Legl Secures $7M Series A Funding to Digitize Law Firm Operations

B2B SaaS company Legl has successfully raised $7 million in Series A funding. The investment round was spearheaded by Octopus Ventures, bolstering the platform designed to modernize workflows for legal practices.

Investment Details and Participants

The funding round saw participation from existing investors, including Backed, Samaipata, and First Round Capital. Additionally, several angel investors contributed, such as Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas (formerly CPO and COO of GoCardless), Al Giles (ex-CRO of Axiom’s legal division), and Hayden Brown, the CEO of Upwork.

Company Origins and Founding

Legl was established just over a year ago by Julia Salasky, a qualified lawyer. Prior to founding Legl, Salasky created CrowdJustice, a platform facilitating public interest legal crowdfunding.

Current User Base and Future Plans

Currently, Legl collaborates with approximately 100 law firms located in the UK. This includes around a dozen firms ranked within the top 200. The Series A funding will be allocated towards expanding the Legl team, increasing its user base within the UK, and continuing product development.

Identifying the Opportunity

Salasky identified the need for a platform to assist law firms in digitizing their operational processes through her experiences with firms while working at CrowdJustice. She observed a growing demand for digital solutions within the legal sector.

Shifting Expectations in the Legal Sector

“We observed key trends through our work with numerous law firms at CrowdJustice,” Salasky explains. “Clients, both individual and corporate, now anticipate a seamless digital experience, mirroring their interactions with other service providers.”

Mitigating Risk and Adapting to Remote Work

“Furthermore, law firms are inherently risk-averse. Manual and fragmented processes – such as conducting compliance checks via email or processing payments by phone – actually elevate risk levels,” Salasky notes. “The shift to remote work, accelerated by Covid-19, rendered many traditional, manual processes impractical.”

Legl’s Approach to the Billable Hour

Despite the traditional billing model in law firms, which often prioritizes billable hours, Salasky emphasizes that Legl does not interfere with this practice. This has contributed to the platform’s rapid adoption rate.

“We streamline time-consuming administrative tasks that lawyers cannot bill for,” she states. “This allows legal professionals to concentrate on their core competency: providing legal expertise.”

The Importance of Client Experience

Salasky also highlights the increasing importance of client experience in the legal industry. “There’s a significant movement towards enhancing client experience, a change that has become more pronounced in the last year and a half, influenced by the prevalence of digital experiences in other sectors.”

Key Features: No-Code Workflows

A flagship feature of Legl is its “no-code workflows.” These configurable workflows empower non-technical users to replicate existing processes “for any client, in any practice area” without the complexities of manual configuration.

“We replace complex onboarding processes, which previously required multiple individuals and extensive communication, with self-service workflows,” Salasky clarifies. “We also leverage interaction data to provide valuable client insights, enabling firms to better understand their clientele.”

Benefits for Law Firms: Efficiency and Revenue

According to Salasky, Legl’s clients experience both efficiency gains and increased revenue. Firms report transaction times being reduced by one to two weeks, alongside improvements in client onboarding and cash flow.

Ease of Implementation and Minimal Training

Legl prioritizes user-friendliness to minimize the learning curve for firms adopting the platform. The focus is on replicating existing workflows rather than requiring extensive retraining.

“We’ve intentionally designed our technology to be intuitive and easy to use, mirroring the workflows that law firms already have in place,” Salasky explains. “This avoids creating friction and ensures a smooth transition.”

Impact on Back Office Roles

Salasky believes Legl will not necessarily eliminate back-office roles. Instead, it will enable firms to allocate staff to more valuable tasks. “It simplifies tasks for firms to assign higher-value work to individuals currently handling manual, fragmented operational duties.”

Competitive Landscape

Salasky acknowledges the existence of “point solutions” in areas like compliance (citing ThirdFort and SmartSearch as examples). However, she asserts that Legl offers a more comprehensive solution, extending “way beyond a point solution into broader business operations.”

“Firms seek tools that replace entire processes, not just integrate with existing manual workflows. Legl delivers a superior client experience and provides valuable client insights, setting it apart in the market.”

International Expansion Plans

Currently focused on the UK market, Legl is already receiving inquiries from international locations. The company plans to begin its international expansion in English-speaking markets where its UK clients have existing offices.

Octopus Ventures’ Perspective

Zoe Chambers, early-stage investor at Octopus Ventures, stated: “It’s uncommon to find a founder and team with such in-depth industry knowledge tackling a large sector undergoing rapid technological adoption. Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of the legal industry, and Julia and her team, with their combined expertise in legal, SaaS, and fintech, are well-positioned to dominate the market.”

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