmarking, and ending in a roadmap the partnership can vote on. The Discovery Sprint is product-led - training, workshops and interviews that generate and validate specific AI product opportunities from within the firm. Many firms do the Strategy first, then the Sprint to go deeper on the shortlist.

A Prototype is a four-week engagement that produces a functional, interactive model of your product. You can see it, click it, test it with users, and decide whether to proceed. A Full Build takes a validated prototype and turns it into a production-ready platform with enterprise-grade architecture, security, and deployment. The Prototype de-risks the decision. The Full Build delivers the asset.

Typically 3-6 months depending on complexity. We use agile sprints with regular check-ins, so you see progress continuously rather than waiting for a big reveal at the end.

Yes. You own everything we build for you. No licence fees, no vendor lock-in, no recurring charges for using your own product. We build it, you own it.

It depends on the product, but we typically build on cloud-native infrastructure with zero-trust security architecture and field-level encryption. We use our proprietary library of lawyer-trained AI agents to accelerate development. The stack is always chosen to suit the product - we are not locked into any particular vendor or framework.

Security is built in from the start, not bolted on. Zero-trust architecture, field-level encryption, and cloud-native infrastructure that meets enterprise security requirements. We work with firms that handle highly sensitive client data, and our products are built to that standard.

Yes. We design products to work within your existing technology landscape, not replace it. Integration with document management systems, practice management tools, and other internal platforms is a standard part of the build process.

It depends on the engagement. An AI Strategy sprint, a Discovery Sprint, a Prototype, and a Full Build are all different in scope and investment. We are transparent about pricing and will give you a clear figure before any engagement starts. Get in touch and we will scope it properly.

It starts with a conversation. We learn about your firm, your priorities, and what you are trying to achieve. If there is a fit, we scope a specific engagement - usually starting with a Discover phase. From there, the path depends on what we find. Some firms move straight to a build. Others need more discovery first. We will be honest about what makes sense.

Yes. The four-week AI Strategy sprint or a Prototype are both designed as focused, bounded engagements. They give you real output and a clear decision point without committing to a large programme upfront.

Yes. We work with firms globally. The work is typically a mix of remote and in-person, depending on the engagement.

We work with Magic Circle, Silver Circle, and specialist firms. The common thread is ambition - firms that want to use AI strategically, not just adopt tools for the sake of it. If you are serious about building something meaningful, we are interested in the conversation regardless of firm size.

No. AI is going to change how legal services are delivered, priced, and experienced by clients. The firms that use AI well will deliver better outcomes faster and more profitably. The firms that ignore it will gradually lose competitive position. But the expertise, judgment, and client relationships that lawyers bring are not being replaced - they are being amplified.

Businesses built from the ground up with AI at the core of their delivery model. They do not bolt AI onto traditional workflows - they design workflows around AI capabilities. They tend to offer productised services, transparent pricing, and technology-first delivery. They are emerging fast, and they are competing for the same clients and talent as traditional firms.

It depends on how central the capability is to your competitive positioning. If every firm in your market can buy the same tool, it creates parity, not advantage. For undifferentiated needs - general research, basic document review - off-the-shelf tools are fine. For capabilities that define how you serve clients or win work, building something proprietary creates defensible value. The answer is usually a mix of both.

Build with them, not for them. The number one reason AI tools fail in law firms is that they were designed without involving the people who need to use them. Our build process includes fee earners from day one - co-creation sessions, user testing, workflow integration. If the tool fits how lawyers actually work, adoption follows. If it does not, no amount of training will fix it.