Will McCartney deferred his Arts/Law degree to build Habeas, a specialised legal tech startup aiming to bridge the AI trust gap in professional practice. In this conversation, he joins me to unpack why generic AI platforms fall short in high-stakes legal settings and how traditional Boolean search leaves practitioners frustrated. Will shares his personal trajectory; from starting his studies at Cambridge to shifting gears during the pandemic, and explains how he set out to create an intuitive, natural-language research tool explicitly tailored to the Australian legal system.

The core of the discussion centers on the mechanics of mitigating hallucination risks through a "search-first, inference-second" architecture that prioritises verifiable data retrieval over predictive guessing. Will details how Habeas evolved from a pure research tool into a broader legal intelligence platform capable of advanced drafting and secure analysis across active matter files. They also look closely at adoption patterns, mapping out why agile sole practitioners, barristers, and boutique litigation firms are integrating these specialised workflows much faster than traditional, slow-moving corporate structures.

Looking toward the future, the conversation addresses how artificial intelligence will inevitably disrupt the billable hour and fuel the rise of AI-native law firms. Will analyses the market implications of the recent "Anthropic moment," exploring how shifting technology moats challenge old legal tech duopolies and democratises access for smaller practices. Ultimately, this episode highlights a profound irony: as technical legal execution becomes automated, the ultimate premium in the profession will shift back to strategic judgment, niche expertise, and deep client relationships.

00:00 Introduction

03:31 The Genesis of Habeas and Solving the Search Problem

05:28 Shifting to Legal Intelligence and Advanced Drafting

07:36 Finding Product-Market Fit in the Australian Market

10:05 Demystifying AI Hallucinations and the Trust Gap

11:38 Search-First, Inference-Second System Architecture

16:14 Adoption Trends and Competitive Pressures

18:00 Building Firm Culture and New Mental Models

21:56 Disrupting the Billable Hour and Law Firm Pricing

24:46 The Premium on Soft Skills, Judgment, and Relationships

26:51 Access to Justice and the Democratization of Law

29:40 Re-architecting Court Systems and AI-Native Firms

33:03 The Anthropic Moment and Shifting Legal Tech Moats

37:38 Where to Find Will McCartney and Habeas

Guest Links:

Will McCartney:

Website: https://www.habeas.ai/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-mccartney-a1494722a/

More From Damien:

Website | LinkedIn | YouTube

WORK WITH ME:

Book a Mediation or a 15-minute Discovery call with Damien: https://www.evolveresolve.com/booking

Website: https://www.evolveresolve.com/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/damien-van-brunschot

YouTube: @evolveresolve

Email: damien@evolveresolve.com