What happens when a hardworking corporate lawyer joins forces with an MIT AI researcher? A revolutionary solution to one of the legal profession's most notorious pain points: due diligence.
 
 Connor Acle, co-founder and CEO of Marveri (https://www.marveri.com/), shares his journey from Morrison Foerster associate to legal tech entrepreneur in this illuminating conversation. After experiencing firsthand how due diligence consumed over half of transaction legal budgets while burning out junior associates, Connor saw an opportunity when ChatGPT emerged. He partnered with an MIT PhD candidate specializing in AI to create a system that fundamentally reimagines how lawyers approach data rooms.
 
 Marveri doesn't just analyze individual documents – it builds a comprehensive understanding of an entire company's legal framework. The software transforms chaotic data rooms into organized repositories with standardized naming conventions in seconds, automatically verifies document execution by checking every required signature, and can even generate first drafts of due diligence reports. Most impressively, when tested against documents labeled by expert attorneys, Marveri's system performed as well or better than human lawyers.
 
 The market response reveals a fascinating divide in the legal industry. While end users consistently describe Marveri as "mind-blowing" and "game-changing," law firms themselves range from complete prohibition of AI tools to enthusiastic early adoption. Forward-thinking firms recognize that AI proficiency will soon become as essential to legal practice as email and computers, giving their attorneys a competitive advantage by embracing these technologies now.
 
 For fellow startup founders, Connor emphasizes the importance of customer relationships. Many of Marveri's most successful features came directly from user suggestions, highlighting the wealth of knowledge possessed by practicing attorneys who understand daily challenges firsthand.

  Connect with Connor on LinkedIn or visit Marveri.com to discover (and get a demo of) how AI is transforming legal due diligence and empowering lawyers with the technological edge they need in today's competitive environment. 

And note, too, that Marveri recently raised $3.5 million from investors, including Alven, Day One Ventures, I2BF, and a syndicate of early users—a powerful vote of confidence from the very practitioners who use the platform daily.
 
 

What happens when you combine the rigor of legal research with the power of data analytics? In this illuminating conversation with Carla Rydholm, General Manager and Head of Product at Lex Machina, we explore how legal analytics is transforming litigation strategy.

Carla's unconventional journey from biology PhD to legal tech pioneer offers unique insights into how cross-disciplinary thinking drives innovation. She shares how Lex Machina evolved from a Stanford public interest project to an industry-leading analytics platform now part of LexisNexis, maintaining its original mission of bringing transparency to the law.

The heart of our discussion centers on how Lex Machina converts the complexity of court records into structured, actionable data. Attorneys face countless decision points throughout litigation, from estimating case timelines to deciding whether to fight unfavorable rulings. Carla explains how comprehensive litigation data enables lawyers to ground these decisions in empirical evidence rather than just gut feeling or limited personal experience.

We also tackle the evolving role of AI in legal practice. While many vendors make ambitious claims, Carla emphasizes the importance of responsible AI implementation that keeps attorneys firmly in control. Lex Machina's approach ensures their AI capabilities enhance rather than replace legal judgment, with technology serving as a trusted assistant rather than an autonomous agent.

For legal tech entrepreneurs, Carla offers invaluable advice on product development: ensure your technical team gains direct exposure to users. By bridging the gap between engineers and attorneys, companies create solutions that truly address legal professionals' needs rather than just showcasing impressive technology.

Ready to discover how data analytics could transform your approach to litigation strategy? Connect with Carla on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected] to learn more about Lex Machina and the future of data-enabled legal practice.

Monica Zent joins us to share her journey as a seven-time founder and legal tech pioneer who has been at the forefront of innovation for nearly three decades. She discusses her evolution from creating some of the earliest ALSPs to investing in and advising the next generation of legal tech startups.

