After nearly 32,000 votes, the results are in. Readers have been voting to select the 15 legal technology startups that will get to participate in the sixth-annual Startup Alley at ABA TECHSHOW 2022, taking place March 2-5, 2022.
These 15 will face off in an opening night pitch competition that will be the opening event of this year’s TECHSHOW, with the conference’s attendees voting to pick the top winner. The first-place winner gets a package of marketing and advertising prizes.
In December, we issued a call for entries. From all the entries we received, a panel of judges narrowed the applications down to 26, which we posted on Jan. 17 for you, the readers, to select the final 15.
Here are the winners in order of their vote tallies. The descriptions were provided by each company. The full ballot with more-detailed descriptions is here.
Congratulations to the winners. To those that did not make the cut, we hope to see you again next year.
1. Dashboard Legal
Dashboard Legal is a collaboration and project management tool built for attorneys. Our new software helps lawyers organize their inboxes, track documents and deadlines, and collaborate with colleagues. Lawyers are running matters with email, which is wholly inadequate to meet the complex demands of current workflow. Project management tools can help, and we’re the first legal tech solution providing comprehensive project management integrated into the Inbox.
Dashboard Legal turns the inbox into a project management platform. We’re unique in two ways:
- Client/Matter Taxonomy: The structure of our “”boards”” mirrors how lawyers think by breaking down silos in workflows.
- Familiarity of the Inbox: We’re a layer on top of Outlook that allows lawyers to work from the comfort of their email while gaining access to the benefits of popular collaboration tools.
We also integrate with iManage/Netdocs to bring documents into the dashboards.
2. Immediation
Since 2017, Immediation has been pioneering improved access to justice via highly secure digital legal environments for dispute resolution, hearings, arbitrations and mediation – saving time and money and leading to greater sustainability. Built by lawyers for lawyers. The first and most awarded ODR platform – used by courts, corporations, law firms and more.
Built by a trial lawyer, Immediation natively looks and feels like home to a lawyer. The technology disappears and the attorney can get on with the matter versus dealing with multiple apps or interfaces. The platform is highly secure, neutral parties can control the breakout rooms, all parties are identified and categorized prior to the meeting (saving time), documents can be uploaded in advance for evidence, and DocuSign is built in to speed action on judgements. We offer managed hearing services.
3. Jus Mundi
Building the global rule of law is everyone’s responsibility. This is why Jus Mundi democratizes access to global legal information and legal intelligence with unprecedented efficiency, thanks to a multilingual search engine that combines international legal expertise with AI. Based in Paris and New York City, Jus Mundi’s turnover comes at 40% from the U.S. and 30% from the U.K.
Law should be easily accessible. This is why every legal document on Jus Mundi is freely available to everyone via open access. Multilingual search engine in English or French to get the relevant results in all the languages available. Exclusive institutional partnerships with the IBA, ICC, RAC, VIAC, the inaccessible awards are now accessible. Human in the loop: Lawyers at the center of AI development to train the NLP models with the legal vocabulary to ensure highly specific search results.
4. LawWurk
For too long, individuals have had to compromise their personal justice due to the inability to afford legal assistance. But what if there was a way to get the help you need at a price you’ll be able to pay? LawWurk is a platform for attorneys seeking legal help that introduces them to a network of freelance and independent legal professionals that work at a much lower rate than their traditional counterparts. With LawWurk, justice is one click away.
As the first to market in this high-demand space, LawWurk is changing the narrative for what it means to get people the qualified legal support they rightfully deserve. We are here to set a new standard in the legal industry with accessibility and justice at the forefront. We help underrepresented individuals and attorneys with the legal support they need through an innovative platform that connects them with freelance and independent support staff all for free.
5. Lawmato
Lawmato is a one-of-a-kind app for legal consultation, bringing paying clients to lawyers. Think of it as the “rideshare app” for legal services. If a client needs help with a small business, family law, criminal law or any legal matter, no problem, Lawmato helps clients find you quickly and easily. Lawmato empowers lawyers and clients worldwide with secure, encrypted, advanced technology for virtual legal consultation and payment.
Instead of providing leads upon which the lawyer must follow up or requiring a “free” consultation for marketing to acquire new clients, Lawmato provides the platform for clients to find the right lawyer for their needs and lawyers with good return on investment since every consultation is paid. Additionally, Lawmato allows lawyers to have a chance to gain offline business by providing excellent services during the initial consultation.
6. Fourth Party
Fourth Party provides modern solutions to legacy problems within the legal space – particularly alternative dispute resolution. We help negotiators to manage tasks, access case files, and track results securely, anytime and anywhere. The pandemic put on display the limitations of paper-based systems with ADR. FourthParty makes it easy to prepare for and facilitate high-quality mediations with a secure web application from the negotiation table, home office or working remotely.
Fourth Party’s unique process-mapping features makes it the ideal tool for neutrals at all stages of their careers, particularly early-career neutrals who are looking to build skills quickly in order to accelerate their revenue. Built by neutrals for neutrals, our tool mirrors many of the time-honored traditions of negotiation into a digital environment, making adoption of our tool faster and easier.
7. TurnSignl
TurnSignl is a Minnesota-based tech company providing drivers on-demand teleconferencing with attorneys during traffic stops and following car accidents. At the touch of a button, the TurnSignl mobile app connects drivers to valuable real-time legal guidance from attorneys licensed in that local jurisdiction. TurnSignl’s mission is to protect drivers’ civil rights, de-escalate roadside interactions, and ensure everyone returns home safe.
