Dan O'Day is the CEO and Co-Founder of ECFX, an automated electronic court filing notice management system for law firms and corporate legal departments. Dan has years of experience in driving strategic vision in legal technology, previously as VP of Sales and Service at American LegalNet and multiple operations and product development roles at Elite and Thomson Reuters. Dan received his JD from Pepperdine and practiced complex civil litigation.
ECFX was founded by attorneys and legal technology experts with a single goal: to address unmet automation needs in the legal industry. They are committed to filling in the gaps in legal workflows with intelligently automated solutions, enabling firms to save time, gain control, mitigate risks, and improve visibility.
In this episode, Dan O’Day will provide us with insights on how automation is being recently introduced in the legal industry. Dan will share how this industry has been very resistant to changes in technology and how they are gradually helping the whole legal infrastructure to be a place that is more open to technological tools.
Key Takeaways in This Episode:
- The challenge of dealing with an industry resistant to technological changes
- Why networking and relationships are crucial during the early stage
- How Covid was a game changer to introduce technology in the legal industry
- No need to speak negatively about the competition in order to compete
Programming and Law
Working in the legal world since he was 16 years old, Dan was able to see that it was a very adversarial environment. And although he really connected with the intellectual side of it, he did not like the argumentative part, which made him move to tech, more specifically to programming. Dan took all this knowledge and applied it to the legal environment where he found out there was a lot of work to be done.
An Environment Resistant to Technological Changes
Dan explains that when you practice law, you are taught the concept of "precedent". There was a decision made by the court, and that became the law, and the law must be followed so we all can have rules. That same mindset of "this has always worked in the past and it should work for us again" makes one naturally resistant to adopt new technology tools.
Covid as a Point of Inflection
A lot of that mindset changed with the pandemic. Lawyers were forced to embrace tools such as zoom to hold everyday interactions, which made them realize that this tech was actually beneficial for the entire field, especially when this is an industry with a lot of inefficiencies. This showed that time (one of the most valued resources in court) could be optimized in a better way by applying a lot of digital tools.
The Importance of Network
One difference maker for ECFX’s success was the ability to use Dan's connections and relations during Covid. The technology was accepted and well taken since there was already a strong background in the legal environment and his presence and reputation was already known. Dan said, “When you engage with people, understand that whatever you do in this transaction will pay off in a future transaction.”
The Corporate Side
Other entities that ECFX assists are insurance companies and large companies. Oftentimes, corporations outsource litigation to law firms. Some corporations do some of the litigation in house and these are the ones that have the same problem law firms have: Court notices put on the system, automating files and pulling old files. ECFX is so efficient at this that they actually have a ROI calculator that they can show to the prospect how much they can save.
Legal Advice to SaaS Founders
If you are looking to be a venture funding company and ultimately looking for a clean exit, keep it simple. Start out either as a Delaware C. Corp or California C Corp and get good counsel, and although it costs money, it is totally worth it. Keeping this legal aspect in mind from the very beginning will help you in the future, even if this does not look like a priority during the early stage.
The Future of Legal Tech
Although lawyers are irreplaceable, the field offers a lot of opportunities for automation in other areas such as adding the ability to deal with new files as well as pulling old files. Automating other workflows like medical records and ITC notices is something that is definitely in the landscape.
Connect with Dan:
Dan O'Day on LinkedIn
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