More than 500 startup companies offer tech solutions to legal industry
Robert Ambrogi. ABA file photo by Wayne Slezak.
Updated: Legal technology startups don’t need large sums of money to get off the ground, thanks to new technology and the digitization of data.
More than 500 startup technology companies provide services to the legal industry, according to a tally by legal technology blogger Robert Ambrogi. Ambrogi, who created the list at his LawSites blog, tells Fast Company that tech entrepreneurs with good ideas can compete with bigger players.
“Now it’s law students, or younger lawyers who just aren’t happy with the way things are getting done and will get an idea and try to develop it,” Ambrogi says.
Ambrogi cites as an example PacerPro, a startup that offers a better way to search federal court records. Its founder is San Francisco lawyer Gavin McGrane, who started the venture with with funding from his uncle.
Fast Company lists other newer companies that are helping the legal industry. They include IP analytics company Lex Machina (planning an expansion in services after its sale to LexisNexis), alternative legal research company Ravel Law (which partnered with Harvard Law School to scan its case archive), and legal research website Casetext (which uses crowdsourcing to annotate cases).
Updated May 24 to note the increased number of startups on the list.
