Annie Weber ist die Gründerin des erfolgreichen Startups Legal Hero und eine beeindruckende, inspirierende Persönlichkeit. Nach Studium in Harvard (einschließlich eines MBA) und einigen Jahren Großkanzlei gründete Annie im Jahr 2014 Legal Hero in New York. Mittlerweile ist Legal Hero in viele weitere amerikanische Städte expandiert und augenscheinlich sehr erfolgreich. Legal Hero vermittelt erfahrene Anwälte zu günstigen (Pauschal-)Preisen. Im Gespräch mit dem Legal Tech Blog beschreibt Annie, wie es zur Gründung von Legal Hero kam und wie Sie die Entwicklungen im Rechtsmarkt einschätzt. Seht selbst:
In your own words, Annie, what is Legal Hero about and which problems does it solve?
Legal Hero makes law simple for businesses by providing vetted, experienced lawyers at fixed prices. Businesses are tired of the lack of predictability and transparency associated with the traditional law firm model. By providing experienced, vetted attorneys and working exclusively at fixed prices, Legal Hero is tackling the concerns that make hiring a lawyer such a stressful experience for so many small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Why did you start Legal Hero in 2014? What inspired you to become a lawentrepreneur?
For most of my life, I’ve had a front-row seat to many of the pain points that SMBs experience in getting legal help. I grew up in a family business, where I saw my parents struggle to find really great lawyers at predictable prices. More recently, I worked as a lawyer at a large firm in Boston, and saw the other side, where I realized that collecting on fees and managing the business side of a legal practice is a huge challenge for many lawyers.
I started Legal Hero to solve for the pain points for both customers and lawyers – customers craved pricing certainty, quality certainty and transparency, and lawyers didn’t enjoy managing the business side of their practices (like having to collect on bills). At Legal Hero we’re taking the friction out of the relationship between customers and lawyers and making it simple for businesses to get the benefit of trusted legal advice without the traditional hassle.
What are you truly passionate about?
I’m passionate about empowering businesses and lawyers: Empowering businesses to get the great legal help they deserve without the headache, and empowering lawyers to find ways to practice law with interesting clients outside of the traditional firm structure.
What is the “one thing” that Legal Hero wants to make better?
We want to make getting legal help an awesome experience. Legal Hero is a one-stop shop for businesses that need lawyers. They can work with the lawyer they want, on-demand, at a price that they know before they start any work.
What are the three most important trends for the provision of legal services and why does Legal Hero provides a solution to these trends?
Fixed prices – All of the work on our platform gets done at fixed prices agreed upon before the work starts.
Technology – It’s time that lawyers start leveraging technology to do work more efficiently. We are continuously building technology that we believe will be helpful to the lawyers on our network so that they can work as efficiently as possible.
Transparency – Businesses are used to transparency in most service categories, and it’s time they get the same transparency in law. Our platform provides this transparency by providing clear, up-front prices and project management tools.
As one of the most exciting legal startups in the US which advice do you have for entrepreneurs who want to build products and services for law firms or legal professionals?
The legal industry is broken in many ways, and I believe that it is currently undergoing a radical transformation. There are major opportunities to build products and services that will be transformative, but it’s a unique market and lawyers can be particular, so make sure to do a lot of research and prototyping before you dive in!
How can German or international companies use Legal Hero to start up their business in the US?
Very easily! Just visit our site to checkout our attorney network and take a look at sample projects (www.legalhero.com), or shoot us an email at info@legalhero.com.