In India, where lawyers are still adapting to the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), three Harvard graduates are striving to revolutionize legal technology with the launch of jhana.ai, a generative AI-powered legal assistant.
Founded by Harvard classmates Ben Hoffner-Brodsky, Hemanth Bharatha Chakravarthy, and Em McGlone, Jhana—derived from the Pali word for mental absorption and meditation—aims to assist lawyers by automating key legal tasks. The AI-driven tool efficiently handles tasks like reviewing and summarizing lengthy, complex documents, and conducting legal research with enhanced accuracy and speed.
“Jhana allows users to input messages and files to generate various legal outputs, including propositions, memos, advisories, or even complete drafts and redlines,” explains Chakravarthy. “It draws from a vast database of over 15 million case laws, statutes, and academic sources, and can also browse the web or use plugins like those for patent prior art searches.”
The founders highlight Jhana’s ability to combine advanced search functionality with a comprehensive legal database, automating time-consuming tasks and expanding access to legal resources.
“Jhana is India’s first AI-based paralegal,” says Brodsky. “Our journey began while I was working on legal access technology with the World Bank’s DE JURE program, and Hemanth was involved with the Gates Foundation on government procurement. At Harvard, we had access to sophisticated legal tools, but we noticed that India’s legal digitization was lagging behind, driven more by necessity than vision. Recognizing this gap, we saw an opportunity to create an AI-first legal platform that not only improves access but also enhances comprehension of the law.”
