Atrium shuts down, laying off 100 • Hacker News Board

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#91

Post by kemitchell » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 3:45 AM UTC

msword4ever wrote: post #89

gnicholas wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious to know what firms you’ve practiced at that weren’t tech-sluggish. Were they run by 55+ partners, or younger folks?

Perkins Coie. Well known clients include msft/uber. Bitcoin/cryptocurrency practice is well regarded. I think being close to a lot of tech clients helps. We get some flack for shunning slack/teams/gchat4business/stride/chime or wtf amazon uses/workplace by fb/etc and relying on “antiquated” email. We definitely prefer to work more in thoughtfully composed emails compared to a fluid team chat. It’s also easier to orga…

"Our clients depend on our ability to receive their messages reliably and respond efficiently. We can't settle for less than decentralized, asynchronous communications over standardized open protocols."

Just be advised that if the prospect's head actually explodes, you may face capacity challenges to your engagement letter when you bill.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#92

Post by gnicholas » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 3:45 AM UTC

msword4ever wrote: post #89

gnicholas wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious to know what firms you’ve practiced at that weren’t tech-sluggish. Were they run by 55+ partners, or younger folks?

Perkins Coie. Well known clients include msft/uber. Bitcoin/cryptocurrency practice is well regarded. I think being close to a lot of tech clients helps. We get some flack for shunning slack/teams/gchat4business/stride/chime or wtf amazon uses/workplace by fb/etc and relying on “antiquated” email. We definitely prefer to work more in thoughtfully composed emails compared to a fluid team chat. It’s also easier to orga…

One of the most impressive tech lawyers I’ve met is a corporate Perkins guy, so I can believe it.

I actually used to work in their Palo Alto office — back when it belonged to MWE in 2007-2009. The new lobby that Perkins built is much nicer!

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#93

Post by baddox » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 3:48 AM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #67

tempsy wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the company. If it’s a marketplace like Uber then you’re burning a lot of operations. If it’s ML or heavy compute then AWS bills.

Honestly surprised a bunch of VCs haven't gotten together yet and built out their own compute for portfolio companies considering how much VC money gets shoveled into the AWS fire.

This sort of thing actually does happen, right? Isn’t that basically what WeWork was, but for all the VC money companies are spending on office space?

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#94

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 3:54 AM UTC

baddox wrote: post #93

toomuchtodo wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly surprised a bunch of VCs haven't gotten together yet and built out their own compute for portfolio companies considering how much VC money gets shoveled into the AWS fire.

This sort of thing actually does happen, right? Isn’t that basically what WeWork was, but for all the VC money companies are spending on office space?

[deleted]

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#95

Post by correlator » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 4:05 AM UTC

Another "AI" hammer looking for a nail to solve bites the dust. I hope those 100 employees land on their feet.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#96

Post by Blake_Emigro » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 4:13 AM UTC

kemitchell wrote: post #90

gnicholas wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious to know what firms you’ve practiced at that weren’t tech-sluggish. Were they run by 55+ partners, or younger folks?

I'm a "transactional lawyer" who negotiates contracts, forms companies, handles regulatory issues, and advises on strategy. That's as opposed to a "litigator" who handles court cases. But I've actually seen practitioners outside my own specialty who've integrated newer technology much more deeply. Automated case assessment in some immigration practices, for example. In my experience, there is some correlation between…

I made tools to automate parts of my Canadian immigration practice, (as a non-lawyer, licensed legal services provider), but that was only increasing my profit and ability to scale. What I really got paid for was perceiving what the customer wanted, and matching that with what they could endure / afford / likely become eligible to do, while reassuring them they could still be happy. This part could not be automated.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#97

Post by nradov » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 4:21 AM UTC

eganist wrote: post #46

gnicholas wrote: post #41

I swung by the Atrium booth at the Startup Grind conference a few weeks ago. A former lawyer, I was curious to hear their pitch. It was basically: we get you cheap lawyers, and we help them find new clients. I asked if all of their lawyers are based in the US, and they couldn't give me a straight answer. Eventually, when I said "well, of course they must all be US-licensed lawyers, right?" they said "oh, yeah, they m…

Legal is a notoriously sluggish industry, one that's almost infuriatingly incapable of adopting change and technology. Atrium's original pitch was exactly the opposite of what most legal teams are used to interacting with, and I can't think of a single biglaw attorney (sorry for the anecdote) who had faith in the idea or its execution. The original concept, as a reminder: https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/10/atrium-lega…

Several decades ago law firms were among the first to adopt PCs for word processing and then LANs for file sharing. They will absolutely adopt new technology when it actually works.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#98

Post by nradov » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 4:32 AM UTC

dustingetz wrote: post #16

what if a startup charged $300 per month for all you can eat email legal advice backed by a rich library of templates? they would instantly dominate and there are 6M small businesses in the USA alone

Nolo.com already has the templates.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#99

Post by optimiz3 » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 4:32 AM UTC

gnicholas wrote: post #41

I swung by the Atrium booth at the Startup Grind conference a few weeks ago. A former lawyer, I was curious to hear their pitch. It was basically: we get you cheap lawyers, and we help them find new clients. I asked if all of their lawyers are based in the US, and they couldn't give me a straight answer. Eventually, when I said "well, of course they must all be US-licensed lawyers, right?" they said "oh, yeah, they m…

The most expensive lawyer is one the one that loses. Going cheap on legal representation is not great business advice.

Re: Atrium shuts down, laying off 100

#100

Post by huac » Wed, Mar 04, 2020, 4:34 AM UTC

eganist wrote: post #46

gnicholas wrote: post #41

I swung by the Atrium booth at the Startup Grind conference a few weeks ago. A former lawyer, I was curious to hear their pitch. It was basically: we get you cheap lawyers, and we help them find new clients. I asked if all of their lawyers are based in the US, and they couldn't give me a straight answer. Eventually, when I said "well, of course they must all be US-licensed lawyers, right?" they said "oh, yeah, they m…

Legal is a notoriously sluggish industry, one that's almost infuriatingly incapable of adopting change and technology. Atrium's original pitch was exactly the opposite of what most legal teams are used to interacting with, and I can't think of a single biglaw attorney (sorry for the anecdote) who had faith in the idea or its execution. The original concept, as a reminder: https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/10/atrium-lega…

ML was not really a big part of their business (maybe the pitch decks)