Silicon Valley has consistently failed to disrupt legal markets, not just because lawyers are a protectionist guild, but also because clients seem to want to overpay. It’s a pathology that has something to do with the idea that the higher cost is worthwhile. As a lawyer who has been both a BigLaw attorney and in-house counsel, I find the premise that name brand law firms are worth their fees to be totally wrong. The incentives for any lawyer who is on the clock are contrary to your own best interests, and even more so when they have to pay for a pyramid scheme of senior partners, expensive offices, first-class airfares, etc.<p>Try going through a funding round with well-known VCs. I bet they all still use Gunderson and Wilson Sonsini instead of the “disruptors“ in their own portfolios.
- "journey": check<p>- "humbled, honored": check<p>- complete shutdown < 30 days: check<p>- no context on what, why, and how it happened: check.<p>This is a sour post, sorry for that. Startups are hard, no question about that.<p>But as mentioned elsewhere, this type of posts just adds more damage and unclarity to a situation that is probably pretty dramatic for the founders, customer and employees.
So I started legal tech myself and am familiar with Upcounsel.<p>They struggled to build a sustainable network effect in their marketplace due to regulation (split fee is prohibited) and business model. Regulation deterred lots of lawyer to join in fear of losing their licence (despite the fact they already had a significant number) and thus increasing CAC of acquiring supply.<p>Second, legal service are very punctual (dont need them often) which mean its a low frquency purchase which again increase CAC.<p>Competion with traditional law firm on top of it didnt help. In marketplace you need absolutely a community that fuel word of mouth and network effect but in this case lawyer just couldnt rally as much as they wanted (regulation).<p>good idea, good founders, good product (yes there was some bad reviews but nothing out of the ordinary for an online marketplace/or any business) but in the end, business model didnt work. Avvo had similar issue and closed one of their product. Looking forward to their next startup.
I know these situations can be painful, (and there may be concerns re: confidentiality), but I really wish more founders would share a bit more detail describing what went wrong.<p>This kind of candor would be hugely valuable to other founders who are still in the trenches.
I just discovered UpCounsel recently and it has been extremely helpful for keeping costs down at a startup. Very disappointed as I was looking forward to using for years to come. I especially like how fees were clearly displayed and lawyers were able to compete to get the job.
That's too bad, I'm based in Poland but I used them often to register trademarks in the US and ask legal questions about doing business there. It was very helpful and transparent with pricing.<p>Are there any good alternatives?
A good alternative is <a href="http://www.legal-marketplace.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.legal-marketplace.com</a>. They also offer buy here services and the ability to get proposals online.
Huh, I have just been looking to get some legal advice and this seems like exactly the kind of service I'd want to use. Shame it's shutting down.<p>Does anybody know similar services?