• Starting as an entrepreneur in the 1990s with domain name and music industry technology companies
• Founding Zentlaw 23 years ago as one of the first subscription legal services for enterprise clients
• Creating early legal tech tools, including AI chatbots and collaboration platforms before they became mainstream
• Investing in legal tech for the past 12 years and now partnering with venture firms to evaluate opportunities
• Taking a contrarian view that legal tech is broader than commonly perceived, encompassing regulatory compliance, IP, and adjacent sectors
• Advising legal tech founders to  identify real problems worth solving now
• Helping law firms and legal departments navigate digital transformation with appropriate governance structures
• Identifying integration opportunities between legal tech and adjacent technologies like fintech and cybersecurity
• Working through Law Innovation Agency to consult with corporates, big law, and government agencies on innovation

Connect with Monica Zent:
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/monicazent/
• https://www.monicazent.com/

Subscribe to Monica's Venture Legal Newsletter:
• https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7302735858552446976

Discover Zentlaw and Law Innovation Agency:
• https://www.lawinnovationagency.com/
• https://zentlawgroup.com/

What if personal injury attorneys could say "yes" to every promising case that came through their door? That's the problem Finch Legal (https://www.finchlegal.com) is solving with a groundbreaking approach that combines human expertise with AI-powered automation.

In this conversation with founders Viraj Bindra and Ben Weems, we explore how Finch Legal transforms the pre-litigation process for personal injury attorneys. After embedding themselves with law firms to understand operational pain points, these founders built a solution that handles everything from client intake to demand letter preparation, allowing attorneys to focus exclusively on what they do best.

The magic behind Finch Legal's model isn't just clever AI—it's the thoughtful integration of experienced US-based paralegals working alongside AI agents that automate the most repetitive aspects of case management. This human-AI collaboration ensures clients receive empathetic service while mundane tasks like requesting medical records, opening insurance claims, and drafting documents happen efficiently in the background.

What makes this conversation particularly timely is Finch Legal's recent $3.75 million funding round led by Sequoia Capital, validating their approach in an increasingly competitive legal tech landscape.

For attorneys struggling with capacity constraints or legal tech entrepreneurs navigating the fundraising landscape, this episode offers both practical wisdom and inspiring vision about the future of legal practice. The founders paint a compelling picture of how thoughtful technology implementation can expand access to legal services while improving outcomes for both attorneys and clients.

Israel's innovation powerhouse isn't just transforming cybersecurity and consumer tech—it's also transforming the delivery of legal services through technological advancement. In this fascinating conversation with Idan Sivan, CTO at Fisher Law Firm and founder of the LawIT Forum, and Omri Rahum-Tweg, partner and co-head of the firm's law and technology practice, we explore how Israeli legal tech is developing at lightning speed.

What makes the Israeli legal tech ecosystem special? For starters, the geographic intimacy allows startups to establish beta testing partnerships with law firms far more efficiently than in markets like the US. As Idan explains, "The market is small, the activity is small, so it's easier to gain access and to work together with law firms as a vendor." This creates a powerful advantage: Israeli legal tech companies can more often refine their products through real-world testing without the lengthy sales cycles that plague startups elsewhere.

Particularly fascinating is how Fisher approaches change management across generational divides. While senior partners might not personally use every new technology, they've strategically empowered tech-savvy team members to drive implementation. This pragmatic delegation has accelerated adoption throughout the organization, allowing the firm to implement AI tools across multiple practice areas—from automated contract analysis to sophisticated due diligence capabilities that can extract substantive issues from thousands of documents.

When discussing "agentic AI"—the concept of AI systems that can make decisions and complete complex workflows with minimal human intervention, both guests advocate for a balanced approach: identifying appropriate use cases while recognizing technology's current limitations. As Omri notes, "You have to be very picky and very careful and very mindful of the use cases you choose to select for this specific goal." Idan adds the crucial reminder that firms must "slow down a little bit ... you cannot talk about agentic AI and automations of legal processes if your lawyers haven't been trained for the basics."

Whether you're a legal practitioner curious about technology's frontier, an investor considering the legal tech market, or simply interested in how traditional professions evolve, this episode offers valuable insights into one of legal innovation's most dynamic ecosystems. 

