ABA Journal

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Jason Mendelson Knew He Struck a Nerve When a Friend E-Mailed: ‘You Are Dead to Me’


By Rachel M. Zahorsky

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Jason Mendelson

From June 2008 to August 2009, Jason Mendelson wrote a series of articles about the future of the legal profession. Mendelson’s musings on Law Firm 2.0 ignited a first wave of heated comments and debates among readers, including one e-mail from a friend that said, “You are dead to me.”


From June 2008 to August 2009, Jason Mendelson wrote a series of articles about the future of the legal profession. Mendelson’s musings on Law Firm 2.0 ignited a first wave of heated comments and debates among readers, including one e-mail from a friend that said, “You are dead to me.” The second wave of e-mail came from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists that shared similar experiences with the inefficiencies in the legal profession. With the third wave of comments, Mendelson heard back from many of the fired-up attorneys, now calmer, that said, “You know, you’ve really hit upon something.”

Listen to an audio Q&A about his series here:

Below are a few highlights from his series:

Why Startup Lawyers Frustrate Me

Let’s change billing practices before it is too late

Re-architecting the Law Firm

Clients need to chill out (a.k.a. Lawyer Bill of Rights)

What might the future of law firms look like?

Jason Mendelson, who blogs at Mendelson’s Musings, is a Boulder, Colo.-based venture capitalist. He’s co-founder and managing director of Foundry Group, which invests in early-state information technology companies. He’s also managing director and general counsel at Mobius Venture Capital. Before his VC life, Mendelson practiced at Cooley Godward Kronish. And before joining the bar, he was a software engineer at Andersen Consulting.

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