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\t\tMax Junestrand, CEO of legal tech firm Legora talks to City AM\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tTuesday 02 December 2025 6:00 am
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\t\t\tTuesday 02 December 2025 12:32 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
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\t\tMax Junestrand, CEO of legal tech firm Legora talks to City AM\t<\/p>\n
AI has turned the business world on its head and no more so than in the legal sector, where knowledge-intensive roles going toe-to-toe with knowledge-based tech is driving a significant shift in the industry.<\/p>\n
A lot of the attention has been on the implications of the surge in investment in AI for jobs, especially at the junior end.<\/p>\n
Within the broader professional sector, there have already been layoffs and curtailment of graduate programmes. In the legal sector, a few redundancies have been reported at law firms, but there is a bigger question mark over the traditional legal career pathway.<\/p>\n
Max Junestrand, CEO of legal tech firm Legora, told City AM that the future of hiring in the legal market will be different due to AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the way you hire lawyers will change a bit\u2026increasingly we\u2019re seeing lawyers with varied backgrounds. They might have a minor in computer science\u2026 entrepreneurial background\u2026 because knowing the law, yes, that will be one thing, but AI will also know the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the question is, what do you bring on top of that?\u201d he stated. <\/p>\n
However, on the flip side, he also pointed out that this surge in AI has created \u201cnew paths for lawyers that never existed before\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were very early on to hire or to create a type of role that we call legal engineers\u2026. which is a huge focus for the UK, and one of the biggest teams [in London].\u201d<\/p>\n
Legal engineers are ex-practitioners, so they used to practice corporate law or be solicitors, but also have an enormous tech interest. These include associates in their third or fourth year, or senior associates who could have made partner but chose to take a different pathway into legal tech.<\/p>\n
Before the surge of legal tech firms that provide AI to law firms, the only other option was to go in-house, \u201cwhich is also great\u201d, said Junestrand, \u201cbut I think many of them are very ambitious.\u201d Now, with new opportunities created by AI and legal tech, talented lawyers are increasingly exploring alternative career paths that blend their legal expertise with technology and innovation.<\/p>\n
The legal engineers at Legora help clients implement AI, often working closely with them to build custom workflows and templates.<\/p>\n
Surge of Legora over two years<\/p>\n
The surge in AI has seen a flurry of legal tech start-ups hit the market, including Legora, which was founded in early summer 2023. In its short, two-year history, Legora\u2019s valuation increased dramatically, from $50m to $1.8bn.<\/p>\n
Legora provides a web-based AI application for law firms and in-house legal teams. The tool assists with reviewing, drafting, and researching legal documents. The company also offers a \u201cLegora Portal\u201d, a white-label solution allowing law firms\u2019 clients to access AI-powered legal workflows.<\/p>\n
With offices in New York, London, Stockholm, Sydney, and more, the start-up has a long list of big-name clients, including Carlsberg, DWF, Mishcon de Reya, and Deloitte.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n
\t\t\tCourt rejects Getty Images\u2019 core claim in historic case against AI image generator<\/a><\/p>\n However, the client looming large in Junestrand\u2019s mind is the magic circle firm Linklaters. He explained, \u201cWhen we rolled out with Linklaters, it was a global deployment for all their offices, all the lawyers, and all the practice areas.\u201d<\/p>\n AI means ways of working have to change<\/p>\n He added that this global deployment required a significant internal shift for Linklaters: \u201cTheir internal ways of working changed\u2026 and we are huge change advocates and help them on that journey, because for us, it\u2019s incredibly important that our clients are successful with the tool.\u201d<\/p>\n On the back of the rollout with Legora, Linklaters revealed last week<\/a> that it had, for the first time, recruited a team of 20 specialist AI lawyers to deploy across its global network.<\/p>\n The model is working well for Legora; the business has already expanded from 40 to 220 employees in a year, and it is set to ramp up its headcount next year, with an \u201caggressive\u201d hiring plan for London.<\/p>\n \u201cOur hiring plans for London, specifically for 2026, the best way to phrase it is probably extremely aggressive or fast paced and ambitious\u2026 because we\u2019re seeing so much pull for our software and our mission here,\u201d Junestrand stated.<\/p>\n However, not all have had such positive news recently. Last month, City AM revealed London-based legal firm Robin AI was put up for sale <\/a>on an insolvency marketplace after fundraising ambitions fell short.<\/p>\n The legal start-up was unable to close a $50m (\u00a338m) funding round and is currently exploring its future options.<\/p>\n Commenting on this, Junestrand told City AM: \u201cFrom my perspective, they had sort of two parallel business models, one of which was direct legal services that they were providing to corporates. They were actually providing the legal service itself, and the second one was the software business.<\/p>\n \u201cAs an up-and-coming company, you need to focus\u2026 I think it becomes very difficult to have two business models, two different focuses, and kind of rally your business around that.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that he also thought Robin AI\u2019s timing was inopportune, as they were founded pre-Generative AI, and they did not make the \u201cpivot from pre-LLMs to LLMS fast enough or well enough\u201d, which would have hurt them.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, I have huge respect for the team there and the founders,\u201d Junestrand adds.<\/p>\n