Lexoo, the legal tech startup helping companies rapidly identify and obtain costeffective and transparent legal services, has closed a $4.4M Series A financing round led by Earlybird with participation of Forward Partners and Ned Staple, General Counsel at Zoopla Property Group, amongst others.
Lexoo will use the funding to expand into new markets as well as develop new tools to help its lawyers work more efficiently.
The legal industry is experiencing a shift in mindset with in-house lawyers under pressure to do more with less and increasingly questioning the established practices and fee structure of the large international law firms. Meanwhile a growing number of senior lawyers is rejecting the traditional partnership route, opting to work independently or for smaller boutique firms.
Lexoo’s data-driven marketplace allows in-house lawyers to quickly identify boutique firms from a global, trusted network. Lexoo’s clients compare and hire lawyers who bid competitively for their work. Lawyers are asked to provide fixed fee quotes, incentivising them to work efficiently and giving clients cost certainty. Lexoo’s lawyers are algorithmically matched to the client and the job spec, eliminating the stress typically associated with finding and instructing an appropriate lawyer. Lexoo’s legally trained team monitor and assist when necessary.
“The traditional global law firm is a flawed delivery mechanism. The large dominant firms bill by the hour and are incentivised to overcharge. Furthermore, the decision makers are often senior equity partners and so take a very short-term view,” comments Daniel van Binsbergen, co-founder and CEO at Lexoo who previously worked as an M&A lawyer at global firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek. “We have created a competitive and transparent market that is aligned with the interests of the customer rather than the partners of big firms.”
