Chicago legal-tech startup Paladin, a tech company that helps lawyers increase their pro bono work, is bringing its services across the pond.
Paladin said this week it's expanding its platform to the U.K. after partnering with a handful of local law firms. One of its key partner firms, Clifford Chance, was able to increase its amount of pro bono work by almost 100% in the U.S. by using Paladin, and decided to bring the service to its London headquarters.
Founded in 2015, Paladin helps law firms and companies streamline, source and track their pro bono work. The American Bar Association asks lawyers to provide a minimum of 50 hours of pro bono work per year, but the process of finding volunteer work has involved spreadsheets, emails and a generally unorganized process that often prevents firms from achieving their required amount of pro bono work, Paladin CEO Kristen Sonday said.
With Paladin, law firms and in-house legal counsels now have a central dashboard to discover pro bono opportunities and track their work. Firms can filter by case type, with the ability to help in person or remotely.
"Our mission is to increase access to justice by helping legal teams run more efficient pro bono programs," said Sonday, who's also a partner at Chicago VC firm LongJump.
Paladin works with law firms like Holland & Knight and McDermott Will & Emery, as well as companies like Verizon, Dell and Zurich. The startup has raised around $4 million to date from investors like Mark Cuban, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Lofty Ventures and Backstage Capital.
Sonday said the process of adding additional pro bono work can be daunting for firms that are strapped for time and often don't know where to look. There's also a misconception that pro bono work involves cases that take years to litigate. But Sonday said lawyers are using Paladin to help tenants evade eviction, for example, or to review contracts for a non-profit over the weekend.
"It doesn’t have to be a big overhauling piece of work," she said. "There are smaller, more bite-sized ways for folks to get involved and donate their skills and really have a life-changing impact in the community."
Other U.K. firms working with Paladin include Akin Gump, McDermott Will & Emery, Vedder Price, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Winston & Strawn.
