Legaltech startup conference

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We define a legaltech start-up conference as “opportunities for fantasists to meet the credulous to try to sell them stuff they don’t need with budgets they don’t have”.

Here is an interesting list for the neural network to parse: here are the two hundred and seventy-seven (277) Vendors listed in the Legal Geek “Startup Map” Now I confess, not all of these are necessarily for profit businesses (by which I mean intending to make a profit; a large portion of them, however well disposed to the idea of making a profit, won’t actually make one) — there are some, even at a quick scan, that don’t. But it is a minority.

But let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that the rest do. Now there can be no doubt that the amount a multinational is prepared to spend in the pursuit, defence and analysis of its legal rights and obligations is, as far as makes any difference, infinite, but the categories of problem it encounters when doing that, that legaltech can profitably solve, are not.

The legaltech entrepreneur’s assumption is this: even a tiny fraction of an enormous number is still, for a couple of guys in a WeWork office in Shoreditch with laptop, a SquareSpace account and a Bulgarian coder they found on UpWork, a bloody big number.

This logic might fly — might — were there only one such “startup” with the bright idea, but, per the above, there are at least two hundred and seventy of them.

There are only so many uses you can put technology to. Do not confuse quantum of spend and things to spend it on. They are very different.

Even leaving aside the JC”s usual perorations about scale and rent-extraction thresholds — plainly these are to be ignored — just the length of this list ought to prompt some questions.

There are billions of users of word processing software. There are, to all intents, two word-processing applications in the world, and one of them is freeware. This is something that makers of contract automation software might reflect upon.

It strikes me there are two explanations for this rich microcosm. One is that it is right and overdue for consolidation. If the founders of 15 basically interchangeable contract automation tools were to swallow their pride and amalgamate, pooling resources, expertise and clients, then a a apex predator might emerge to sort out this baffling landscape. One or two more sophisticated vendors are already doing that. The other is that there is a reason for for the the variety. As we have posted elsewhere tedium is particular, not generic. Perhaps these firms owe their continued survival to the single, unique problem they solve for each of their clients. It stands to reason that you orient your product and develop it according to the expectations of your anchor client. This same reason may be the barrier to acquiring that second client whose user proposition does not quite match.

But does this not, in itself ask difficult questions about the the real promise of legaltech? How do you reconcile an ecosystem brimming with solutions so wooden, inflexible and difficult to iterate with the breathless promise of artificial intelligence?

Either there is a winner, and it will be an order of magnitude better than the rest, or this is a busted flush, only sustained by the wilful suspension of disbelief that accompanies dying days of a bubble.

By the way, for most participants, expect an ice age.

Winter is coming.

These solutions cannot all be different

Many of these startups have had, more or less, the same idea. Most have a variation on one of about five ideas. Each of these ideas is, in the abstract, a sound idea. But it is not enough for your idea to be sound, if a lot of other people have had the same idea. And if for every tech entrepreneur who has had a bright idea, there are other people who have also had that idea, but just not acted upon it — possibly on the pretext that, while it is a good idea, it is also an obvious one, people all over the world have been having it for years, and it would be hard to monetise —

• Abogadea
  
• Access Solicitor
  
• AdaptingLegal
  
• Addalia
  
• Ageras
  
• AgileCase
  
• Aivan
  
• Alacrity Law Limited
  
• Altis
  
• Alyne
  
• amicable
  
• Amiqus
  
• Annotate
  
• Apperio
  
• Appjection
  
• Arachnys
  
• Archii
  
• Aspirant Analytics
  
• Atkins-Shield
  
• Atomian
  
• Autto
  
• Avail
  
• Avokaado
  
• Avvoka
  
• Bigle Legal
  
• BigLegal
  
• BizBot
  
• BlockchainyourIP
  
• Bounsel
  
• Briefed
  
• BusyLamp
  
• Call A Lawyer
  
• Capdesk
  
• Case Crunch
  
• Case Law Analytics
  
• Casedo
  
• CaseHub
  
• CE Check
  
• Certifydoc
  
• Claim It
  
• Clara
  
• Clause
  
• ClauseBase
  
• ClauseMatch
  
• Clocktimizer
  
• CloudLegal
  
• Cognitiv+
  
• ComplyCloud
  
• ConfirmSign
  
• Consult.law
  
• Contract Mill
  
• Contractbook
  
• Contractinbox
  
• Contractpedia
  
• ContractPodAi
  
• Contracts Done
  
• ContractZen
  
• Corporify
  
• Courtsdesk
  
• Crafty Counsel
  
• CrowdJustice
  
• Data Solver
  
• Databoxer
  
• Datajuristes
  
• Dealsign
  
• Define
  
• Della AI
  
• Demander Justice
  
• DIGURA
  
• DinArv
  
• Dine Arvinger
  
• Doc2
  
• DocGovern
  
• Doctrine
  
• Documendo
  
• Docxpresso
  
• Domaine Legal
  
• Donna
  
• DoNotPay
  
• E3CT
  
• easyQuorum
  
• eContractHub
  
• eEvidence
  
• eGarante
  
• eJust
  
• elAbogado
  
• Enforcd
  
• Enloya
  
• Enoron
  
• Exizent
  
• eXperYenz
  
• F-LEX
  
• Farewill
  
• find my Notary
  
• Find Others
  
• Fintact
  
• FlexeBoss
  
• Fliplet
  
• Forum Jurisprudence
  
• FRisk Reports (trading as FRisk)
  