When you're a patent attorney facing the challenge of creating high-quality patents in half the time you once had, technology isn't just a luxury—it's survival. FX Leduc, co-founder and CEO of DeepIP (https://www.deepip.ai), joins Charlie Uniman to reveal how artificial intelligence transforms intellectual property practice from the ground up.

Patent practitioners who once had 40 hours to draft applications now operate under 20-hour constraints. DeepIP addresses this pressure by providing an AI assistant that saves attorneys 20-50% of their drafting time while actually improving patent quality. Among the features that make DeepIP's approach to patent drafting unique? First, Deep IP's tech integrates directly within Microsoft Word, eliminating disruptive application switching. Second, the tech creates an iterative process where attorneys maintain complete control.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn when FX explains how DeepIP handles office actions by connecting with USPTO file wrappers to analyze rejections and identify effective counterarguments. This capability becomes increasingly crucial as patent offices worldwide develop their own AI tools to generate automated rejections, creating what FX describes as an urgent need for law firms to adopt similar technologies or risk falling behind.

Looking toward the future, FX highlights two key AI developments transforming the field: agentic AI, which can navigate complex workflows with semi-autonomous capabilities, and personalization, which adapts to an attorney's distinctive drafting style or client-specific requirements. These advancements represent not just efficiency gains but a fundamental shift in how patents are created and prosecuted.

By addressing the unique challenges of intellectual property practice, DeepIP exemplifies how specialized legal technology can deliver genuine value. Whether you're a patent attorney, an IP professional, or a legal innovator generally, this episode offers essential insights into how AI is rapidly becoming not just an advantage but a necessity in intellectual property law.

The immigration legal landscape is shifting dramatically, creating unprecedented challenges for attorneys navigating complex cases under heightened scrutiny. Enter CaseBlink (https://www.caseblink.com), an innovative AI-powered platform transforming how immigration lawyers handle their caseloads.

Co-founders Khalil Zlaoui (CEO) and Tina Zedginidze (COO) join us to unveil how their technology helps immigration attorneys spend much less time on routine aspects of case preparation. With most immigration lawyers working on a flat fee basis, this efficiency translates directly to improved margins, increased capacity, and potentially greater access to justice for clients.

CaseBlink's three-pillar approach – document understanding, case research, and drafting – tackles the most time-consuming elements of immigration casework. CaseBlink's AI reads and extracts information from complex technical documents, conducts independent research based on visa requirements and regulations, and assembles comprehensive petitions – all while keeping attorneys firmly in control of case strategy.

What makes this particularly valuable now? Recent political developments have significantly increased both the volume of immigration cases and the level of scrutiny they receive. Attorneys find themselves overwhelmed not just by more clients seeking help, but by the need to produce increasingly robust documentation to withstand heightened examination. CaseBlink enables lawyers to focus on high-value strategic work rather than administrative tasks.

The founders share fascinating insights about their journey, from leveraging their professional networks for early adoption to participating in an accelerator program that helped these technical founders develop crucial business skills. Their experience offers valuable lessons for legal tech entrepreneurs about testing markets, building confidence, and refining your pitch.

Listen now to discover how technology is helping attorneys work more efficiently while maintaining the essential human elements that make good legal representation possible.

What happens when a venture capitalist with CIO experience meets the evolving world of legal technology? Yousuf Khan, Partner at Ridge Ventures (https://ridge.vc), brings a refreshing perspective on what makes legal tech startups truly investable in today's market.
 
Our conversation reveals why Ridge Ventures takes the unusual step of including customer introduction targets directly in their term sheets, creating genuine accountability between investors and founders. Drawing from his experience as a former CIO who worked closely with legal departments, Yousuf explains how he developed empathy for legal professionals' technology challenges and access to a valuable network of decision-makers.
 
We explore the unique advantage legal tech founders have when they come from the legal profession. As Yousuf puts it, "Being able to articulate that pain point, being able to talk about the domain, is how you build a connection with your customers." This authentic understanding creates an immediate credibility that resonates with customers and investors.
 
