Harvey Launched Legal AI Pro Bono Initiative
The company is partnering with four major law firms to integrate custom AI agents into public interest casework.
Updated on Sept. 22, 2026 in Artificial Intelligence
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Harvey has introduced a new pro bono program across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The initiative leverages custom legal AI agents to assist with high-volume casework such as veterans services and housing support.
Why it matters
By deploying these tools to handle repetitive administrative tasks, Harvey aims to understand how AI can optimize the delivery of public interest legal services. This framework serves as a testbed for scaling technology to help bridge systemic gaps in access to legal assistance.
The program utilizes custom AI agents designed to automate high-volume legal workflows and document assembly. These resources are currently integrated with Ashurst, Perkins Coie, DLA Piper, and Nelson Mullins to accelerate casework.
The players
Harvey
A legal AI company that develops specialized large language model platforms for law firms.
Ashurst
A global law firm specializing in corporate law, finance, and infrastructure as a design partner.
Perkins Coie
An international law firm focused on technology, intellectual property, and litigation as a design partner.
DLA Piper
A multinational law firm providing legal services across a range of sectors as a design partner.
Nelson Mullins
A diversified law firm providing services in corporate, litigation, and regulatory affairs as a design partner.
The details
Harvey uses AI agents — automated software programs that perform tasks based on defined rules — to process complex datasets for housing and social welfare claims. The system facilitates the creation of templates and shared knowledge repositories to streamline drafting and research. By providing dedicated legal engineering support, the firm enables these partner practices to apply its specialized LLM technology to pro bono casework, rather than limiting usage to commercial billable matters.
Timeline
February 2026: Harvey announced its Responsible Business Program.
September 22, 2026: The company launched its new pro bono program.
Later in 2026: A pilot program for organizations providing direct legal services is scheduled to launch.
The Tech Race
This initiative marks an expansion of Harvey's Responsible Business Program beyond internal policy toward external implementation. It positions Harvey to lead the shift in how legal tech providers integrate public service benchmarks into their product roadmaps.
Lawyers and staff at participating firms can now utilize AI-driven templates to expedite social welfare and veteran service claims. For those seeking legal aid, this transition aims to reduce the time spent waiting for document processing once the pilot programs roll out later this year.
The takeaway
Harvey is attempting to standardize AI-assisted pro bono work to prove its model works at scale across disparate legal jurisdictions. Interested stakeholders should watch for the upcoming launch of the pilot program for direct legal services to see if the technology improves throughput in nonprofit settings.
What happens next
Harvey intends to launch a dedicated pilot program for direct legal service organizations later in 2026 to expand the reach of these AI agents.
Further reading
For more on how specialized large language models are changing professional services, see Artificial Intelligence.
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Do you believe using AI tools increases the effectiveness of pro bono legal services?
