Legal technology sponsored briefing: The anatomy of a digital-age legal service business

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Legal technology sponsored briefing: The anatomy of a digital-age legal service business

 

Chris Bull of The Intuity Alliance/Kingsmead Square considers the structure, funding and skills needed for a legal service business in the digital age

Note I am talking about ‘legal service business’, not ‘law firm’. ‘Law firm’ suggests a partnership – too outdated and narrow a term in an era when very few new partnerships are being created, and more existing firms are converting to corporate structures. Continue reading “Legal technology sponsored briefing: The anatomy of a digital-age legal service business”

Another £900k for legal tech start-ups as Thirdfort and Legatics secure new funding

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Another £900k for legal tech start-ups as Thirdfort and Legatics secure new funding

The recent influx of cash into legal tech start-ups shows little sign of abating, after deal platform Legatics and property transaction platform Thirdfort both announced sizeable funding rounds to accelerate growth.

For Legatics, a member of Allen & Overy’s last two Fuse innovation hub cohorts, the investment gives the company a £3.14m valuation. Its £500,000 investment came from a combination of angel investors and venture partners. Continue reading “Another £900k for legal tech start-ups as Thirdfort and Legatics secure new funding”

City and Wall Street elite get behind legal tech app as the sector eyes consolidation

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City and Wall Street elite get behind legal tech app as the sector eyes consolidation

Clifford Chance (CC), Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Latham & Watkins are among 12 City and US heavyweights to get behind a startup project to create an App Store for legal tech products.

The initiative responds to challenges faced by legal professionals with overkill setting in as unconnected products flood the market, forcing lawyers to upload client information and documents on a new platform each time the firm adopts a new tool. Continue reading “City and Wall Street elite get behind legal tech app as the sector eyes consolidation”

Comment: GCs should grasp that disruption won’t leave their empires untouched

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Comment: GCs should grasp that disruption won’t leave their empires untouched

A lively debate over coffee recently with Axiom founder Mark Harris took me back to the discussion that manifests most frequently in my line of work these days: the extent that legal services are transforming with new providers and tools.

While Harris highlights many genuine changes in the industry and buying behaviour we disagree on whether this represents a fundamental shift. He sees the rule changing, for me it remains the exception. To be clear, I am an admirer of Axiom as a pioneer that has been a positive competitive force. And as the architect of the world’s most prominent New Law brand, Harris is positioned to see the bleeding edge of change. Continue reading “Comment: GCs should grasp that disruption won’t leave their empires untouched”

The wheat from the chaff – Hustling start-ups meet City law

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The wheat from the chaff – Hustling start-ups meet City law

In a quiet east London street off the bustling Brick Lane, a few doors from a sign tagged ‘Vegan Hair Salon’ is a co-working space. You meet Gaz, the office’s bulldog, and work among Star Wars figurines, gaming consoles and an electric drum kit.

It has blackboard walls and is suspiciously empty on a Friday afternoon given the barbecue outside. Equidistant from the corporate hub at Liverpool Street and the ‘scene’ of Shoreditch High Street, music plays. Continue reading “The wheat from the chaff – Hustling start-ups meet City law”

Client Intelligence Report: Data View – Middle East Focus

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Client Intelligence Report: Data View – Middle East Focus

Demonstrating value is paramount for all in-house legal teams, concerned as it is with how legal work intersects with business objectives and strategy. When measured against the global data, firms in the Middle East reported that they demonstrated value mainly via the same two criteria as the rest of the world; through the commercial aspect of their advice and their risk mitigation abilities. However, the Middle East reported that commercial and business advice was the most important characteristic by a far larger margin than the average. In the Middle East, this was the most prized metric for measuring value added for 46% of respondents, as opposed to 38% in the global average. This implies that legal teams in the Middle East are more likely than average to be relied upon to contribute to the strategic direction of the company. This links in with Middle Eastern general counsel’s greater likelihood of being part of the management structure of their businesses, and shows that in-house legal professionals here are often more integrated with the business than the global norm. Continue reading “Client Intelligence Report: Data View – Middle East Focus”

Virtual Fear and Loathing – Can GCs get law firms to collaborate on tech?

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Virtual Fear and Loathing – Can GCs get law firms to collaborate on tech?

Clichés abound over the stereotypical contrast between stuffy lawyers and progressive tech start-up gurus. Clearly law firms – whose liberal and often misplaced use of the term ‘innovation’ often adds fuel to the fire – have plenty of work to do. At the same time, some clients are far more insistent on innovation from their external advisers than others.

To what extent is this true? Are clients really driving a technological shake-out in the procurement of legal services? As Stuart Whittle, business services director at Weightmans, says: ‘The appetite varies massively among clients. Some want a solution on a stick while others are willing to invest time in tech and work with start-ups. They are all doing their own things and they are subjected to all kinds of pressures.’ Continue reading “Virtual Fear and Loathing – Can GCs get law firms to collaborate on tech?”