This post was written by Mary Juetten, the founder and CEO of Traklight.com and the co-founder of Evolve Law and a thirty-year business veteran who is passionate about small business success and change in the legal field.

The legal industry is undergoing a technological revolution, and in the last several years, Legal Technology (LegalTech) has exploded into an almost $400B market. From only fifteen LegalTech startups on Angel List in 2009 to over four hundred listed in 2013, technological disruption has affected every branch of the legal industry. 

Often compared to financial technology (FinTech), the LegalTech industry saw major venture investment backing in 2014 and 2015 in four areas, cited by Bessemer Ventures here as ripe for disruption: process automation, legal research, consumer and e-discovery.  However recently that investment has slowed down, as has investment in many sectors.

I started Evolve Law last fall as an additional sales and marketing channel for Traklight’s legaltech vertical.  My Evolve Law co-founder and I have experienced challenges selling to lawyers, an inherently risk adverse group.

Everyone resists change but lawyers seem to have an added hurdle because they dislike being first or even early adopters.  This and other theories originally appeared in a series I wrote for the ABA’s Law Technology Today:

1. Legal tech companies will do better if the founders are former or current attorneys, because that creates a built-in incubator for the product.
2. In-house or general counsel are important customers as they will drive change with the larger law firms faster than the legal tech companies.
3. Legal tech companies have more challenges with medium and large firms because of more cumbersome decision-making processes.
4. It may be easier to dislodge another competitive legal tech solution than create a brand new solution that has no competitors and therefore no early adopters.
5. Too many solutions or legal tech products (not necessarily companies) can create inefficiencies—unless there is seamless integration.
6. Everyone resists change; attorneys are no different.

LegalTech in Arizona is an active vertical.  In addition to Traklight and Evolve Law, we have the following companies offering technology to the law: Access Legal, Ipro Tech, LawLytics, LexProjex, Local Lawyer Guide, and New Law US.  If you are a legaltech company in Arizona and not listed above please reach out to me twitter @maryjuetten.

Please join us at Ipro Tech on February 18^th to see AZ LegalTech company demos and hear from experts learn more about LegalTech’s impact on your practice – more details here.