Interview with Ayush Sanghavi: Founder & CEO of CaseSnappy

In this article, Eleanor Teh interviews the CEO of CaseSnappy about the creation of CaseSnappy and how AI is impacting the legal industry.

Please give a short self-introduction, and one interesting fact about yourself.

Hey! I’m Ayush, Founder & CEO of AI legal research tool CaseSnappy and a recent Cambridge Law grad. I’m passionate about all things law, tech and entrepreneurship. One interesting fact about me is that when I was 9 years old, I was lucky enough to meet Lionel Messi at an airport!

Q1. Many law graduates feel bound to follow a certain route (i.e. trainee/paralegal/in-house) and qualify as a lawyer to live up to their degrees. As a law graduate yourself, what made you decide to pursue a career outside the traditional route?

The decision not to follow a traditional legal career route certainly wasn’t easy. I considered various different paths during my degree (including a really rewarding vacation scheme at a Magic Circle firm), but ultimately I decided that at that moment, I wanted to build CaseSnappy full-time. Entrepreneurship puts a real fire in my belly and it’s something that makes me really excited to get out of bed every morning; I knew that CaseSnappy was something that students needed now, and so I decided to take the risk of taking it on full-time as soon as I graduated.

Q2. Developing CaseSnappy must be one of, if not your proudest accomplishment! What led to the creation of CaseSnappy, and what skills have you gained through this experience?

CaseSnappy is certainly a project that I’m really proud of. It was a brainchild of mine for a while and I’m really happy that I managed to turn it into a reality. When I was studying Law, I felt that legal research was far too inefficient – I’d spend ages trawling through incredibly long judgements just to understand their gist or to find a couple of key passages, and I felt like there was too much productivity lost in the process. That’s why I founded CaseSnappy – using AI to transform legal judgements into structured – and vitally concise – insights in an increasingly fast-paced world felt like a bit of a non-brainer, especially given that it could be useful not only to students but professionals too.

I’ve developed a variety of skills through the experience – very much in-line with the CaseSnappy platform, I think I’ve learned a lot about not just working hard, but working smart (cutting certain corners is not necessarily a bad thing). I’ve also learned the importance of building and making the most of my network, and never shying away from asking for advice – there’s always something new to learn.

Q3. Did you come across any unexpected difficulties pursuing your current career? How did you overcome them?

I’d say one of the main difficulties I experienced whilst pursuing CaseSnappy was making the decision to take it full-time itself – Peter Thiel’s book Zero To One and my passion for creating new solutions to existing problems certainly helped me feel more comfortable with my decision, however. I’d say the other main difficulty is learning to deal with rejection – I feel like a bit of a broken record when I say this, but perseverance is not just a skill for entrepreneurs but for everyone, including law students. Reconceptualising every time someone says “no” – or even doesn’t respond – as a learning opportunity is incredibly helpful for personal and professional development.

Q4. Why is legal research an essential skill for all lawyers, and how do you recommend budding lawyers to polish this skill?

Statutes and – with regards to CaseSnappy – legal judgements are the building blocks of understanding and applying the law, be this in building an argument or anything else. All of this can only be found and understood through effective legal research. Law students and budding lawyers will spend hours and hours undertaking legal research – so becoming good at it (and using a tool like CaseSnappy to increase your productivity – sorry for the shameless plug!) is invaluable.

Q5. AI is becoming increasingly prevalent in different industries, with CaseSnappy also being powered by it. How do you see the increasing use of AI impacting the legal industry? Are there any obvious positive or negative developments?

There’s a lot of different things I could discuss in my answer to this question, but I’d say my key hope for AI in the legal industry is that it becomes an assistant to humans, not a replacement. Due diligence is so important in lawyer-client relationships that I do not see AI replacing the role of lawyers any time soon. As long as law students and those within the legal industry are careful and measured with their use of AI, I believe that its impact in the legal world will be largely positive; that’s also why CaseSnappy has stringent measures in place to ensure the accuracy of all of our AI-generated content.

Q6. Would you ever consider qualifying as a lawyer in the future?

As I mentioned earlier, it’s always good to keep your options open. Right now, however, I’m 100% focussed on CaseSnappy and ensuring it becomes the most popular legal research tool for Gen Z.

Q7. What is something you wish you had known when you were a university student?

I’m sure every single university student has heard this over and over again, but make the most of the opportunities around you at university. You’ll have an incredible array of societies and activities available literally at your feet, and its only really when you leave that you realise just how lucky you were. Most importantly, connect with people – I made my friends for life at university, and now can’t really imagine my life without those people.

Q8. What are three essential pieces of advice you would give to recent graduates?

Firstly, give yourself a good rest. University is not easy, and allowing yourself time to relax and enjoy your hobbies is essential, not least in avoiding burnout.

Secondly, I’d say try to have a rough career plan in mind; this doesn’t need to be specific, but try and research what kinds of jobs you’d enjoy and be good at, and seek opportunities in those fields. Even if you kind find an opening, it’s never a bad idea to send emails and ask – the worst someone can say to you is “no”.

Thirdly (and finally), take your time with your decisions. Don’t rush into things just because your peers are, and ensure that whatever you choose to do after you graduate is something which will fulfil you – be this becoming a barrister, solicitor, entrepreneur or anything else!

Extra question: Do you have a ‘next step’ in mind to further develop and improve CaseSnappy?

There’s definitely a lot in the pipeline to look out for with regards to CaseSnappy’s future – I can’t get into specifics just yet but there should be some exciting developments appearing on the platform soon!