UpCounsel Shutting Down
upcounsel.com
upcounsel.com
Try going through a funding round with well-known VCs. I bet they all still use Gunderson and Wilson Sonsini instead of the “disruptors“ in their own portfolios.
I have used Gunderson Dettmer since they started (was before that one of VLG's first accounts) and have very low legal bills. But I know when to use them and when not to. And when a partner is needed (almost never) and when I can get as good or better from an associate.
Another weird thing is that many customers value the firm and not the partner (I don't really use the firm GD, I use specific people). I "used" Cooley for one specific firm but really I used one person and when he decamped for another firm my company moved with him. Likewise just because that company used Cooley for general corporate law didn't mean we even considered their patent team.
Businesses, of course, have to, but even there it's hard. How does one "shop around" for a lawyer? On what basis can I judge whether somebody is sufficiently smart, hard working, and experienced in the domains I will require?
If I had to do it every day, I'd learn through a series of mistakes. In fact, that's basically what I have done, on the few occasions I've needed a lawyer -- I'm pretty sure I've gotten poor-quality work, but even now I don't really know. I know that I'm not happy with the results in every case, but I have no idea if a different lawyer would have done better.
That has mostly left me really hoping I never need an attorney for my personal life. Which I will, some day -- and suspect my heirs will complain about my choice.
And there are places lawyers can help a lot (hint: typically not business decisions).
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Can you imagine trying to sue a global law firm for malpractice? Are you aware that everything gets pushed down to the lowest, least experienced associate because that’s built into the business model?
Some firms are better than others, but I just simply don’t trust any of them any more.
Edit: I also don’t have too much respect for senior partners at big law firms any more. What kind of person cedes that much of their personal equity? If they were really great, they’d take their clients and run away from the huge, dysfunctional cost structure of BigLaw.
That’s not what the previous person said. People just think they’re paying a premium to get it done right, when as you point out, price is uncorrelated to correctness
You are failing to put yourself into the customer's shoes. Maybe you don't buy into it, but clearly customers do.
I don't know what the legal disruptor market strategy is, but going on what you've said, they shouldn't be differentiating on price. Rather, use reputation against the incumbents, somehow.
To be super clear: I support disruptors in this space. My gripe is with customer/clients that are holding change back for reasons that are against their own best interests.
- "humbled, honored": check
- complete shutdown < 30 days: check
- no context on what, why, and how it happened: check.
This is a sour post, sorry for that. Startups are hard, no question about that.
But as mentioned elsewhere, this type of posts just adds more damage and unclarity to a situation that is probably pretty dramatic for the founders, customer and employees.
As you alluded to, shutting down a startup is a tremendously stressful experience for founders and management. Their top priority is doing right by their customers, employees, and investors. Doing a proper post mortem for the public, in my opinion, is far down on the priority list, and I'm fine with that.
They struggled to build a sustainable network effect in their marketplace due to regulation (split fee is prohibited) and business model. Regulation deterred lots of lawyer to join in fear of losing their licence (despite the fact they already had a significant number) and thus increasing CAC of acquiring supply.
Second, legal service are very punctual (dont need them often) which mean its a low frquency purchase which again increase CAC.
Competion with traditional law firm on top of it didnt help. In marketplace you need absolutely a community that fuel word of mouth and network effect but in this case lawyer just couldnt rally as much as they wanted (regulation).
good idea, good founders, good product (yes there was some bad reviews but nothing out of the ordinary for an online marketplace/or any business) but in the end, business model didnt work. Avvo had similar issue and closed one of their product. Looking forward to their next startup.
This kind of candor would be hugely valuable to other founders who are still in the trenches.
Are there any good alternatives?
Does anybody know similar services?
Also you can call local offices and individual lawyers and build up a long-term relationship. I've done that for previous startups and they can easily handle most general work and introduce you to any specialists you need, while saving all the overhead of going with a firm or in-house counsel.
I kinda always felt ads on a business blog was kinda unprofessional unless you had a general tech/news type blog or the ads on your business blog is for your own products/sponsors/community, etc instead of general unrelated third party ads.
Also I guess another flaw of using ad networks for your own company blog, someone could pay money to display ads for their competitors product on their competitors websites.