• FromCounsel
  
• Gaius
  
• Gatekeeper
  
• Genie AI
  
• GOlegal
  
• Green Meadow
  
• Happy Resolution
  
• Hoowla
  
• Hoxro Limited
  
• Hunit Ltd
  
• Hyperlex
  
• Ilves
  
• inCase
  
• incaseof.law
  
• Inddubio
  
• Indemniflight
  
• Indemniza.Me
  
• Indio
  
• InsiderLog
  
• Intelllex
  
• InTouch
  
• iubel
  
• Juralio
  
• JuriBlox
  
• Juriosity
  
• JuriPhone
  
• Juro
  
• JUST: Access Ltd
  
• JustBeagle
  
• Kleros
  
• Knowlex
  
• Kormoon
  
• Kudocs
  
• La Fabrique Juridique
  
• Lakivälitys
  
• Law Tech Factory
  
• Lawbite
  
• Lawers
  
• LawPanel
  
• LawXero
  
• LawyerlinQ
  
• Le Droit Pour Moi
  
• Lean Entries
  
• Legal Monitor
  
• legalbono
  
• Legalcomplex
  
• LegalDutch
  
• Legalesign
  
• LegaleXe
  
• LegalHero
  
• Legaline
  
• LegalThings
  
• legalydocs
  
• Legartis
  
• Legatics
  
• Legito
  
• Legly
  
• LEX superior
  
• LexDigo
  
• LexGo App
  
• LexIQ
  
• Lexly
  
• Lexolve
  
• Lexoo
  
• LexSnap
  
• LexStep
  
• Libryo
  
• Ligabis
  
• Linkilaw
  
• Listened.to
  
• Logical Construct
  
• Made in law
  
• MaitreData
  
• Majoto Lab Limited
  
• MaNewCo
  
• matters.Cloud
  
• Matters+
  
• Milcontratos
  
• Mon-avocat
  
• Monax
  
• myBarrister
  
• MyDocSafe
  
• MyLegalAdviser
  
• MyNotary
  
• Nalytics
  
• Nemo Jus
  
• nubbius
  
• Oasi - Online Arbitration & Settlement Institute
  
• Oathello
  
• Office & Dragons
  
• Ohalo
  
• Oneflow
  
• Online Lawyers
  
• online solution attorney
  
• Onna Technologies
  
• Oratto
  
• Orbital Witness
  
• P&K TimeApp
  
• Panache Software
  
• PatentProfs
  
• PersonalData.IO
  
• Persuit
  
• PingaLawyer
  
• PolicyStore
  
• Post-Quantum
  
• Precisely
  
• Predictice
  
• ProAnnexUs
  
• ProFinda
  
• PUNTO NEUTRO
  
• PymeLegal
  
• PythAgoria
  
• Quarande
  
• Reclamador
  
• ReviewSolicitors
  
• RFRNZ
  
• RightsDD
  
• Rosetta Advisor
  
• Route1
  
• Ruby Datum
  
• Scribestar
  
• Scrive
  
• Seers Group
  
• Sharedo
  
• Sibyl
  
• Signaturit
  
• SignRequest
  
• singlerulebook.com
  
• Sket.io
  
• SnapDragon
  
• SoftLaw
  
• Solomonic
  
• SomeBuddy
  
• Sopimustieto
  
• Sparqa Legal
  
• Spectr
  
• StructureFlow
  
• Summize
  
• synergist.io
  
• Tabled
  
• TagDox
  
• Teal Legal Ltd
  
• Tenant Compensation
  
• Teqmine
  
• Terminis
  
• TestaViva
  
• The Law Superstore
  
• The Link App
  
• The Privacy Compliance Hub
  
• thedocyard
  
• thingsTHINKING
  
• Third Way Legal
  
• Thirdfort
  
• ThoughtRiver
  
• TIQtime
  
• Tirant Analytics
  
• Tonic Works
  
• Top 3 Legal
  
• TrademarkNow
  
• Trakti
  
• TripleCheck
  
• tuAppbogado
  
• UNAES
  
• Unpaid
  
• Vable
  
• Validated ID
  
• Vaxes
  
• VENNCOMM
  
• Vizlegal
  
• Votre Robin
  
• VQ Legal
  
• Waymark Tech
  
• welegal.es
  
• WillSuite
  
• Winu
  
• XBundle
  
• ZYNYO
  

“Legal tech entrepreneurs say the funniest things” department

“we love automation. We love automating complex things. Our app can handle anything with its structured questions: it can add new clauses, new schedules. The complexity is mind-bending.” — Clarilis