We next examine how AI is reshaping the legal technology landscape. Beyond productivity gains, AI promises substantive improvements in legal outcomes, potentially creating a future where lawyers who don't adopt certain technologies face ethical and competitive disadvantages. As Yousuf memorably quips, "The jury's still out," but market expectations are rapidly shifting.
 
Yousuf offers practical wisdom for founders seeking investment: understand your specific market segments, demonstrate how your product will evolve over time, and focus relentlessly on customer success. "The only mode a legal tech founder needs to be in is customer mode," he emphasizes, cutting through trendy debates about founder versus manager mindsets.
 
Join us for this insightful conversation about building successful legal tech companies in a time of unprecedented technological change and opportunity. Whether you're a founder, investor, or legal professional curious about innovation, you'll gain valuable perspective on where this dynamic industry is heading.

What if raising capital for your startup could be 10x cheaper and dramatically faster? Anthony Rose, founder and CEO of SeedLegals (https://seedlegals.com), reveals how the SeedLegals platform has revolutionized fundraising for UK startups and why he's now bringing this game-changing solution to the US market.

This conversation sheds light on some hidden pitfalls of startup seed and Series A fundraising that can cost founders dearly. Among those pitfalls are hazards that can lurk in those seemingly simple YC SAFEs (where, for example, conversion mathematics often result in founders unknowingly giving away significantly more equity than anticipated). We also explore why US startups typically pay tens of thousands of dollars (or more) for priced funding rounds when SeedLegals can deliver the industry-standard documents (together with additional services) starting at a fraction of what's typically charged.

Beyond cost savings, Anthony shares how SeedLegals addresses the fundamental power imbalance between founders and investors. Based on access to data from thousands of funding rounds, SeedLegals empowers founders with knowledge, particularly when it comes to knowing which deal terms are genuinely market standard and where founders should push back on investor-offered terms. By streamlining the legal aspects of a founder's startup fundraising journey, that founder can devote more energy to what truly matters – creating products customers love.

The conversation also offers invaluable business advice for founders, such as the importance of focusing on customer-driven development. For example, Anthony suggests getting out from behind screens to validate ideas directly with potential users. As Anthony puts it, "Success isn't just building and shipping something; success is also people wanting what you've built." 

Whether you're raising your seed round or looking to optimize your Series A, this episode provides founders with the insider knowledge they need to navigate fundraising more efficiently and avoid costly mistakes that could haunt them (and their cap table) for years to come.

Introducing the first in a series of podcast episodes from Legal Tech StartUp Focus that feature legal tech power users. 

Discover the transformative power of legal technology with Karl Seelbach, the visionary litigator who co-founded the Austin, Texas-based Doyle Seelbach law firm (https://www.doyleseelbach.com) and Skribe (https://skribe.ai), a legal tech startup committed to revolutionizing depositions and enhancing litigation practice efficiency. Listen as Karl shares his journey from the courtroom to the forefront of legal tech innovation. Learn how Karl's passion for personal injury defense and drive to modernize legal processes sparked the creation of Skribe.
 
Get ready to witness how a legal tech power user like Karl can unlock the potential of legal tech (especially AI's use in legal settings. This episode unpacks how pushing legal tech to greater limits can transform mundane tasks like invoice appeals and billable hour tracking. See how a power user of AI (and legal tech more generally) can improve financial outcomes and save valuable time. We also delve into the critical balance of privacy and accuracy when integrating AI into legal research and the robust discussions surrounding its capabilities.
 
 As we look to the horizon, the episode imagines a future where technology continuously reshapes the legal landscape (e.g., envision virtual and augmented realities redefining how we conduct negotiations and make courtroom appearances). This discussion emphasizes the importance of embracing technological collaboration within the industry through conferences and community interactions. Join us in this insightful conversation on how legal tech use can assist lawyers in staying competitive and even help lawyers become more inspired by their day-to-day work in a world of ever-evolving legal service delivery methods.