A Message From the Editor This week I published two articles that I’ve had circulating in the back of my mind for a while—a look at why people my age start legal tech companies, and the opportunities and struggles they face in doing so. As I noted in one of the articles, I turned 30 last week, an age that tends to be a common sight in the tech world but is still viewed as generally young in the legal world. It’d be tough to take that leap to startup founder myself, and I’m surrounded by legal technology daily. So what inspiration would law school or law firm-bred attorneys have to make the jump? The answers I got had a wide range, from a desire to be creative, to it being the right time in life, to frustration with a law firm partner track rife with impediments. But they all agreed on one thing: Right now is a pretty good time to be in legal technology. Law firms and corporate legal departments are largely willing to learn, and the founders haven’t noticed much age bias. Outside funding is coming into legal technology at an astounding rate. And law schools, outside organizations like Y-Combinator and even firms themselves are teaching potential entrepreneurs about the space like never before, leading to a rash of new ideas. People my age are becoming less rare in the legal tech world by the day, and that’s only going to continue in the coming years. – Zach Warren, editor-in-chief, Legaltech News |