Chicago startup Paladin is helping lawyers increase their pro bono work, and it just raised new funding to bring its legal-tech platform to more countries.
Paladin said Tuesday it raised $8 million in a Series A round led by Atlanta-based World Within. Other investors include Mark Cuban, Hyde Park Venture Partners, the American Family Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, Cleveland Avenue's CAST US fund and others. Paladin has now raised more than $12 million since it launched in 2015.
Led by CEO Kristen Sonday, Paladin's technology helps law firms and in-house legal counsels streamline, source and track their pro bono work. It has created a central dashboard where lawyers can discover new pro bono opportunities, with both in-person and remote opportunities. Pro bono work, where lawyers offer their services for free to those unable to afford legal counsel, is a critical piece of the profession. The American Bar Association asks lawyers to provide a minimum of 50 hours of pro bono work per year.
Paladin simplifies the process of discovering pro bono opportunities, making it easier for lawyers to find cases and increase their pro bono work.
With the funding, Paladin will look to expand internationally, Sonday said. Last year the startup brought its services to the U.K. and Spain, and it has 10 new countries on its road map in 2022.
Paladin works with law firms like Dentons, Clifford Chance, WSGR and McDermott, along with the in-house counsels at companies like Verizon, Dell and Zurich. The startup says it has matched "tens of thousands" of lawyers with pro bono work around the world.
Paladin's tech has helped lawyers connect with victims of disasters, and in 2020 it worked with the American Bar Association to create the first nationwide pro bono platform for disaster relief, including natural disasters and Covid-19. This year the startup launched the Ukraine Relief Pro Bono Portal to connect lawyers with those impacted by the war.
"Last year we found really great product market fit. Now we’re thinking about what does it mean to scale access to pro bono lawyers and access to justice around the world," Sonday said.
Paladin now has 11 employees and expects to double its team this year. Sonday is also the co-founder of LongJump, a VC firm that backs underrepresented founders in Chicago.
