Why Lawyers are Leaving Law for Legaltech

When I decided to leave my job and work in legaltech, it was not because I didn’t want to be a lawyer. In fact, I loved my job as a litigator at Ropes and Gray. But I knew there were elements of my job — legal research, for one — that could be improved not just for me but for all litigators, and I also knew that the way to make those improvements was through technology.

I’m certainly not the only lawyer to try to improve legal practice by moving into legaltech. The best legal technologists I have the privilege of knowing came to their work not from the tech world, but from legal practice itself.

• Alma Asay of Allegory, a litigation management software product that automates litigation tasks. Allegory makes it easier for litigators to put their fingertips on relevant documents by, for instance, linking a deposition transcript with a pleading relevant to it. (Allegory was recently acquired by Integreon, which is great news for both companies and their users.)
• Rick Merrill of Gavelytics, a judicial analytics platform that gives California litigators insights into the ruling patterns of judges deciding their cases.
• Noah Waisberg of Kira Systems, which automates aspects of contract analysis, due diligence and other contract-related tasks.

Alma was an associate at Gibson Dunn, Rick a litigator at Greenberg Traurig, and Noah an associate at Weil Gotshal. At Casetext, COO and GC Laura Safdie and I bring experience from Simpson Thacher and Ropes & Gray, respectively. Our head of customer engagement, Amanda Gudis (who we wrote about last week) was KM counsel at Ogletree Deakins. Across the company, we have former attorneys from firms like Quinn Emanuel, Kirkland & Ellis, and Cooley, as well as small practices and in-house roles, who are now working in sales, business development, user research, academic relations, and more.

I knew how to code long before I started Casetext, but most of the ex-lawyers on the Casetext team do not have a tech background. All of us were drawn to legal tech because through our years practicing law, we experienced firsthand the sharpest pain points, most of which stemmed from inefficiencies that have been ingrained in legal practice. We each recognized that there is an incredible opportunity to not just improve the practice of law, but to transform an antiquated industry by eliminating some of the most tedious inefficiencies.

Ultimately, this is why Allegory and Gavelytics and Kira Systems — and, yes, Casetext — are making a splash in the legal world; not because of their fancy technology, but because they are making the practice of law more efficient — and in many cases, giving lawyers a competitive edge. Allegory, which was recently acquired by Integreon, saves untold hours of sifting through case documents; Kira saves untold hours of poring over contracts; and Casetext saves untold hours (and fees) in legal research.

Our understanding of the pain points has allowed us to create products that expand opportunities for lawyers. The tasks that disruptive technology is rendering obsolete — document review, contract review, and the like — are the least desirable to perform. Meanwhile, the services that perform them allow attorneys to do their work better, and free them up to focus on the strategic issues and tasks that deliver the greatest value to their clients.