Combating systemic racism, protecting individuals’ civil rights, advancing DEI, and revolutionary legal technology are topics that rarely appear in the same sentence together. We empower attorneys to harness this unique offering to lead the change they’d like to see within their local communities and grow their practice in the process. This scalable social entrepreneurship platform is ready unlock incredible value for our users and attorney partners alike.
8. Analytica Legalis
(Link not currently working as web site undergoing redesign.)
Judges are like the umpires of the courtroom, but litigators lack the information they need to understand the parameters of each umpire’s strike zone. We help lawyers make evidence-based decisions about the venues they choose and the arguments they make by focusing on the jurisprudence of the judges and courts they interact with. Other products offer descriptions of what happened in the past, but we help prescribe the right course of action for the future.
While other products are descriptive in nature, we are building the first truly prescriptive set of legal analytics products. We can help lawyers make evidence-based decisions by providing custom-tailored recommendations and analytics, all focused on judges and their philosophies of the law. However, we are merely amplifying the expertise of our users, not replacing it. We put the discretion of our users at the center of our products.
9. CoParse
CoParse is an all-in-one Word and PDF processor that replaces Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat Pro, and dozens of plugins. Desktop app for Mac and Windows. Uses DOCX and PDF format and is compatible with existing DMS/CLM/processes. Doesn’t try and be a “collaborative drafting workspace” or CLM – just a modern, purpose-built rethink of Word/Acrobat/Compare/etc. Targeted at everyone who uses documents: law firms, enterprises, ASLPs, corporate legal, startups, and more.
Many things make us unique, but to name one: We’re taking a big swing at something big. Actually not that big when you compare it to SpaceX or Tesla, but big relative to LegalTech. We’re a team of young and ambitious software engineers who have worked at places like Amazon, Salesforce, Bridgewater, DocuSign, U.S. Army, and more, and more than anything we want to build something awesome.
10. FastVisa
FastVisa provides an immigration infrastructure for legal and nonprofits that allows for collaboration, efficiency, and transparency to the complex immigration. We empower them to do more with less in immigration. We provide scalable solutions that can be customized to provide services to the immigration social good community. We help immigration legal and nonprofits develop, deliver, and optimize programs and services. We make it easy for people to connect services they need.
Centralized B2B immigration management platform for legal and SMBs. We help law firms manage the immigration process better and support SMB corp/HR to track and handle immigration from a talent management perspective. FastVisa platform can integrate with other apps that people use every day. We connect FastVisa to other tools people need to run their business.
11. Clearbrief
Clearbrief gives litigators a new way to craft their most compelling writing by putting the power of accurate evidence at their fingertips. By leveraging AI, lawyers can quickly see where opposing counsel is misrepresenting the facts and law, and efficiently build a facts section and a table of authorities in minutes. Our customers save seven non-billable hours on average per week by using our tools to enhance their legal writing. We work right where lawyers do, in Microsoft Word.
Clearbrief provides a new level of access to facts and law, empowering attorneys and courts to create and assess more accurate and securely shareable legal writing. In doing so, it saves (non-billable) time, money, and energy and offers often overwhelmed legal professionals a rare respite from stress. While seamlessly folding into the legal writing process in Microsoft Word, this user-friendly tech promises to modernize the justice system for all.
12. Akroda
Akroda is a project management and communication hub that centralizes collaboration, workflows and reporting for legal teams that lack software tools built specifically for legal function.
Current solutions are built for specific departments but not legal functions. We see Salesforce for sales, Hubspot for marketing, and Monday.com for operations, but there’s no hub for legal teams to collaborate, communicate and execute in one place. We understand how legal teams work and the tools required to complete everyday workflows.
13. Lawcus
Lawcus is a modern all-in-one legal practice management platform equipped with every tool and functionality necessary to manage and scale a successful law firm of any size. Lawcus is the only fully customizable user-friendly software that allows attorneys to automate their processes at their desired level of complexity to save loads of time and maximize efficiency within their law practice.
Lawcus is an all-in-one legal practice management software and CRM that offers the ability to manage and scale your firm through code-free automation while providing the robust tools needed to launch any law firm to success with one single platform.
14. EmotionTrac
EmotionTrac is an AI insights software solution that empowers lawyers to deploy facial analysis tools producing premium quantitative data for emotional reaction and engagement.
We’ve created an economical, fast and easy way to collect insights for cases compared to traditional and costly methods of focus groups and mock juries.
15. Merlin
Merlin’s revolutionary new discovery platform integrates keyword and algorithmic search, allowing users to find relevant documents — quickly and easily — without mastering keyword/query logic. We call our engine “Sherlock,” the first AI-powered digital document bloodhound. Sherlock works like Pandora – when you click Thumbs Up, he finds great documents rather than great music. Sherlock offers a faster, easier, more effective way to find relevant documents for investigations, discovery and compliance.
Sherlock is unique in his speed, flexibility and scalability – capable of analyzing and ranking a million documents in 100 ms. A game changer for investigations, discovery and other document-intensive fields, Sherlock is easier to use and far more effective than keywords at finding relevant documents. Our goal is to revolutionize document search the way Pandora changed how we find new music. Search 2.0, the integration of keyword and algorithmic search, will usher in a new era in document search.
