Legal Tech Startups Founded by Lawyers
To build a better mousetrap, you have to know something about mice.
It's true in the legal tech business, too. After all, how can you create a better way to monitor a court docket if you don't really know how it works? Michael Sander, who created Docket Alarm, learned that lesson when he was working at an expensive New York law firm.
"Twice a day, we had a paralegal go to the court's website, enter a case number, see if there was anything new, and repeat that nine times," he told Wired.com.
Legal Tech and "Lawtrepreneurs"
Sander started his company, which provides legal search, analytics, and litigation alerts for the federal court system, because he saw that the old way was too expensive and inefficient. He says it is a daunting challenge to leave a job for an untested idea, but it can pay off.
He is one of a new breed of lawyers leaving the law to create legal tech. Jonathan Marciano, director of communications at LawGeex, calls them "lawtreprenuers," like his boss Noory Bechor.
He was a lawyer at a top Israeli firm when he saw problems with creating and reviewing contracts. Bechor founded LawGeex, a contract-review platform that uses artificial intelligence, to do the job better.
More Than Document Review
Many legal tech companies provide solutions for law firms, such as document review, filings, research or analytics. Some take on legal tasks from clients' perspectives.
Joseph Tiano, for example, started Legal Decoder to help companies analyze data and manage the cost of outside counsel. He said he quit his law job because he knew what clients wanted and he saw an answer in technology.
"If you just listen to what the market says, the market will tell you how they feel and what they want," he said.
Related Resources:
- Lawyers, How's Your Win Record? This Startup Knows (FindLaw's Technologist)
- 3 Newish Tech Start Ups Looking to Change the Legal Industry (FindLaw's Technologist)
- Google Assistant Is Ready to Assist Your Law Practice (FindLaw's Technologist)
