Silicon Valley has consistently failed to disrupt legal markets, not just because lawyers are a protectionist guild, but also because clients seem to want to overpay. It’s a pathology that has something to do with the idea that the higher cost is worthwhile. As a lawyer who has been both a BigLaw attorney and in-house counsel, I find the premise that name brand law firms are worth their fees to be totally wrong. The incentives for any lawyer who is on the clock are contrary to your own best interests, and even more so when they have to pay for a pyramid scheme of senior partners, expensive offices, first-class airfares, etc.

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.