UpCounsel Shutting Down

I know these situations can be painful, (and there may be concerns re: confidentiality), but I really wish more founders would share a bit more detail describing what went wrong.

This kind of candor would be hugely valuable to other founders who are still in the trenches.

Re: UpCounsel Shutting Down

#5

Post by nihonde » Mon, Feb 03, 2020, 9:44 AM UTC

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.

Re: UpCounsel Shutting Down

#6

Post by DangerousPie » Mon, Feb 03, 2020, 10:03 AM UTC

Huh, I have just been looking to get some legal advice and this seems like exactly the kind of service I'd want to use. Shame it's shutting down.

Does anybody know similar services?

Re: UpCounsel Shutting Down

#7

Post by 6sp » Mon, Feb 03, 2020, 10:25 AM UTC

I just discovered UpCounsel recently and it has been extremely helpful for keeping costs down at a startup. Very disappointed as I was looking forward to using for years to come. I especially like how fees were clearly displayed and lawyers were able to compete to get the job.

Re: UpCounsel Shutting Down

#8

Post by 6sp » Mon, Feb 03, 2020, 10:31 AM UTC

nihonde wrote: post #5

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…

I’ve used WSGR countless times at startups and while they are great to deal with the fees are very cost prohibitive for a bootstrapped company. I think in the case of UpCounsel there’s significant pushback against this business model from big law firms as well as competition. They lost a lawsuit with another somewhat competing company called LegalForce I wonder if that influenced them shutting down.

Re: UpCounsel Shutting Down

#9

Post by jimaek » Mon, Feb 03, 2020, 10:51 AM UTC

That's too bad, I'm based in Poland but I used them often to register trademarks in the US and ask legal questions about doing business there. It was very helpful and transparent with pricing.

Are there any good alternatives?

Re: UpCounsel Shutting Down

#10

Post by yesplorer » Mon, Feb 03, 2020, 10:52 AM UTC

6sp wrote: post #7

I just discovered UpCounsel recently and it has been extremely helpful for keeping costs down at a startup. Very disappointed as I was looking forward to using for years to come. I especially like how fees were clearly displayed and lawyers were able to compete to get the job.

You created an account just to hype a dead start-up?