UKM-Developed LAWYes AI Platform Launches to Help Malaysian Lawyers Research Cases and Draft Documents

A Malaysian-built artificial intelligence platform for the legal profession, LAWYes, has been launched to help lawyers with research, document drafting and case management, Business Today and Bernama reported. The platform was developed by Associate Professor Dr Shahrul Mizan Ismail of the Faculty of Law at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, together with YF Associates Sdn Bhd, and was launched on October 27 in Kuala Lumpur by M. Kula Segaran, the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for law and institutional reform.

LAWYes brings together three core functions: Search Law and Cases, Draft Document, and Matter Workspace. Lawyers can research legal questions, prepare first drafts and keep documents, earlier work and discussions organised by case. Business Today gave the example of a payment dispute, where a lawyer would review invoices, contract terms and correspondence before drafting a letter of demand. The platform is aimed at litigators, criminal and corporate lawyers, conveyancing practitioners and law lecturers.

The developers stressed that AI-generated research and drafts must be reviewed by a professional before they are used in proceedings or client matters, and that the tool is meant to support lawyers’ judgement, not replace it. YF Associates operates within PEMULA@UKM, the university’s startup ecosystem.

What it means in practice

Kula Segaran told Bernama the platform shows Malaysians can build advanced technology without depending entirely on foreign systems, noting that its creator comes from law rather than technology. He said the real test is whether such tools make legal services more accessible, affordable and efficient so that more people can get the help they need.

The launch comes as the courts set rules for this kind of tool. The Chief Justice has said a practice direction on AI use by lawyers is coming within weeks, which will shape how firms check AI output before it reaches a judge. LAWYes also joins other homegrown platforms built with universities, such as YTL AI Labs’ ILMUcode sovereign coding platform launched at UM.

What to watch next is how many firms adopt LAWYes and at what price, how it handles data protection for confidential client files, and whether its design lines up with the Chief Justice’s practice direction once it is issued.