The results are in — all 38,715 of them. Readers have been voting to select the 15 legal technology startups that will get to participate in the fourth-annual Startup Alley at the American Bar Association’s TECHSHOW conference, which is Feb. 26 to 29, 2020, in Chicago.  Voting ended Friday night and now we are pleased to announce the winners.

These 15 startups will be provided space at a steeply discounted cost to exhibit their product or service in the special Startup Alley located within TECHSHOW’s exhibit hall. In addition, each startup will face off in an opening night pitch competition judged by an audience of TECHSHOW attendees. The winner of the pitch competition wins a package of marketing and advertising prizes, as described here.

Here are the winners in order of their vote tallies. The descriptions were provided by each company. The full ballot with more-detailed descriptions is here.

[Note: The company originally listed here as number 15, Knovi, decided not to participate in Startup Alley. As a result, the 15th spot went to the next-highest vote-getter, Text A Lawyer.}

  1. Woodpecker. Woodpecker is an AI-enabled legal document automation platform that helps lawyers get back to doing what they love. Our platform enables firms to automatically turn frequently used legal documents into standardized “smart-templates,” all from the comfort of Microsoft Word with no implementation or training overhead.
  2. FirmTRAK. FirmTRAK seamlessly integrates with your practice management system and other strategic vendors, automatically generating diagnostic and predictive KPI visualizations designed to accelerate performance, increase efficiencies and drive profits.
  3. Proxy. NMBL Technologies was founded by a diverse group of AmLaw 100 lawyers and technologists. We recently released our first product, Proxy. Proxy is a cloud-based legal workflow management tool that supports the more effective adoption of legal operations concepts. Proxy optimizes four key day-to-day legal functions: (1) organizing and managing legal tasks; (2) delegation and status tracking; (3) visual prioritization; and (4) effective reporting and search.
  4. LawCo. LawCo was developed to efficiently and ethically solve the access to justice problem by creating a way to connect live leads to lawyers instantly. LawCo’s platform matches people in need of legal help with lawyers on-demand, in real-time, and at no connecting cost to the consumer. With no monthly commitment fee to the attorney and no lengthy sales pitch, we built LawCo for small firms and solo lawyers, seeking to cost-effectively and rapidly build their books of business.
  5. Lawgood. Lawgood is a web app that makes it easy for lawyers to draft and review contracts by allowing them to adjust important clause language with the push of a button and tap into crowdsourced best practices and trends.
  6. Josef. Josef is a legal automation platform that enables lawyers and legal teams to create and launch their own conversational bots. Lawyers have already built more than 5,000 automation tools on the platform to streamline processes, improve client experience and eliminate repetitive tasks. Bots built on Josef automate lawyer-client interactions, draft documents and provide legal guidance and advice.
  7. DueCourse. DueCourse is a learning platform that empowers attorneys to take control of their career by helping them map and advance their professional development through personalized learning. We’re building an adaptive learning platform that designs personalized development paths, allows lawyers and professional development teams to track their progress, and pushes incremental, custom content that encourages consistent learning and professional growth.
  8. Justice For Me. Justice for Me (JFM) exists to close the justice gap. JFM removes the financial obstacles that prevent clients and attorneys from connecting, by using technology and a network of lawyers and financial partners that work with clients who cannot afford traditional legal representation. We provide a line of credit that gives clients affordable monthly payments and we pay attorneys quickly and directly, simplifying billing and collections. We enable customers and attorneys to focus on outcomes.
  9. SimplyConvert. SimplyConvert is the first automated intake legal case qualification platform powered by an “all-knowing” AI chatbot. Casey, our chatbot, is currently versed in the legal criteria of 50 practice areas/litigations and her knowledge has no limit. Casey is also backed by a robust CRM that automates the entire legal intake process from initial conversation to signed contract, resulting in increased efficiency and conversion rates on signed cases.
  10. Discovery Genie. Discovery Genie solves the document production problem facing 750,000+ lawyers and paralegals litigating cases involving 35,000 pages or less: reviewing, producing, organizing and indexing emails, attachments and efiles. The Genie’s lawyer-designed system automates conversion to PDF, Bates numbering, privilege-log generation, and more, saving 75-90% of the time, cost and tedium of using Acrobat — but without the overkill costs and complexity of an e-discovery system. No IT department needed.
  11. Intaker. Intaker uses artificial intelligence to capture and qualify prospective clients for consumer law firms on autopilot and 24/7; saving attorneys time, money and frustration.
  12. Parley Pro. Parley Pro is the contract management platform that automates documents and workflows around them. It is the only solution that enables real-time, multi-party contract negotiation powered by our proprietary, modular product design and architecture. This approach provides unprecedented visibility into a contract at a clause level. In addition, Parley Pro maintains a detailed audit trail for all contract changes throughout negotiations and after, preserving the history of all negotiations.
  13. ECFX. ECFX is a one-stop, enterprise-class solution for electronic court filing (ECF). ECF is a time-consuming and complex process that varies from court to court. ECFX solves this problem by providing a SaaS B2B platform that automates the processing of receipts of service and the filing of documents with the court with firmware administration and control. ECFX obtains huge efficiencies and cost savings for the firm, eliminates the risk of missed receipts, and reduces filing rejections.
  14. Billseye. Say for instance you’re working out, running an errand, or picking up your daughter from daycare and you receive a call from an important client. Do you stop what you are doing to document the call? I bet you’re too busy to stop and you end up losing hours of billable time as a result. This dilemma can be solved with one touch. Download Billseye for automatic, real-time call tracking, documenting, and billing solutions that can integrate into your existing case management software.
  15. Text A Lawyer. Text A Lawyer provides captive client leads for lawyers that have at least $21 of skin in the game. These leads convert at a high rate. Lawyers actually get paid to field these leads in real time. For the person who has a legal question, they are able to get legal advice from a local, verified attorney for $21 without having to wait. The company says it has gone to great lengths to remain compliant with ethical rules, using our credit card processor to handle the funds, avoiding retainer issues and fee-sharing.

Note to winners: You will be receiving emails from us with more details and event logistics.

Congratulations to all!

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.