When start-ups take over legal work
Legal Tech began as a form of support for legal professionals: research tools, document generation and process automation were designed to make legal work more efficient. Internationally, however, further development is becoming apparent.
We asked voices from innovation practice and associations where the journey might be heading:
Moritz Krüsselmann, Operational Director of the Legal Tech Colab, observes a clear movement in the market. Legal Tech start-ups are increasingly evolving from pure tool providers into actors that take over legal processes themselves – “more efficiently, digitally and often at lower cost”. If this development is not slowed by regulatory barriers, it could fundamentally reshape individual market segments. The issue is no longer just technology, but value creation and roles within the market.
Alexander Laprell, Managing Director of the Legal Tech Colab, points in this context to international trends such as Vertical Legal AI, workflow-native products and data-driven platforms. These innovations are designed not to exist alongside legal workflows, but to become an integral part of them. “Progress is not measured by the number of new tools,” he notes, but by efficiency, quality and practical usability in everyday work.
At the same time, the market remains fragmented. Maraja Fistanić, Chair of the Legal Tech Association Germany, certainly sees “islands of genuine innovation”, but not yet a comprehensive transformation. Sustainable development requires competence in dealing with data, processes and technology – and above all the courage to actively address structural change.
Also Stefan C. Schicker, Chair of the Legal Tech Association Germany, describes the legal market as somewhat paradoxical at present: technologically more advanced than ever before, yet organisationally often still at the beginning. The real bottleneck, he argues, lies not in the technology but in strategic integration and leadership.
Between start-up dynamism and established structures, a field of tension is emerging. The question is no longer whether innovation is happening – but who will shape it.
Are new providers merely changing processes? Or is the business model of legal services itself undergoing a fundamental shift? These questions – and the different perspectives of start-ups, law firms, businesses, the judiciary and academia – will be at the heart of legalXchange 2026.
