Benjamin Alarie CEO & Founder at Blue J about building in Toronto #techto #startups #toronto
Eight years ago nearly to the day, Benjamin Alarie stepped onto the TechTO stage to tell us about a bold idea he'd been workingΒ ...
Cofounder, Blue J
Search every verified Benjamin Alarie interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote β each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Benjamin Alarie, co-founder and CEO of Blue J, spoke about the founding of his company and the role of machine learning in law. In a 2025 TechTO appearance, he recalled approaching Daniel Dau with the idea that machine learning could transform law, noting that while teaching tax law at the University of Toronto, he observed that most students quickly forgot the material after exams. He described his goal of training a computer to understand the law as a "common resource for everyone." Alarie also credited the Creative Destruction Lab as a valuable resource for startups in Toronto. In a 2018 TEDx talk, Alarie outlined a five-stage vision for legal technology, culminating in a "legal singularity" where 99 percent of legal uncertainty is eliminated, making much litigation superfluous. He stated that Blue J's algorithms can predict court outcomes with up to 94 percent accuracy, compared to lawyers' conventional accuracy of 60 to 70 percent. Alarie described the current legal system as producing "too much printed material" and argued that artificial intelligence offers a solution, making the law "more transparent, more accessible, more fair, more just."
“When I was starting Blue Jay Legal, my one of my first ports of call was to to hunt down this man, Daniel Dau, and say, 'Hey, Daniel, I don't know anything about a startup. I know that machine learning is going to transform law.'”
“Teaching 100 students a year at tax law at the University of Toronto is awesome, but 99% of them immediately start forgetting tax law the moment they end typing their final exam. I think maybe we should start training a computer, you know, an expert system using machine learning to really understand the law.”
“That way it's a common resource for everyone to use to access that intelligence and that knowledge.”
“Daniel said okay Ben step one you have to read this book. I said okay uh that's great. Thanks Daniel. Steven Blank the four steps to the epiphany. But I read it. I found it. I hunted it down. I couldn't get it on Audible which was my favorite format. I had to get it on Kindle.”
“Blue J Legal joined the Creative Destruction Lab, an amazing resource available to us, available to anyone in the city who wants to bring their startup, get some great mentorship, access to capital advice. Highly recommended.”
“We reached peak law book in 1998... two weeks later I found myself in the basement of the same law school library in the computer lab β my mind was blown; it was so much easier to find what we were looking for than chasing through the stacks.”
“I'm not here to dump on the book β the book is an amazing invention: Gutenberg's printing press led to mass publication, the Protestant Reformation, public education and ultimately to the emergence of the modern regulatory state.”
“Every April I experience a pang of apprehension when confronted with the checkbox asking if my tax return is accurate and complete β it's almost impossible to be certain given how voluminous the statutes, regulations and cases are.”
“The answer to too much printed material in tax and law is not more printing β it lies in artificial intelligence, machine learning and legal technology.”
“We're using machine learning to train algorithms on what courts will do in new situations and we're able to do that with up to 94% accuracy in novel situations compared with lawyers' conventional accuracy of between 60 and 70 percent.”
“Our vision is to bring absolute clarity to every area of the law everywhere and on-demand β if a human can in principle do it then a machine learning algorithm can be taught to do the same.”
“When amateur stageβ3 legal technology proliferates we'll look around, realize how messy the pattern of consequences associated with our current legal system is, and that will kick off serious law reform β difficult political conversations and normative work will follow.”
“Stage five gets us into sciβfi territory: a 'legal singularity' where legal uncertainty is largely eliminated β if 99 percent of legal uncertainty disappears, much litigation becomes superfluous because outcomes are highly predictable.”
“As you confront that checkbox next April, you're not alone in the apprehension β the law is becoming more transparent, accessible, fairer and more just, and it's happening right now in Toronto and coming soon around the world.”
Eight years ago nearly to the day, Benjamin Alarie stepped onto the TechTO stage to tell us about a bold idea he'd been workingΒ ...
The modern book, made possible by the innovation of the printing press and moveable type, revolutionized law and modern civilization. We are living through a period similar in many ways to the social, political and economic upheavals brought on by mass printing and the concomitant widespread gains in literacy. The digital computer will ultimately be no less revolutionary, ushering in the elimination of legal uncertainty, the advent of legal singularity, and with it a reinvented social order. Co-founder and CEO at Blue J Legal; Osler Chair in Business Law, tenured faculty member, and Associateβ¦
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