From Business Insider · Melia Robinson · · 2m
Legal AI startups face bubble fears as EvenUp doubles down
As valuations soar in legal tech, one founder argues that survival depends on staying deeply embedded in a single niche market.
In brief
As valuations soar in legal tech, one founder argues that survival depends on staying deeply embedded in a single niche market. Legal tech investors are pouring money into startups with soaring valuations, but EvenUp's CEO argues that companies focused on a single niche market are more likely to survive a potential…
Legal tech's bubble question
Tech stocks fell last week as AI doomsayers declared a bubble burst. Legal tech has its own bubble to worry about, with investors pouring money in and valuations soaring.
EvenUp's niche strategy
EvenUp sells software to personal injury law firms. The company has surpassed one hundred fifty million dollars in recurring revenue under contract and serves more than two thousand firms.
CEO's theory on survival
Rami Karabibar, CEO of EvenUp, says what separates legal tech startups with staying power from those that could get swept away comes down to how deeply they embed themselves in customers' business.
EvenUp's expansion within focus
EvenUp started helping plaintiff-side lawyers draft demand letters. Over the past eighteen months it expanded into software managing cases from start to finish, but never left personal injury.
Contrast with generalists
Other players like Harvey and Legora build applications serving everyone from Big Law to multinational corporations. Karabibar thinks EvenUp's focus on personal injury keeps his company bubble-proof.
Big Law learns from Stanford
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer took thirty-one firm members to Stanford for a three-day retreat before school started. Chief AI officer Ilona Logvinova wanted them to think less like lawyers and more like founders.
Closing the imagination gap
Executives got hands-on with AI developed at Stanford. One tool helped them turn expertise into instructions autonomous agents could follow, closing what Logvinova calls the imagination gap.
“the imagination gap”
Stanford's bootcamp dry run
The retreat doubled as a dry run for Stanford's new Legal Engineering Academy bootcamp, launching next summer. Adam Sterling said working with practitioners helps faculty understand the profession and prepare students for the future.
What it means
Legal tech investors are pouring money into startups with soaring valuations, but EvenUp's CEO argues that companies focused on a single niche market are more likely to survive a potential bubble burst.
