While the rise of legal tech continues to make considerable strides, there are instances when some promising innovations fail despite the initial hype and fanfare. Over the years, the legal industry has seen brands that once promised to revolutionize the sector dissolve as quickly as they appeared. So, let’s examine five of the most noteworthy legal tech failures from the past decade.
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Atrium, a tech company backed by venture capital launched in 2017, aimed to revolutionize legal services. Founded by Justin Kan, previous founder of Twitch, the business model encompassed a law firm and a technology company in one. Despite starting strong with significant capital, by the end of three years it shut down after shifting unsuccessfully towards another business model. Details about Atrium and its downfall were dug into by this Above the Law column.
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QuickLegal was another promising venture that eventually failed. It managed a string of legal services aiming to offer on-demand legal advice to consumers. However, following a lawsuit alleging its founder Derek Bluford impersonated a lawyer and committed fraud, the platform was rapidly shut down. In a twist of events, Derek Bluford claimed to have latterly become an FBI informant, assisting in a significant political corruption investigation. Details about Bluford and QuickLegal are detailed in these LawNext posts.
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Developed at the University of Toronto, ROSS Intelligence was trailblazing in its ambition to utilize Artificial Intelligence to power legal research. But, in 2020, Thomson Reuters sued ROSS, alleging that it illicitly stole content from Westlaw to create its own legal research product. Although ROSS denied the allegations, the lawsuit severely affected its ability to garner new investment or explore potential acquisitions, leading to its closure in December 2020.
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Designed for smaller law firms, LexisNexis Firm Manager was a web-based service released in 2011, which joined the race of cloud-based practice management platforms. The product got off to a rough start with major performance issues and by January 2017, LexisNexis stopped selling Firm Manager. Later that same year, it had completely shut down.
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The sudden shut down of the litigation analytics firm Gavelytics in 2022 surprised almost everyone except its founder. Despite gaining traction as a leader in the rapidly expanding field of litigation analytics and raising considerable funding, it turned out to be untenable. Though there was some silver lining as, six months after its closure, startup Pre/Dicta acquired the Gavelytics platform. Founder and CEO Rick Merrill joined as a strategic advisor.
In retrospect, this review of these cases underscores that, while many products may launch with great potential and high expectations, there’s no assurance of their success. The path to revolutionizing legal services remains slippery and challenging, with various potential pitfalls dotting the journey.